The Do’s and Don’ts of Houseboating

There’s a certain sense of adventure you feel the first time you board your own houseboat, crank up the engines and set off for places unknown.

It’s almost like you want to run up to the front of the boat, position your arms like wings and yell out something like “I’m the king of the…..” – well you get the idea.

Having graduated later to driving yachts in Puget Sound, we realize now our houseboating experience was a relatively simple, low-risk way to sample big boating. There is a minimum of fuss, complete on-the-spot training and, for crying out loud, the marina operators will even take your boat in and out of the docking area if you still feel a little uneasy about having anything near your boat other than water.

Back when we began houseboating in the mid-80’s, we used to refer to the experience as driving your RV on the water. Today, with a trend toward larger boats and much more luxury, it’s more like taking your whole house on the water. We would never have imagined that new boats would be built with hot tubs and home theaters included, as well as multiple bathrooms — very important if you have a large group on your boat?

Of course all those distractions come in handy when you load up the boat — as most people do — with friends, relatives and anyone who will pay a few bucks to offset the cost of renting your boat. Sometimes as many as 14 people may be staying on a boat and, as one marina operator explained, not all such unions stand the strain of a week in close quarters:

“It doesn’t happen very often,” says Yvonne Cantrell of Houseboats.com, “but we have seen a few boats come back early and drop some of their passengers off.”

Moral of the story: Choose your boatmates carefully. The kids will be fine because they’ll spend all their time in the water anyway. The wife or husband’s okay, too. Close friends usually are fine if you’ve pre-qualified them with another overnight trip. Inlaws may be questionable.

The burning question for a lot of people is whether they need boating experience to go houseboating. A lot of houseboaters have experience with small boats but about 30 percent have no boating experience at all. However, customer surveys show that a high percentage of those non-boaters have brought along someone with boating experience. (Please refer to choosing boatmates above: if the inlaws boat, they have permission to come aboard).

The other important question, of course, is why? It may be a lot simpler – and cheaper — just to pack up a tent or two and park you and your family by a lake someplace for a week. But houseboating is special. The houseboating experience is part travel, part leisure and part adventure because the lake or Delta always looks a little different from the next camp spot. Each place you beach your boat you’ll find a completely different place to explore with entirely new memories and photo opportunities.

Getting back to the RV analogy, the allure of houseboating really is similar. The freedom of choosing a different port of call each night – or several in any given day – brings spice and variety to your vacation experience. And driving that big boat through those waterways and along those shorelines is like playing ferryboat captain when you were a kid. The water activities are endless – especially if you bring your ski boat or rent one from the marina – while hiking and exploring also are a big part of your houseboat vacation. And, of course the non-stop barbecues put those pounds back on just as fast as your many activities will burn them off.

All this fun does have a price tag and that price can vary tremendously by season, the area you’re visiting, size of boat and the number of people on your trip. Not counting fuel costs, and figured at maximum occupancy, Cantrell says the prices range between per person per night for a six-person boat during winter months on the Delta to per person per night for a large fully-equipped 14-passenger boat that is booked for summer on Shasta Lake.

In California, there are numerous lakes and waterways where you can find houseboat rentals, but a larger selection of marinas can be found at Shasta Lake, Trinity Lake, New Malones, Lake McClure, Don Pedro Lake, and the California Delta.

Shasta Lake

If you’ve ever driven to Oregon, you’ve probably driven right through the Shasta Lake area, a houseboat haven popular with visitors from all over the West Coast. The lake is surprisingly warm in the summer – 77 degrees on average. In addition to water activities such as water skiing, jet skiing and parasailing, the lake also is known for good fishing. Altogether, the lake has 375 miles of shoreline in a picturesque mountain setting.

Trinity Lake

This quiet, secluded lake is located just to the west of Lake Shasta. The mountain scenery is spectacular in the Salmon-Trinity Primitive Area, which covers 283,000 acres. The lake has 145 miles of shoreline. Air temperatures can reach into the 80s and 90s while the water temperature can get up to the 80s. The fishing is great – you can catch smallmouth and largemouth bass, catfish, kokanee and rainbow and brown trout.

