Visiting Nick on the Guadalupe River

19 Sep 2009 - San Antonio

Working in Iowa while living in Georgia made it difficult to prepare for an extended period over seas especially in a combat zone. I took off a week early to prepare for the trip.

Before I left, I wanted to see Nick (my son). He lives in Austin. San Antonio was a good place to meet. I arrived in San Antonio after a two hour flight from Atlanta. We drove to Gruene Texas along side the Guadalupe River.

The Guadalupe River in the hill country of Texas is 230 miles long and dumps out in the San Antonio Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. The upper river is a smaller, faster stream with limestone banks and shaded by pecan and bald cypress trees. It is a popular destination for whitewater rafters, canoeists and kayakers. Conditions on the river can change rapidly.

German farmers became the first settlers of what is now known as Gruene in the mid 1840s. Ernst Gruene, a German immigrant, and his bride Antoinette, had reached the newly established city of New Braunfels in 1845. He decided to purchase land just down river and built the first home in Gruene. As the number one cash crop, his cotton business soon brought 20 to 30 families and the town of Gruene was born.

Today, Gruene is once again a thriving community, but for decades it was little more than a ghost town. The authentic, turn-of-the-century look and feel of Gruene has been preserved. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and many of the buildings have been awarded a Texas medallion from the Texas Historical Commission.

For the our weekend, the water level was up after heavy rains the week before. The rapids were fast and rocky as we maneuvered our sit-on-top kayaks down the river.

After about 4 hours and through the last set of rapids just before the take out point my kayak hit a rock and turned sideways. Sideways is the worst possible position dashing down the rapids. Boom! The side of the kayak hit another rock, the boat flipped. I tumbled out. I watched the kayak and life preserver jacket sped down river as I struggled in the current. I remembered to keep my feet down stream as my butt hit each and every rock.

At the bottom of the rapids I was treading water and watched as Nick ran them in fine form. Then he started after my boat and gear.

I still had my paddle in my hand as I looked up to see a bunch of diners standing at the balcony rail watching and pointing. I did not realize until then that I was their dinner entertainment. The restaurant owner built an outdoor dining area just above and overlooking the rapids. He must have known the sound the water would soothe his patrons and ever now and then provide unexpected but anticipated excitement has hapless Kayakers tumbled out and over the rocks as they are separated from their boats.