Houseboat 2006

I can't keep track of how many houseboats I've been on over the years. I'd say more then 10, but less then 20. But perhaps 20. Maybe. They get hazier and hazier as I get older. Perhaps that's due to the alcohol consumption as I've gotten older. Up until I was, say, 21, the ratio of alcoholic drinks to skis per day was 0 to 3. Now, I'd say it's more like 6 to 2. I certainly don't remember doing much more then playing cards and water skiing when I was 10. I certainly don't remember much at all as a 31-year-old.

Houseboat 2006 was a lot of fun and it was so nice to be back after a 3 year absence. If you want the PG-13 (or R-Rated) version, you may want to check with Karin's Chronicles (just ask her what her catch-phrase of the week was), and if you want the pictorial version, you may want to check out Swiss Miss (she and Mr. B took over 500 photos between the two of them), but if you want my version (AKA Mingle's Meltdown) then please stick with me here...

The theme of the week was "Backflips!" Our new friend Tim joined us this year and was a crazy man when it came to special dives, jumps and leaps (in a chair) off of the houseboat. We caught on to his excitement and all tried doing backflips off the back of the boat. A couple of the braver ones did it off the top, but to my recollection none of us ladies did. I was impressed enough that I was able to do a backflip off the back of the boat without losing my swimsuit in the process.

There were lots of tumbles and crashes in the water as everyone spent the week wakeboarding, skiing, and surfing. Wait, wait - surfing? yes, that's right. One of the new toys this year was a small surfboard type thing that we tried out. Once you get up (which fortunately is quite easy) then you try to ride the boat wake as if on a surfboard. I particularly liked this one because I was not bound to the board and we traveled at very low speeds so falling usually did not hurt. I cannot say the same about the wakeboard however. I have not quite grasped the whole 'edge' thing, and caught the front edge real good, which led to huge face-plants - so hard it literally knocked me out of my boots. Twice. In a row.

My face-plants occurred on Tuesday and for the whole week after that I suffered different amounts of dizziness which continue even now. However, a visit to the doctor today confirmed that, NO, it was not a head injury. Somehow, I came down with a case of vertigo, which is a result of a virus in the inner ear. Unfortunately there is no medication for it, I just have to wait it out (hopefully no more then another week).

I was ecstatic when I learned on Monday that Mr. Mingle would be joining me up at the houseboat on Wednesday. Once he arrived, he joined us wakeboarding and surfing, but also spent at least 2 hours a day hiking. On his first hike he even came across a bear in the woods, which fortunately was more scared then he was and ran away. Of course this also prompted Krin to sing my famous bear song from Girl Scouts over and over again for the rest of the trip. "The Other day...the other day...[Mr. Mingle] saw a bear...Mr. Mingle saw a bear..." He was also the only one to spend any significant amounts of time on land and take photos from a perspective other then at lake level:

In summary, I'd say the following words sum up the trip for me: Butterflies, Backflips, Booze, Beauties, Falls and Fashion. We were on the lake for a full week with no shower, except for the natural bathing in a lake, so naturally we were bound to have beauties and fashion. Booze just masked everything, including falls.

Butterflies

Each morning these visited our front deck, sometimes up to about 30 at a time

Backflips

Krin gives the backflip a shot

Booze

Tim saves the booze!

Falls

Mr. Mingle is caught in the act of falling

Fashion

The men take home fashion awards this year

Mr. Obus shows us that no glasses or hat are too big

Mr. Mingle knows how to arrive with style

Beauties

Swiss Miss shows off her butterfly glasses

Mrs. Mingle has fun with her glasses