New Melones

If you are looking for a more remote houseboat experience, New Melones is one of the state’s newest lakes and is located in California’s Central Sierra Gold Country. The lake was first filled in 1983 and offers 12,500 surface acres of water as well as more than 100 miles of scenic shoreline. Anglers consider New Melones one of the best for trout, bass, crappie and catfish. Wildlife is also abundant onshore.

Lake McClure

Lake McClure is just downstream from the Yosemite Valley and offers 7,100 surface acres as well as more than 80 miles of scenic shoreline. Another lake known for excellent fishing, anglers catch trout, blackbass, spotted bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish. Wildlife such as eagles, heron and hawks are highly visible. Lake McClure is surrounded by the Gold Rush towns of Jamestown, Coulterville, Mariposa, Sonora and Columbia (an 1860’s state historic park).

Don Pedro Lake

Near Lake McClure is Don Pedro Lake, about 35 miles east of Modesto. It is the fifth largest reservoir in California and altogether boasts 13,000 surface acres. The lake is 26 miles long and features 160 miles of shoreline.

The California Delta

In Central California, the California Delta attracts visitors year-round. This fresh-water system of waterways is comprised of agricultural islands that actually sit below sea level, but are protected by a system of levees. Five major rivers flow into the Delta, including the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. One website refers to the Delta as a “Huck Finn kind of existence” with historic river towns that are little changed from the Gold Rush era. The Delta includes more than 1000 miles of waterways. There are draw-bridges that open to allow boats to pass through, and you can share the waters with ocean-going vessels, sailboats and paddle boats. The Delta boasts excellent fishing in spring and summer.

The area is easily accessed in Sacramento or Stockton – where Old Town and the Stockton Waterfront, respectively, offer visitor attractions and restaurants. Geographically, the Delta is also convenient for many San Francisco Bay area residents. It’s therefore a busier place than most California houseboating options and has more than 100 marinas and waterside resorts plus 50 boat launching facilities.

At a Glance

WHERE: In California, you’ll find houseboating lakes concentrated mostly in the central and north central parts of the state. Most offer spectacular scenery, whether from the foothills or the mountain ranges of Northern California.

WHAT: Houseboats offer a glimpse into the world of big boating and are a great vacation option for families and those searching for something a little unusual, but still relatively close to home.

WHEN: The Delta offers a year-round experience, while other locations generally highlight late spring, summer and early fall. Prices are highest in the summer, lowest in winter. The spring and summer shoulder seasons offer a lower price with still-reasonable weather.

WHY: Houseboating is part adventure, part recreation and combines a camping-like experience with luxurious amenities.

HOW: There are several marinas and companies statewide that offer a variety of houseboat experiences. For an overview, go to www.houseboats.com and www.houseboatrentals.com, or do a Google search for houseboats and the location you are considering. For general information by phone, call 877-468-7326.

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Visiting A Winery – 5 Ways to Avoid Learning Anything

Next time you visit the wine country, hire yourself a big limousine and follow these simple guidelines:

1. Plan your day around visiting as many wineries as possible.

2. Go to the same wineries everybody else does. After all, those are the popular wineries to go to, and they’re more than ready to put a wine glass in your hand.

3. Don’t listen to the tasting room staff, and be especially sure not to ask them too many questions. They’re not paid enough to be knowledgeable professionals.

4. Have a strong desire to self-medicate. Start your wine tasting early in the day, and get sideways by noon.

5. Get your exercise! Walk back and forth from the limo to the tasting room, and repeat often.

Now THAT’S your kind of wine country vacation, right? Many others just like you think so, too. Aren’t you glad you’re not alone?

Be sure to keep the above guidelines handy, and refer to them often.

A Word to the Wise

Dear reader, as you may have guessed, the 5 guidelines above only apply to April Fools. For the rest of us who might consider ourselves to belong to the greater majority of responsible wine-loving adults, tasting wine is an experience to be savored and discussed, appreciated and remembered.

To tour a series of wineries to get a buzz is not what the wine-tasting experience is all about. Wine is food! And like the pleasure that comes from eating your favorite cuisine, wine can provide a similar allure. Food and wine, as many know, complement each other well. As with food, if you choose to taste wine, do it because you truly enjoy tasting it. But unlike food, don’t go to a tasting room because you’d rather be drinking a lot of wine. Instead, stay home! But be responsible there, too.

