Yes folks, I'm quite back again from the last outdoors vacation trip. If it could only be reimbursed by our one and only catch of the trip, this catfish is indeed worth at least $1,350.00 (including tax)

We were treated by a friend to a houseboat from Bidwell Marina at Lake Oroville, California on our 17th Wedding Anniversary.

The Marina viewed from parking lot:


The Marina viewed from a boat:


Plenty of houseboats:


Party boats too:


Sailboats:


All in the wonderful lake Oroville. the brochure tells all:

This is the houseboat, driven by Captain Joe Real:


It is quite big, able to sleep 20 or more people comfortably, and for a party, perhaps 40 people:


Houseboat docked on one of the choicest coves with private beach all to ourselves:


It has several spacious air conditioned cabins:


An upperdeck where you can setup a tent or parties or simply for the view.



Spacious kitchen:


Front yard porch with barbecue grill:


Several sleeping quarters:


and many other amenities. The houseboat has several more features than an RV, aside from being a lot bigger.

Catfish ? Joe you have to come down south to catch catfish





Just kidding. Looks you you had a great time.

Laaz, I always dream of doing that. Our catfish here are lean because of colder water. You'll have to take me to catfishing spots. I hope this is not one of those where you have to dive underwater and wrestle with a catfish that you pull from a hole.

More pics to come.

I still have
The Crew
The Lake
And what we did there.

Okay, Here's some of the International Crew:

In the back is yours truly, the very rarely photographed, Captain of the expedition: Joe Real. In front of me is our very young but extremely talented Canadian Mechanic who was here for a visit.


Then the Mess Hall Crew: To your left is a friend in Davis who came from the Philippines. In the middle is my pretty daughter, and to the right is my beautiful wife.


Here's my crazy co-pilot, my oldest son, thinking that he is Captain Ron, half naked:


And the most charming family member, my youngest son, another co-pilot, driving the boat when the nearest damageable object is a couple miles away and our top speed is 10 mph!


My youngest is really charming fella, already surrounded by pretty girls at his age:


And here's our Canadian mechanic, trying to recover from last night's party:


We also have a Brazilian Friend:


A backup party to shuttle us to and fro from where we will dock each day. It is hard to move the big boat around when you only need one or two people to ferry to and fro:


An American, Korean and Japanese all came to join us. That reminds me of all of my multi-grafts.

Great photos Joe.

Naaa... you don't have to jump in the water to wrestle the catfish, but the gators are another story...

Full Speed ahead:


The lake has dropped down about 25 ft, but it is 900 ft deep. So it is at 97% maximum capacity, and we are going into the wet season soon.







Hiway 162 bridge, a lot smaller than the Golden Gate, but this one is greener. We will drive underneath it to find our ideal cove.


We Claim This Cove for our Houseboat!








Sunset at Cove


Night time at cove


Sunrise at Cove



Wildlife:

Who cares about catching catfish when you have scenery like that!

Nice Trip-- Nice Family!

Skeet

That's true!

There are no cell phone access too!

The only downside is that there is no citrus forumup org!

Here's of a sampler of what we did there!

Sightseeing.


Joy riding on Speedboat. This baby can go to a little over 65 mph, then everything seems to be blur.



We needed the speed boat to pull this thing. It was not allowed by the rental to have the houseboat pull the tube. We went tubing, as we forgot to bring them waterskiis!



Just take a nap anytime you want!



Kids love swimming. I went swimming too, around evening time, hoping to chum the water with my sweat before going night fishing.



Ah yes, the most important part, taking pictures. Sorry we can't show you the "BOLD" ones, it might be censored.



We went fishing in the middle of the lake, I think my friend snagged a tiny chub that he quickly returned.



The main event is always cooking.



With an international crew to feed, exotic menus are a must!


Don't forget the barbecue!



And kids cannot escape their homework!

Not shown are my exotic wines, and plenty of calamondin fruits that we use to marinate.

Speaking of which, I buried some seeds in the ground above the highest water line.
I hope that the soil will not erode come rainy season and the calamondin will germinate.
Unfortunately, Lake Oroville is a lot colder than Davis, so I don't know if the Calamondins will germinate and grow there.

someday you might be surprised that there are Calamondins around the lake, growing wildly.

I didn't do it!

I don’t want to be left behind so I will post my “fish Story” too.
Salmons I caught at Monterey bay.






Halibuts and rock cods

Benny, when did you catch those?

Those are beautiful fish. The wild salmon and Halibut are rated as very good, healthwise. Also very good tasting.

Here's the article telling us that eating fish is still a lot better than eating livestock and poultry even if the fishes are contaminated.

Here's the news
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6284911
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6283446