Late Fall Cruise

It's the end of October and the weather is predicted to change for the worse so we took a late Fall cruise on the Mississippi River. The river levels have receded enough now it is safer to cruise the river without having to worry too much about floating debris. The leaves have all changed their colors and are now gone, everything is turning brown waiting to be smothered in beautiful white snow. As we take our cruise we enjoy some unusual warm temperatures and a very quiet river. One of the items we have to perform on our last cruise is to stop at the gas dock and have the septic pumped out for the last time in 2010. We returned to our dock slip and started some preparations for winterizing the houseboat but not too quickly as the weather is too nice not enjoy it as long as possible. We look around the marina and a lot of the smaller boats have already been pulled out and taken to be winterized which gives houseboating a huge advantage as you have the option to freeze them in the water allowing more time. Houseboaters are always the last ones out and the first ones in. Of course even if you freeze the houseboat in the water there is still the winterizing process to go through for the water lines and the engines.  Now we spend the time on our houseboat reminiscing our past adventures and start to plan for our next adventures.

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Football Redneck Style

 Another nice October Fall Day was upon us and it was time for another Green Bay Packer Football game. We set up our TV, antenna(redneck style), chairs, snacks, and umbrella, let the game begin. We were joined by some friends for the game and it was a little cool but sunny making it a comfortable day. We even had some other visitors come and join us for the first time, Woody the Wood Duck and Malfoyd the Mallard.

Woody and Malfoyd

They only stayed long enough for a few chips and then were on their way. They also noted how we had our antenna set up to watch the game. We don't have satellite or cable hookup so we need to use rabbit ear antennas and with the new digital signal it can be difficult to get a strong signal so we need to come up with ways to get a good signal for a specific channel. As you can see in our photo of our football party we had to set up our antenna redneck style.

Green Bay vs. Miami

The instructions for a proper redneck antenna set up are:  Rabbit ears, old plastic bucket, long enough coaxial cable, and a homemade umbrella stand. First put bucket upside down on umbrella stand and then balance rabbit ears on bucket and adjust antenna until you get a strong enough signal to watch and hear the entire game. CAUTION: If you have two dogs like us be always aware that during an exciting play dogs will get excited too and run around causing antenna system to fly everywhere and a fast and precise set up will be needed. After the main game ends and you want to watch another game on another channel arrangements will have to be taken at that time.
After an afternoon of football we retired to the indoors of the houseboat and ordered pizza to be delivered and enjoyed a cool, Fall evening only houseboaters could enjoy.
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October Fall Colors Cruise

We can't ask for any better weather than we are having now here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley with the temperatures ranging in the upper 70s to low 80s. This time of year the average temperatures are in the 50s and 60s. We have been taking full advantage of  the wonderful weather we are having by hanging out, grilling, and watching football. The Mississippi River levels are still high around 10 - 11ft. so a lot of boaters are giving up early and pulling their boats out and starting to winterize them, but not here at Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley we are staying till the end. We took a nice cruise on Monday and there was only about a half a dozen boats on the Mississippi River. We cruised down river from Port of La Crosse to Genoa,WI and enjoyed all the beautiful Fall colors. This time of year is a leaf-lookers paradise with the leaves showing their golds, yellows, reds, oranges, and burgundys. We took some great photos for all to see what you can expect when you visit the Upper Mississippi River Valley in October. Port of La Crosse is located in Pool 7, it spans from Lock and Dam #7, La Crescent,MN to Lock and Dam #8, Genoa,WI. This is the area our photos came from on this cruise, but all up and down the Mississippi River Valley the colors everywhere are breathtaking.
            There is so much more to see and viewing it from the river is a great experience the whole family will enjoy. If you can't go by boat a cruise in your favorite vehicle along the Great River Road also known as Hwy 35 in Wisconsin also offers beautiful views of the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The link we provided takes you to a web site that gives more in-depth information about all the towns, cities, and businesses.
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A Beautiful Fall Morning

Sunrise Port of La Crosse

It's a beautiful October fall morning as we write this blog, the sun is rising over the Port of La Crosse which is the beginning of another great day here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley.  Our early morning wake up call came in the form of a helicopter flying overhead going to a local hospital and nearby duck hunters firing at flying ducks it sounded like the United States was under attack and all we had on the houseboat to defend ourselves was a fishing pole and a can of worms. With the high water the duck hunters are able to get to places they never could before bringing them close to the Port of La Crosse, under normal conditions the river levels are very low and in the years past you would only hear distant pops.
The Fall colors are now at their peak and it is one of the best times of the year to visit the Upper Mississippi River Valley and cruise the river because the views are breathtaking. Here is an early morning photo of a commercial barge in the distance coming up the Mississippi River at 7:00amToday we have a Green Bay Packer Football Party planned on the houseboat with the weather forcasting temps in the 70s to 80s. The skies are perfectly blue and the sun is warm making this day perfect. On Monday Houseboating Excursions will take a Fall cruise on the Mississippi River and bring you breathtaking photos of what you can see when you come to the Upper Mississippi River Valley.
Continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Upper Mississippi River Valley as we cruise and explore more destinations and provide more information, adventures and resources. Please Don't Move Firewood and Help Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers.