For our family vacation this summer we rented a houseboat on Rainy Lake…. about five hours’ north in International Falls. I wasn’t sure what to expect.
For example, are we on the boat 24 hours a day? What are the sleeping arrangements? And of course, how do I cook for eight people in a houseboat kitchen?
Thankfully, the Internet has a search for everything and you can google “Houseboat Recipes.” For the record a crockpot was the best suggestion and it would never have occurred to me to bring one had I not done a little research on the subject. I pictured Gilligan and the Skipper holding on for dear life most of the time.
Actually our boat had a nice kitchen with a fourburner stove, an oven, microwave and a full-size fridge and freezer. It was really like cooking in a small apartment.
Mike and I were joined by my parents and four teenage boys so we needed lots of food.
My fantasy that we could stop at quaint little “boat stores” along the way for gas and candy was met with an eye roll at the outfitters. Picture a Boundary Waters excursion without the paddling, portaging and sleeping in a tent…voila! You have a houseboat vacation.
Our boat was equipped with a waterslide from the roof for swimming. Not for me…the boys loved it!
At one point when landing in the water they looked up at the motor under the deck to see a giant spider! They came flying in the boat describing this monstrosity…. I didn’t think we had large spiders in Minnesota so I was skeptical.
Our brave teenage guest took a spatula and brushed the spider into a bucket. The proof was amazing! It was the largest spider I have ever seen. A couple of the boys shuddered and grandma was ready to douse it with Deep Woods Off but I took it ashore and let it go.
It was funny how some of the people were totally freaked out and others thought it was cool. How is it decided who will be afraid of what in nature?
For my husband it is bats…. he hates them…he cannot look at them, even if it’s on television. I lived in an old house by Lake Harriet. Bats found their way inside twice the first month I lived there. I would cover them with a dishtowel and carry them outside. I am a big fan of these mosquito eaters. Of course they make me jump but I would not say I have an irrational fear of bats.
Well nature played a dirty trick on me as I was driving to town this week. Near Southbrook, a giant black snake slithered out into the road. I screamed and raised both feet as I drove by in my van! How silly is that? Did I think it was going to jump up through the floorboards and bite my foot? I was embarrassed by my reaction but it was so sudden and subconscious… it helped me to understand that we all cannot be one with Nature.
Never, ever kill a spider,
especially a Daddy Long
Leg …if you do it will rain.
My grandma Isabelle Allard
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of homestyle recipes.
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