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Houseboating One of my favorite things we have done is rent a houseboat with my best friends from middle school and their families. A houseboat is basically an RV on a boat. It has all the amenities you need to feel like you are glamping, but able to access the outdoors easily. We were a group of 14, so we had to find a large houseboat to accommodate us all. We found a houseboat on Lake Ouachita (pronounced Wa-She-Ta), and the area was beautiful! It is about 35 minutes from Hot Springs National Park, and takes you through rolling hills and quiet towns. The houseboat had two bathrooms, six bedrooms, a full kitchen, living room area, (central AC, necessary for summer heat), back deck, front deck, top deck, waterslide, and hot tube. We spent four nights on the houseboat during the week, and it was the perfect amount of time. The company we rented through was Northshore Resort and Mariana out of Jessieville, Arkansas. They were great to work with, responsive, helpful, and kind. If you are nervous about taking a houseboat trip, this is the company to work with! They will drive the boat for you, so you can sit back and relax! Northshore Resort and Mariana Checking InWe decided to do four days because we knew a week would be too long, and 3 nights is too short. You don't check-in until the late afternoon, and then you have to load all of your items onto the boat. This is a process, because you have to carry everything down a pier and onto the boat. It creates quit the bottlenecking and there is no fast way to do this, especially with kids. By the time we got all of ourselves and stuff onto the boat, and took off, the day was almost gone. The company we worked with captained your boat to the best location they can find, so you don't have to worry about driving it if you are worried about that on an unfamiliar lake. We have been on other houseboats, where we drive it. There are pros and cons to both. We enjoyed not having to worry about navigating a new-to-us lake. We also liked that the captain knew the good spots to swim and see great sunsets. They put us right on an island that you could walk around on, swim off the beach, fish in the bays, and watch stunning sunsets off the top of the boat. The con of this is that we were there the whole time. You don't get to move the boat once you are moored. Honestly, the captain said we were in one of the best spots on the lake, with only one other place that would compare. However, this was quite the drive away. The houseboats travel at about 10 miles per hour, so getting anywhere takes time. If you go for a full week, the company will move your boat once complimentary, so you can see other parts of the lake. What to DoOnce we were situated, we had a short night. We got right into the water though and started cooling off. We went in July, and the temperatures were in the 100s while we were there. However, the AC worked great on the boat, and being able to be in the water all day helped us stay cool and refreshed. We spent the rest of the time swimming off the back of the boat, floating on tubes or lilypad, fishing, creating challenges down the waterslide, hiking the shores, and boating. We brought our own boat so that we could tube, fish, and explore other parts of the lake. Having a fishing boat really helps when houseboating. The shores are shale and pebbles, so water shoes, crocs, or some other walking shoe really is necessary to be able to walk around. The other warning I would give is about the bugs. There were bees and biting flies on the shore, so spray is needed. There were several bee stings, so a first aid kit is also a good idea. What to Bring You really need to prepare for a houseboat trip. You are on the boat the whole time, and there is no easy way to get supplies. Plan to bring all your food, drinking water, drinks, clothes, swim gear, and trash bags. Below a is a list of things to also consider bringing.
 The sunsets every night were perfect!
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