If you would maximize your visit to the wine country, let us then provide contrast to the above guidelines and consider what will allow your wine country vacation to be a memorable experience – not just a sideways tour.

5 Ways to Maximize Your Wine-Country Experience

Call it wine country appreciation. Or, call it self-appreciation. In either case, if you would choose to truly benefit from a trip to the wine country, here now are five responsible guidelines signified by letters, instead of numbers, to differentiate from the list above.

A. Plan your day around visiting the wine country, not just its wineries.

There are a whole host of wonderful opportunities to be found in the wine regions of the world, whether you’re touring the famed Bordeaux region, Oregon’s Willamette Valley, or the up-and-coming Amador County area west of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. A visit to these wine regions can include a number of historical, cultural, educational, heritage, and active outdoor pursuits. Quite often, having a local guide can dramatically enhance the personal growth aspects of vacationers.

Gaining appeal with today’s travelers are tours ranging from culinary education classes that take place in spectacular settings to wellness retreats that offer exercise and nutrition counseling as well as superb pampering. Or, if you desire to be more active, you can find tours that offer a few days of exploring the flora, fauna, and scenic vistas of local open spaces, then a superb meal with wine tasting. Travelers are increasingly booking such tours, and they are trending heavily toward booking them online on a myriad of tour and travel websites.

B. To properly enjoy your wine-touring experience, choose your winery destination carefully.

Visitors are often drawn to the popular wineries that are located alongside the wine country’s main arterial routes; for instance, Highway 29 in the Napa Valley. And yet those are the areas in which you’ll find the greater share of vehicle traffic, especially during the summer tourist season. Of course, the traffic isn’t just cars, limousines, and tour buses. After you get off the bus or out of your car and into the winery, you’ll often wait in long lines of human traffic just to taste a wine or two. Ironically, this can defeat the purpose of Guideline A.

Many wineries and lodging operations offer better service and better vacation deals for your dollar during off-peak seasons. As a result, you’ll find that you get to linger longer at a restaurant or have a conversation with a winemaker that goes beyond the merely casual. Having the time to relax and not compete with other tourists on your vacation can dramatically augment not only your sense of well-being, but also your wine knowledge and your social network.

In addition, there are many family-owned wineries that are real treasures. It’s easy to overlook them, but once you make the effort to seek them out, you’ll often be rewarded with an experience that will have you telling your friends about them. You may even find the winegrower getting off his tractor to take you for an impromptu tour of his vineyard or winery operation. Of course, he might have you consider purchasing a case of his wines for his trouble. But then, you may also find that you’re not paying nearly the premium that you’ll pay at the more popular wineries along the main wine roads.

C. The tasting room staff earn their pay, and they do it out of passion. Let them guide you.

The wineries aren’t in business to attract more tourists. They’re in business because they have a clear understanding of the needs of their customers. If you’re not the world’s greatest wine expert, don’t worry! You’re among friends. Learning is why you traveled to the wine country in the first place, and winemakers and their staff love to talk about what they do. Listen, and ask questions. If you should visit more than one winery, ask the same questions. You’ll enhance your understanding by the answers you’ll hear, and what’s more, you’ll be delighted that you asked.

D. Be fully aware of your experience. Participate in it, and find yourself enchanted by it. Don’t desensitize yourself to the magic of the wine country.

“The advantages of wine touring are beautiful scenery and a new learning experience. The disadvantages are that there’s not enough wine.”

This author has actually read the above statement in a review by a supposedly-serious wine expert. I’ve heard similar quips from the lips of the not-so-pleasantly plowed. While I might agree with the “advantage” half of that statement, the desired outcome of your wine tour should be a quality experience, not a quantity experience. Wine touring is not meant to be a dormitory-style competition.

Therefore, pace yourself. Pour the wine you no longer want into the proper receptacle, usually a spit bucket. Spit the wine into the bucket if necessary – it’s perfectly acceptable within the context of tasting wine. But nobody likes a drunken tourist – not the winery staff, not the patrons, and especially not the wine country police.

