New Braunfels

After leaving Austin, I thought we needed a few days to commune with nature. And before we hit the desert, I thought we needed a place with lots of water.  So we headed to Landa RV Park in New Braunfels.  You can chose to stay in the upper lot (which is basically just a gravel parking lot with hook ups) or along the river.  Normally the river sites a more expensive, but since it was off season, all the spots were the same price. We asked for a river site and ended up backing into a site literally inches from a spectacularly clear river. This was the view from our back window...

We immediately got on our suits and went for a dip.  Then we headed into town.  It was a German settlement in Texas--pretty cute.  We looked around, went grocery shopping, and then came home and made dinner.  Our engine had been running rough after Austin, so Marked worked on it a bit after dinner then we went swimming again and went to sleep.

While we were in town, I had noticed a bakery, and not just any bakery, the oldest bakery in Texas.  And you know how I feel about bakeries.  So the next morning the boys and I went out for life jackets and bakery while Mark worked on the engine. 

Judah was a big fan.

When we got back, Mark went into town to pick up some parts, and the boys and I made some friends.

When the ducks took off, it was time to try out the new life jackets.  We had water wings for Judah, but I didn't bring any type of floaties for Sawyer.  I had searched tons of stores along the way for something, but apparently they were out of season, despite the 90* heat.  We wanted to float down the river on tubes later in the afternoon, so I needed something.  We found a sporting goods store and picked up these life jackets.  Sawyer hated his.  HATED.   

But Judah loved it, so I just used J's water wings and a little tube for S and we enjoyed some more river time (but you have to click on the picture and look closely for proof).

After our dip, the kids were exhausted, and for the first time since we had left Milwaukee, they both took a nap while we were stationary.  It was blissful.  I read a book next to the river while they slept.

Mark worked on the engine.

How clear is this water?

After the nap, we all got suited up and went tubing. We rented tubes from the RV office and then they sent a shuttle to come a pick us up at the end of the river.  The whole process took about three hours.  Judah loved it.  He got out of the tube and just floated in his life jacket most of the way.  Sawyer hated his life jacket (did I mention that), so we just held him in our tube.  The river was soooo slow and really shallow, so I wasn't worried.  There were some rapids, but S got his life jacket back on for those spots.  We were all having a great time, until we hit the waterfall.  I wasn't expecting it and smashed full force into a rock with my back.  The picture below is what I have to show for it.  It was still a lot of fun though.  We saw some turtles, ducks, and even a yearling buck drinking from the river.  It was beautiful.  There was a little confusion over where to get out for our pick up.  We got our where we thought we were supposed to, but there didn't look like there was a place to be picked up.  And I was just in my suit and didn't want to go running around the city looking for them.  Mark was over the whole experience, so he waited at that exit just in case it was the right one while J and I went on for the final hour of the trip.  We got out at the right spot and then had the driver pick up Mark and S.   

When we first got to the park, I noticed that there was a young couple parked near us.  I wanted to make friends, but we were never there at the same time.  Finally, about a half of an hour before we were going to leave on Friday, I made contact.  It turns out they had been full timers for about eight years!  They were full of suggestions and even gave us the names of some families who were going to be camped along our way. I am really excited to meet up with other RV families.  It will be awhile before that happens though, we are braving the desert for the next couple of weeks to go check out the Grand Canyon before we hit the coast.  I am dying to get back to water!