We were up and about early today
(Well, the parents were—they went for a walk
And braved the mosquitos again!)
But eventually, we were all up and hoping to get on our houseboat early.
But, alas, they needed some time to get it ready.
So we headed to the the lodge’s restaurant
For some sustenance…
And got the biggest breakfast burrito you’ve ever seen!
It was finally time to meet our home for the next few days…
The Star.
We had SO MUCH STUFF to haul onto the boat
But somehow got it all to fit.
The boat was not quite what we had in mind…
A bit more “janky” than we had hoped.
Some highlights—
You sank into the couches if you sat down
(Like, knees up to your chest);
The sinks had a spout for lake water or drinking water
(We weren’t sure which we should use to wash our dishes and hands);
The shower was lake water;
A few of the screens didn’t quite seal;
2 of the stove burners didn’t work;
And the “bedrooms” we saw on the floor plan—not so much.
There were 2 single bunks in the hallway,
A double mattress on the floor in the pup-tent-like top floor,
A double over double bunk,
And a table that converted into a king bed.
BUT, once we settled in and realized this was more camping
Than glamour,
We were good to go.
Captain, full steam ahead!
Our first order of business—
Getting out of the marina,
Hooking up our dingy,
And offloading the marina captain
It seemed really intimidating the first time we got the dingy situated
But we’d be pros soon enough.
You know what this boat needs?
A luau theme!
Some leis, flowers,
And pirate hats and our rainy day felt like a party
Girls pic!
Before long,
We were officially in Voyageurs National Park
And with some close supervision,
Dad let me drive the boat
(Like, ALL DAY!)
We had lots of Narrows to navigate ahead of us
But our first challenge—
Getting through “The Pinch”
It sure didn’t look like our giant houseboat would fit,
But it did!
It was not a great day—
Drizzle and rain
At first, we were a little shocked that the hot tub
Was filled with lake water
(And it’s really brown from the tannins from the trees).
But we quickly got over that
And started basking in the lovely hot water
While we cruised through the Narrows.
You know who loves the rain?
Fish.
And fishing quickly became the thing we did
With any spare minute of the day
You can drive the boat from inside
But once the drizzle let up,
We moved this party outside
How about this for a way to spend an afternoon?
The rain chased us in
But that just got us started on card games
We’re just so glad to be here and with our friends again,
Nothing could ruin our moods!
After cruising for a few hours,
We made it through Crane Lake and Sand Point Lake
To Namakan Lake
To the site we picked for the night (you have to park the boat before sundown)—
Randolph Bay.
There was a nice sand bar so I tried to just park up on it…
Brace for impact!
It was a bit trickier than I thought.
It took 2 tries to get it right
(And maybe a little less speed).
But before long,
We were parked and ready to enjoy our night…
Which means trying out the slide!
Weston was first up
But before long,
Everyone was headed down.
Well, maybe not everyone.
Cohan wanted to try out the dingy
As did I!
After piloting the houseboat all day,
This thing feels tiny!
We did some fishing,
Hung out in the hot tub,
Pulled a leach off Weston’s foot
(And watched everyone LEAP out of the hot tub
when he tried to put his foot back in with it still on there!).
We had to turn off the generator at 10pm
And there was no TV on the boat (another surprise)
But we had a blast with some heated games of Nerts.
And we learned that all 11 of us can fit in the hot tub.
All in all,
A pretty great first day on the water!
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