E. To properly enjoy the wine country, get out of the land yacht and explore your surroundings.

Bring your hiking shoes with you, and find a local trail. Or, if you prefer to connect to your new surroundings on a deeper level, hire a guide. The reasons that grapes do so well in the wine country are often the same reasons why most areas surrounding the wine regions of the world offer a number of marvelous outdoor experiences. You’ll find that a walk in the redwoods, an expansive mountaintop view, a remote meadow full of wildflowers, or a glimpse of a bobcat on the trail can heighten your wine country experience in sensational ways.

Plus, the exercise and the fresh air you’ll get from your outdoor excursion will build your anticipation of those fine meals and exquisite wines that you came to the wine country for. They are the reward for your physical efforts, they balance your intrinsic desire for deeper understanding, and they make your vacation complete.

Copyright 2006 California Wine Hikes

Ther is more to California than LA and if you have a chance to see Northern California…do so.
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i am going on vacation soon and every year it is really apathetic. i am terribly morose right now because my family is not the most technological advanced family. the closest thing we own to modern technology is this computer and some DVD players. we do not have PS2 or XBOX or any of those kinds of stuff. so i really want a nintendo ds and a nintendog to go with it but my dad is really hard to convince and i go on vacation in about two days. i have even offered the money to buy it but my mom says i cannot get one unless my dad says yes. my dad is the type of caring person but is really strict on money and how we spend it. please help me and do not put dumb things saying that i do not need one. can you help me get a nintendo ds and a nintendog before i go on vacation? oh yes, and i will NOT go out and buy it on my own because my parents WILL take it away. my father is also convinced that modern technology is not needed. it is like trying to move a huge redwood that is 800 years old….
my parents are " considering " buying me one, but i highly doubt it. but if they do, i dont want to have my money wasted by already buying one.

Visiting A Winery – 5 Ways to Avoid Learning Anything

Next time you visit the wine country, hire yourself a big limousine and follow these simple guidelines:

1. Plan your day around visiting as many wineries as possible.

2. Go to the same wineries everybody else does. After all, those are the popular wineries to go to, and they’re more than ready to put a wine glass in your hand.

3. Don’t listen to the tasting room staff, and be especially sure not to ask them too many questions. They’re not paid enough to be knowledgeable professionals.

4. Have a strong desire to self-medicate. Start your wine tasting early in the day, and get sideways by noon.

5. Get your exercise! Walk back and forth from the limo to the tasting room, and repeat often.

Now THAT’S your kind of wine country vacation, right? Many others just like you think so, too. Aren’t you glad you’re not alone?

Be sure to keep the above guidelines handy, and refer to them often.

A Word to the Wise

Dear reader, as you may have guessed, the 5 guidelines above only apply to April Fools. For the rest of us who might consider ourselves to belong to the greater majority of responsible wine-loving adults, tasting wine is an experience to be savored and discussed, appreciated and remembered.

To tour a series of wineries to get a buzz is not what the wine-tasting experience is all about. Wine is food! And like the pleasure that comes from eating your favorite cuisine, wine can provide a similar allure. Food and wine, as many know, complement each other well. As with food, if you choose to taste wine, do it because you truly enjoy tasting it. But unlike food, don’t go to a tasting room because you’d rather be drinking a lot of wine. Instead, stay home! But be responsible there, too.

If you would maximize your visit to the wine country, let us then provide contrast to the above guidelines and consider what will allow your wine country vacation to be a memorable experience – not just a sideways tour.

5 Ways to Maximize Your Wine-Country Experience

Call it wine country appreciation. Or, call it self-appreciation. In either case, if you would choose to truly benefit from a trip to the wine country, here now are five responsible guidelines signified by letters, instead of numbers, to differentiate from the list above.

A. Plan your day around visiting the wine country, not just its wineries.

There are a whole host of wonderful opportunities to be found in the wine regions of the world, whether you’re touring the famed Bordeaux region, Oregon’s Willamette Valley, or the up-and-coming Amador County area west of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. A visit to these wine regions can include a number of historical, cultural, educational, heritage, and active outdoor pursuits. Quite often, having a local guide can dramatically enhance the personal growth aspects of vacationers.

Gaining appeal with today’s travelers are tours ranging from culinary education classes that take place in spectacular settings to wellness retreats that offer exercise and nutrition counseling as well as superb pampering. Or, if you desire to be more active, you can find tours that offer a few days of exploring the flora, fauna, and scenic vistas of local open spaces, then a superb meal with wine tasting. Travelers are increasingly booking such tours, and they are trending heavily toward booking them online on a myriad of tour and travel websites.

