Escape Off the Grid to a Sweet Houseboat on a Peaceful Lake
Rent a houseboat for the ultimate dog-friendly escape to the outdoors, especially for over-scheduled families
A lake without lakefront homes is truly a vision of beauty. You feel transported to another time before human development scarred the landscape. It doesn’t matter what time it is or what day it is when you’re on the lake. We wake up when it’s bright and we head to bed once it gets dark. We nap when we feel like it; we eat our favorite comfort foods, and our dogs can wander off-leash on the shoreline, jumping in for a swim when they feel like it. A trip to the lake feels like a real escape.
For the past 20 years, my husband and I have made annual treks to Shasta Lake and rented a houseboat. House boating has always been an escape for us, as everything slows down once you’re on the lake. During the first few years, the two of us and our little terrier mix, Scrappy, happily rented the smallest houseboat (37' long x 14' wide). Once we had kids, we upgraded to a larger model (47' x 14') as we needed more space for all the extra baby gear/toys. It was less relaxing while the kids were awake until they were older and more capable of independent reading or relaxing on inner tubes.
