And that's just to name a few.
I think food is often the highlight of many a person's travels, at least, that of a traveler who actually wants to experience food different from that they can get at home. Unless we're running low on funds or are in a hurry, you don't often find us hitting the chain restaurants.
But, believe it or not, food is not the point of the story I'm about to tell. It was, as I said, a highlight, and it was late in the trip, so it'll be a bit till we get there.
Of course, with our travels, isn't that normally the case?
"Happy anniversary, girls!"
While technically a few days early, this trip was to be a celebration of our third anniversary. Three years ago, we met Brandy, and our lives have been mutually enriched since then. The original plan had been to head out to Glen Rose, get a hotel for a couple nights, go tubing in the Brazos on Saturday, stargazing in Chalk Mountain on Saturday night, then make our way home from there on Sunday.
This is why we shouldn't bother to plan.
We'd only gotten as far as filling up the tank in the Chrysler Concorde (nice car, comfy for long road trips....believe it or not, this point becomes relevant later), when the plan changed to driving to San Antonio that night, and tubing the Comal River again on Saturday, while getting free lodgings at my dad's place.
Oh yeah, I hadn't told the tubing story!
Well, one of the many things Brandy and I did on my birthday weekend was to go tubing in the Comal River. Angela unfortunately wasn't feeling well and couldn't take part. Neither of the girls had ever been tubing before, and I hadn't been since I was a kid. Brandy found an outfitter in New Braunfels, and we paid our money, got our tubes, and set them into the most gorgeous blue-green water. Clear, clean, I think the water in the hill country gets its color from all the limestone it travels over...there's usually not really a lot of mud in there. Algae grows on the rocks, but somehow it doesn't choke the water. As a result, you get beautiful water, like I said, the kind of color that waterparks try to emulate in their tube and log rides.Anyway, I set my tube in the water, got in, and then watched Brandy with a confused look try to figure out just how she was supposed to get into hers. It never occurred to me that it might seem a little weird the first time. I helped her in, and in the process, dropped my sunglasses into the water, so I dunked my head under to retrieve them, so I pretty much started out soaking wet. This trip was off to a good start!
We floated past many many people also enjoying the river, gawking at many a well-filled bikini, until we saw signs warning that weak swimmers may want to move toward shore. I perked up. Oh? This trip might have some fun bits after all. A little bit later, brandy playfully waved goodbye to me as she entered the tube flume and vanished.
I followed a second later, and caught sight of her as we both rushed along the water, bumping into the walls as we went, and shooting out into the short length of rapids beyond. I realized I didn't see her, and scanned the crowds looking for her. I was just getting out of the water to follow the sidewalk back to search, when I saw her strolling down...it seems she had got caught in a small whirlpool, and had to get out and walk. We debated going back to just before the chute and going again, but decided to continue down the river. This time, she flopped down in her tube like an old pro, and soon, we were under the bridge and gone.
Have I said yet just how pretty the Comal is? Along the banks when we first started were the city park, some restaurants that catered to toobers, and I'm pretty sure we even passed Schlitterbahn at some point. But we also saw well, manicured lawns, stone steps leading down to the water from people lucky enough to have waterfront property. We saw some condos with a hot tub and a swimming pool, as well as a gate that let out to a picnic area and steps and a little dock on the water for their residents. We imagined what it would be like living right next to the river, hopping in and swimming or tubing anytime we felt like it, right out of our backyard.
And the trees! Reaching out over the water, providing much-needed shade after having been floating in the sun for an hour. Oak and mesquite and willow and probably more that Brandy could name....all I know is that I saw lots of green, and it made the trip downriver that much more pleasant.
After two very relaxing hours (and one more stint with rapids, and yet again getting separated), we finally were approaching the last toobers exit. Unfortunately, we were a little confused, as we'd seen another exit for a different outfitter a little earlier, and since we didn't see the name of the one we'd used on this exit either, we almost passed it.
When we realized, we quickly paddled over there, and I got my tube out of the water, and looked over to see that Brandy was having some trouble. She'd gone too far, and the water was moving a little quickly for her to paddle against. Worse, she couldn't touch bottom to walk. Worse, she was out of her tube and looking like she was about to lose both it and her cap. I jumped back in the water, and grabbed her tube, telling her to hang on. While I couldn't touch either, I had fortunately been in a similar situation before (one day, I really should post the Brushy Creek story from my childhood), so I could swim well enough one-handed to get us back to the stairs. I got her tube out of the water, and wondered why Brandy took so long to come ashore. She confessed to me afterwards that her shorts had slipped and were caught around her knees, which is why she'd been having trouble swimming herself.
While it would only have cost us a dollar to go again, we'd gotten a late start the first time, so we'd have to try again another time, when we'd have all day. And next time, we hoped to bring Angela along, to initiate her in this meditative, yet fun activity.
This was to be our time, although as we awoke Saturday morning, we found that sadly, another river had begun to flow, and as such, there would be no playing in the water this weekend.
So, as an alternate plan (we're full of those!), I remembered that there was a cavern system I'd been curious about, and Angela had wanted for us to stop at the local Outdoor World for fudge, and they were also talking about running up to Luckenbach for t-shirts. Since it was all roughly the same direction, it sounded like it might work. Besides, when I pulled up the website and found out that Cascade Caverns was so named because they had a 100-foot waterfall inside the cave, I knew this was something we HAD to see.
So, we loaded up, and started out for the day. First stop, a Jim's restaurant. I haven't seen these anywhere but San Antonio....basically the same type of food as a Denny's or an IHOP, but with a very Western theme. I originally wasn't too hungry, but when Brandy decided on a chicken-fried steak breakfast, and then Angela followed suit, I had to do the same, so our lucky waitress had three basically identical orders....although she gave me hash browns instead of grits. I ate way too much...shoulda listened to my stomach to begin with. On the way out, a bit of humor -- a young woman had gone out to her car, and on the way back into the restaurant, she was looking at me, and I swear she put a lot more bounce into her step, cause at least one part of her was bouncing quite a bit more.
Sorry, ma'am...I'm happily taken, twice over.
Next stop was Outdoor World, where they have I think a 50-foot waterfall inside, and they must have kept some lucky taxidermist busy for months with all the exotic mounts in there. If it's an outdoors sport, or if you're just decorating your rustic cabin, they have you covered. We browsed the boats, the fishing supplies, watched them feed their fish (including a 60-pound catfish), and looked a bit at their furniture, but the girls were mostly there for the fudge, while I gravitated up to the camping supplies.
I think I am capable of spending a full day just gawking at camping supplies....whether it's something small and lightweight, a multifunctional tool, something collapsible, or just a neat idea, I love looking at it. I must have added two dozen items to my wish list for gear....a tiny propane lantern with a single mantle design...fits in your pocket - just screw onto a standard 2# propane bottle, match-light, and you're set for 12 hours. I saw a small cot with a tent built onto it, perfect if you don't want to carry bedding separately - pitch the tent, toss in your sleeping bag, and you're good...unless you also want a place inside the tent to store the rest of your gear. I saw a $100 cooking system that included 2 pots, 1 frying pan, 4 bowls, 4 insulated mugs, 4 plates, and a rigid carrying that can be used as a wash basin -- now that shows some thought. I saw hammocks, battery power sources, cast-iron cookbooks, and so many other goodies....the girls had to drag me back downstairs to get me to remember that we had other things planned for the day -- it was already coming up on 2:30.
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