B. To properly enjoy your wine-touring experience, choose your winery destination carefully.

Visitors are often drawn to the popular wineries that are located alongside the wine country’s main arterial routes; for instance, Highway 29 in the Napa Valley. And yet those are the areas in which you’ll find the greater share of vehicle traffic, especially during the summer tourist season. Of course, the traffic isn’t just cars, limousines, and tour buses. After you get off the bus or out of your car and into the winery, you’ll often wait in long lines of human traffic just to taste a wine or two. Ironically, this can defeat the purpose of Guideline A.

Many wineries and lodging operations offer better service and better vacation deals for your dollar during off-peak seasons. As a result, you’ll find that you get to linger longer at a restaurant or have a conversation with a winemaker that goes beyond the merely casual. Having the time to relax and not compete with other tourists on your vacation can dramatically augment not only your sense of well-being, but also your wine knowledge and your social network.

In addition, there are many family-owned wineries that are real treasures. It’s easy to overlook them, but once you make the effort to seek them out, you’ll often be rewarded with an experience that will have you telling your friends about them. You may even find the winegrower getting off his tractor to take you for an impromptu tour of his vineyard or winery operation. Of course, he might have you consider purchasing a case of his wines for his trouble. But then, you may also find that you’re not paying nearly the premium that you’ll pay at the more popular wineries along the main wine roads.

C. The tasting room staff earn their pay, and they do it out of passion. Let them guide you.

The wineries aren’t in business to attract more tourists. They’re in business because they have a clear understanding of the needs of their customers. If you’re not the world’s greatest wine expert, don’t worry! You’re among friends. Learning is why you traveled to the wine country in the first place, and winemakers and their staff love to talk about what they do. Listen, and ask questions. If you should visit more than one winery, ask the same questions. You’ll enhance your understanding by the answers you’ll hear, and what’s more, you’ll be delighted that you asked.

D. Be fully aware of your experience. Participate in it, and find yourself enchanted by it. Don’t desensitize yourself to the magic of the wine country.

“The advantages of wine touring are beautiful scenery and a new learning experience. The disadvantages are that there’s not enough wine.”

This author has actually read the above statement in a review by a supposedly-serious wine expert. I’ve heard similar quips from the lips of the not-so-pleasantly plowed. While I might agree with the “advantage” half of that statement, the desired outcome of your wine tour should be a quality experience, not a quantity experience. Wine touring is not meant to be a dormitory-style competition.

Therefore, pace yourself. Pour the wine you no longer want into the proper receptacle, usually a spit bucket. Spit the wine into the bucket if necessary – it’s perfectly acceptable within the context of tasting wine. But nobody likes a drunken tourist – not the winery staff, not the patrons, and especially not the wine country police.

E. To properly enjoy the wine country, get out of the land yacht and explore your surroundings.

Bring your hiking shoes with you, and find a local trail. Or, if you prefer to connect to your new surroundings on a deeper level, hire a guide. The reasons that grapes do so well in the wine country are often the same reasons why most areas surrounding the wine regions of the world offer a number of marvelous outdoor experiences. You’ll find that a walk in the redwoods, an expansive mountaintop view, a remote meadow full of wildflowers, or a glimpse of a bobcat on the trail can heighten your wine country experience in sensational ways.

Plus, the exercise and the fresh air you’ll get from your outdoor excursion will build your anticipation of those fine meals and exquisite wines that you came to the wine country for. They are the reward for your physical efforts, they balance your intrinsic desire for deeper understanding, and they make your vacation complete.

Copyright 2006 California Wine Hikes

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Places to Go Western Riding

Horseback riding vactions are a time of the year that horse lovers look forward to, whether its with the whole family with kids included or just the two of you. Here we will talk about a few vacation spots to take your horses to, or if thats not possible rent the horse, saddle and tack right there. Either way you will have a great western riding experience.

