Planning to Play in Summer 2010!

The holidays are here and it's a great season to come together with friends & family and share good times. It is also a great time, while you have everyone in the same place, to plan for your next houseboat trip.

They say that the steps to great houseboating are easy, just plan, pack and play. Well it may be too soon to start packing for most of you, but it is never too soon to start planning. Now is a great time to pick a date together, check availability, and decide who wants to join the crew! We have included a list of holiday dates and our Top-5 planning tools to help you plan for the summer season now while the best dates and boats are still available.

You might want to consider spending New Year's Eve on the water. Discuss it over turkey and book it before the pumpkin pie is finished.

We are still looking for your photos, so keep uploading them. Dave in Arizona uploaded a picture of a burro he sighted on a recent houseboat trip. If Dave can do it, you can too!

Share some of the excitement a foreign camera crew experienced during a recent photo expedition to Lake Powell and get ready to see the results on TV. Time sure is flying fast this year. It's time to start planning to play in 2010.

Happy Houseboating and Happy Thanksgiving too!

Ring in the New Year on a Houseboat

The crowds of Time Square may seem a world away as you ring in the new year on the top deck of a houseboat. There won't be any crowd problems, police on horseback pushing past you, lines of anxious revelers waiting for the restrooms, or overpriced beverages that are half frozen. On a houseboat, it would just be you and your crew, on the water, welcoming in the new year.

Of course, you can still turn on the TV and watch the ball drop if you want. (Just don't tell the kids that the time is two hours earlier than New York)

Take your houseboat out on what might seem like your own private lake and enjoy the solitude of the open spaces that only winter in the desert can offer. Renew your spirit of adventure, breathe in new vistas, and start the new year off right.

The desert lakes of Arizona and Nevada are waiting for you with day time temps in the 60's, cool nights that make the stars look like you can just reach up and grab em from your hot tub, and all the room in the world.

Pack your bags, act now, and get in on all of the New Year's action!

A great deal!
Check out the half price deals that are now available on Arizona's Lake Powell or Lake Mead. These special New Year's Packages give you two houseboat days for the price of one and also include an extra Early Board night free. The idea is to early board, ring in the new year, get a great night's sleep, and then head out for a couple of days away from everything.

Go ahead, choose the festivities of a large party or quiet seclusion and ring in the new year, on the water, at these desert lakes:

Special New Year's Package

Getting the perfect picture for the whole world to see!

They came from England, just two photographers with a mission. They are on a worldwide tour to photograph 30 of the world's greatest natural wonders. Their mission, to produce a high definition production for the Travel Channel called "Planet Earth's Natural Wonders," a program about the most amazing natural places on earth. They came to Lake Powell... in Arizona... "to get a good picture."

Armed with three heavy backpacks, a 42 pound camera, a 38 pound tripod, and guided by our own Arizona legend, Steve Carothers, these two adventurers had the time of their life, boating, four wheeling, hiking, climbing, scratching and even crawling to some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere.

Steve had wondered about these two guys, Bosie Vincent and Ben Protheroe. They had been all over the world and had seen some pretty amazing stuff. Would they be impressed? Would they find some good shots to take? "When they got here, however, they were blown away," Steve reported with a grin on his face. He apparently enjoyed helping them through the change "from what they expected to what they experienced, it really is like nothing else on planet earth here."

The first goal was to get a sunset shot looking over Padre Bay at Alstrom Point. It was a pretty rough and wild four wheel ride trip in the Lincoln Navigator... The next day they headed out on a 75 mile boat ride followed by a hike for about an hour. "It was a hard hike" Steve said. I offered to help them with their equipment but they insisted on carrying their own. "Early settlers could not cross this area" he explained as they hiked, then crawled, and finally hefted their equipment up to that perfect spot with that perfect view that Steve had told them about. A view that only a few can find and even fewer will attempt. It was "pretty demanding hiking just to get this shot," he said.

"The Camera Lens Loved the Lake"

In the morning they left at 6am. The sun was rising as they went up the lake. "The water was as calm as can be," he said. For two hours they rode along in the morning silence with Bosie and Ben constantly asking why Steve didn't stop at all of the "cool spots" they were passing. Steve just replied that they were heading toward a better one. "Anywhere you want to stop," they said, "it can't be better than this." And then it was. Steve smiled a lot that day.

When they arrived at Aleson Arch, Steve told them about the metal case with the ledger, placed there in 1961, and filled with the names of all who had made the journey to visit that spot. They said, "I think we need to do this first." and proceeded to "sign in before taking a single picture."

During those two days of filming, they captured high definition images of much of the area including Lagorce Arch, Padre Bay, the Escalante, Rainbow Bridge, and even some houseboats resting in Gunsight Canyon. At times they were precariously perched 2000 feet above the lake. At other times they were pressed so close against the face of the rocks that a thousand pounds could not have pressed them any closer. They did it all for the perfect shot, a perfect picture for the world to see... our Lake Powell.

Stay tuned for the date and time when you can see what they saw and photographed on the Travel Channel.