Return to Houseboating - Lake Roosevelt

How I got back to houseboating, and Kim got her first taste of the joy.

I was teaching a class on planning for Critical Access Hospitals for the Idaho Hospital Association. Idaho is a large state, so the class was taught three times over two weeks to reduce travel time and improve attendance. One session was in Pocatello, one in Boise, and one in Coeur d'Alene. Kim decided to accompany me on the trip to northern Idaho, and the nearest airport is in Spokane. We decided to spend a three day weekend, then Kim would head for home, and I'd stick around and teach my class.

So, what to do on a 3 day weekend near Spokane? A link on the Spokane visitor's center led to houseboat rentals on nearby Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind the Grand Coulee Dam. Here's a link for more info on the dam and the resulting Lake Roosevelt:

http://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/

We rented a houseboat for the weekend, and since it was very early in April, there were very few others out on the lake. It's a fabulously beautiful place, beautiful in a very different way than the Mississippi River houseboat vacations I remember as a kid. Here's a link to the houseboat people on Lake Roosevelt:

http://www.lakeroosevelt.com/

We didn't take our camera along, or I'd post some photos. It was nice enough, fun enough, and relaxing enough that Kim was sold, and when her parents told us they had seen a houseboat for sale next to the consignment shop in Turin, we went to take a look. The rest, as they say, was history.

(There's a lot of history in Turin. The Turin Man skeletons were discovered here, thought to be around 6,500 years old. Here's a link: http://www.loesshillstours.com/attractions-monona.html

The skeletons were found just feet from where our houseboat was found. Coincidence? I think not.