Walden Creek Stables in the Smokey Mountains of East Tennessee is our first stop. This riding stable has five hundred acres with one-hundred horses and fifty riding cowboys to keep the action going for seven days a week, and that includes Christmas Day. So you can pretty much plan a trip here all hear round complete with saddle and tack. This Stable has horses for every level of horsemanship so there are no worries there. Not only do they have several trails to choose from but on special nights there is a Wild West Show with live entertainment.

Now lets jump on over to Wyoming where jumping in the saddle all tacked up and riding horses is just about second nature. Bitterroot Cattle Roundup is a great place to learn to ride in some of the most beautiful country you’ll ever see. The Bitterroot cattle graze on the adjacent national forest land from July to October. Guests who ride well enough can help the cowboys with the work of herding the cows into the mountains the first week of July and rounding them up again in the last week of September, known as the “roundup”. The cattle are spread out over fifty square miles of high mountains, forests, clearings and river valleys. When you return to your log cabin each evening, you’ll have a nice cozy bed waiting for you.

One of the most awesome places in the world is in the Grand Canyon located in Utah and Arizona. Grand Canyon Winter Pastures is one of the few stables that allows you to ride your horse down in to the canyon all saddled up with pack horses. This trip is not to be confused with infamously tedious donkey rides. This is a rigorous horse pack trip into some of the canyon’s least frequented drainages. Often riders need to dismount in order to lead their horses throught hazardous spots. Checking your saddle and tack often is the norm on this trip to make sure all is secure. The groups are small and everyone must be willing to pitch in around camp. The scenery alone is worth the trip.

Now we find ourselves in California at the Redwood Coast Ride stable. This ride goes everywhere from sandy beaches of the Pacific to the majestic redwood forests in northern California. Your riding guide has twenty-five years experience as a riding instructor. I would say a beginning rider might want to take a few lessons before trying this ride, although it is certainly more tame than the Grand Canyon adventure above.

So far we haven’t talked that much about beginner riders or lessons. At Medicine Hat Trail Ride in Carthage, MO, you can find a place to do both. You start off by learn how to groom and prep a horse for riding to putting on all the tack, then on to the trail for an hour long lesson that is relaxing and educational. While riding, you learn all the little signs of reading a horses disposition with the position of his ears and a swish of his tail. Great for kids and adults alike.

Pastor Todd Lundberg working a dry ice experiment.
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Sampling Immaculate California Romantic Sites

After a weeklong busy schedules and tiring goals to meet all through the week, finding some time over the weekend or holiday to spend with your date or wife is the best thing you can do to a person who deserves it. To build your love with the gift of presence means being there when you are wanted and trying as much as you can to find time to date your mate. The best thing is to find a superb California dating site and have a good time.

You can start with an exploration of the art scene in you area and if you want to get out off town, Sonoma county will do fine. An art trail will give you a rare chance to meet with local artists, see what they are doing in their studios as you learn the huge creative experience and processes that govern their techniques. You can have an art created for you as you learn about this art and receive hands-on demonstrations. If you are passionate about art, going to the epicenter will make your dating world a better place to be.

Another California dating site is Santa Rosa, where the excellence of the place can have you enjoying your time. If you are entrepreneurs, or you are your own businesses, the city offers you a chance to mix pleasure and business. The daily excursions and nightlife is enough to make feel nice.

If you want to be in the middle of business districts and great recreational facilities, Sonoma County is the perfect place for a perfect weekend. You are just fifty-five miles from San Francisco and just thirty from the Pacific Ocean. It makes it accessible to immaculate spots for vacation and recreation. You can have it with your mate as you add more joy and fun into your relationship.

If there is any place in the world where anybody can have a good time away from noise and the city, it is a feel of nature. Any California dating site with such a connotation is perfect for your romantic excursion. Dating in such a place will give you one of the best chances to enjoy the beginning of a very fulfilling private time.  Lake Sonoma is such a place. With 17,700 acres of reserve land, you can escape from any stress and tiring experience and enjoy a quiet time with your mate.

You can find a shady, quiet spot, for instance under a tree as you sketch your partner or lie down. Walking down the tranquil canopy of alder, madrone, redwood, bay and redwood trees with bring you and your date in contact with nature.  You can also go bird watching, hiking or just swimming. If you have never been at a natural site for recreation, I bet your partner and you have one of the best chances to make the most out of the chance as you pledge your love to your mate and love in a very exquisite California dating site.

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