It's good to see the houseboats are doing OK in this "ECONOMY"!!!! How can people afford it? I'm surprised the Park Service has let them continue operating, considering their huge carbon footprint. (cough, cough). Maybe they have "carbon credits" or something!! I wonder where they "beach" those things, considering all of the rules and regulations that go with the Park. Do they have specified beachs or do they have to stay out in the open water? Just curious!! I sure miss the "good old days", ie- 1970 and before........

I loved it this afternoon when I counted just one houseboat at the docks at Northernaire. I have docked at this place since the Kuluvar's and I approve of the houseboats for all kinds of reasons:
1. They bring a lot of money and jobs into this job-poor county. In addition to the welders and cleaners and dock boys, there are they store owners who fill them up with gas, groceries, beer, and fishing gear. They spend time on the lake, leave no permanent marks, and then come back again.
2. They are the most effective examples of the tourist economy that this area has to do a better job of embracing. Fact is, people take summer trips and they prefer places that are welcoming and convenient. The houseboat resorts are just that. Recently, I was asked be a tourist in Coffee Landing where they could find the nearest canoe outfitter. They must have confused us with Cook or Ely or Grand Rapids. We have a paper mill and several scores of federal employees protecting our border from global terrorists dressed up as suburban grandmothers. We hate tourists. And their money.
So when you see six of those boats and the people on them head out into our national park on the third of July, applaud. They have chosen to spend their time and money here.

Despite the coldest July since 1925 -- before even I was here -- 96% of the houseboats at Northernaire are out on the 1/3 of Rainy Lake they can use this side of the new iron curtain descending across North America. Applause.

To respond, it is not a question of people keeping an eye on our borders -- it's the satellites, the unmanned drones, and the scores of government employees that have made this peaceful corner of the world into something that seems like the border between Iran -Iraq. I do carry a passport here now, so when you come, RJ, we could head across the border for a tall one -- maybe with Anton. I have to close up the cabin on August 23 this year as they are forcing me to go back to that drafty castle in Austria again this fall.