guadalupe river.

On one of our last days in Texas, Sam and I rented a car and headed out to the Guadalupe River. I used to float the river every summer when I was young. When I was a little girl, we would float with the family. My dad would hook his feet onto our tubes so that we wouldn't float off into the banks. Texas rivers are like the lazy river at water parks. They are slow moving, and cool enough to swim in. It's the traditional Texas summertime activity (along with heading down the the coast.) And on peak days the rivers can be packed, bumper to bumper. When I was in high school, we would all pack into someone's jeep and head down to the river with a cooler of Capri Suns and snacks. You can rent tubes just for your cooler, and hope that it doesn't flip when you float through the "rapids."

It looked like it was going to be a disappointing afternoon when we discovered that it was definitely not peak season, and most of the "toob" rentals were not even open. But, after downing an incredibly greasy burger at a little outdoor stand, we rented a couple of tubes at Andy's. I was so used to floating the river with a million other people, trying to not eavesdrop on the group next to you, and trying to avoid being drenched by a nearby beer can, that it was almost eerie when we first got in. On this day there was absolutely no one on the river--and it was perfect. It was so quiet and peaceful that half the time I think Sam would get antsy and start to paddle us further. I kept having to talk him into just relaxing and letting the slow moving current take us through. The only greenery in Texas lines the rivers in summer. The trees hang overhead providing pockets of shade, and their are small limestone cliffs lining the banks. The roots of the trees are gnarled and tangled, and during this drought they were plenty exposed. The river was a little low, and our tubes scraped the bottom a time or two. But, it was such a perfect Texas end-of-summer day. Now, it's time to say good bye to my tan, and pack the swimsuit away until next year.

I hope you are having a beautiful weekend. Sam and I have been enjoying General Conference, and eating pumpkin pancakes all morning...