River Trip

I floated down a river and survived this weekend.

Nick, Tony and I began the journey to New Braunfels Friday afternoon… There were 25 of us staying in three small homes. It was amazing! Everyone decided to float down the Comal Friday night... It was freezing as the trees hid the sunshine! On the first rapid my dry hair was gone… After the small river trip we all gathered at the house and cooked. It was a blast getting to know everyone. In our big group included Katie, a foreign exchange student from England who decided to live here… Joy, an exchange student from France who is now marrying an American… and Anna, originally from Russia! I had a great time getting to know their cultures and hearing them talk in their neat accents. They think I have a very distinct Texan accent! Joy made me laugh with her interpretations of American language. I loved it. We went down to the river at night and some people waded through the shallow waters, but I sat back on the rocks and looked at the stars. It was so peaceful and the air was filled with laughter. I cannot even put this night into words… so much excitement and so much fun. In the house I stayed in there was one bedroom, a pull out couch, a loft bedroom and two air mattresses. It was so hard to get sleep with people coming in and out all hours of the night! The morning came all too soon…

We gathered our 25 people, four coolers and jumped on the buses headed for the Guadalupe four hour trip bright and early! Now… floating in a raft with the sunshine hitting me and being surrounded by wonderful people… that’s my idea of a dream! We had such a great time! Nick and Anthony enjoyed jumping out of trees like small children and I found me a new Italian lover with Gian-Carlo. He is really from Italy! I was having fun teasing him. My favorite friend was Donna from Lamesa. Small town gal! We had fun talking about West Texas. By the end of four hours everyone was worn out. A few had too many beers so they were ready to sleep and most of the rest of us either had tube burn, sunburn or just burnout! Joy, Anna, Katie, David and I were lagging behind as we got stuck somewhere so we just enjoyed talking the last thirty minutes chilling without the big group. I almost fell asleep in my tube. I was exhausted, but it was so worth it!

After a long nap Nick and I walked to a hole in the wall Spanish restaurant. It was amazing! We enjoyed the food so much. When we got back everyone was very tired. My initial thought was to take a million photos. Nope. Everyone was tuckered out. We all just watched television and hung out in the houses. Imagine… about fifteen people in a small living area sprawled across couches and air mattresses. It was great! I tried to go to sleep early, but the boys thought it was crucial to awaken at 2 AM to watch the Olympics basketball game. We wanted to kill them. Needless to say… not much sleep that night!

Sunday was Tiffany’s baby shower in San Antonio… I was sad to leave all of my new friends, but so excited to see Tiffy. I made Nick go in and say hello to all of my friends. He didn’t enjoy walking into a sea of women, but they loved him. He left me there… we had a blast. It amazes me that Tiffany is so special and so blessed by good friends that of her eight bridesmaids in her wedding a few years ago – THEY WERE ALL THERE! Including me from Dallas and Chrissy from San Francisco! Baby Hailey Josephine will be welcomed in loving arms for sure… We played games and ate all organic food prepared by Lindsay. Awww good times.

Then Nick, Tony and I began the adventure home. A long way home… Wow… Dad and Brenda returned yesterday from their cruise so I got to hear all about their excitement as well.

Fun was had all around the country, it seems! We got in late last night with smiles upon our faces. We were sleepy, but it didn’t seem to matter. The good times, new friends and wonderful memories will keep us alive and awake with excitement. Wow… God is good.