Travel, Detours and Adventure

Monday morning Andrea and I left for a couple of days away in New Braunfels. The timing was perfect and the kids were with my mom so it was sure to be a good trip. We were going to stay in some friend’s house (because of their incredible generosity) on the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels.

We left Lake Jackson and it was warm and muggy. By the time we got to Wharton it was raining a little bit. It had already rained enough for there to be road closures. But being the pioneers that we are we pressed on.

As we continued along we got to the turn-off to go toward Garwood (a favorite route of ours taught to us by my dad) and the road was closed due to high water in the Colorado River. So we went through the town of Eagle Lake instead. By the time we got to I-10 in Columbus it was raining so hard it was hard to see and driving was s-l-o-w …

When we got to Sequin we pulled off of the highway to eat at Los Cucos (one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants) and there was deep water flowing over the road. We thought about it for a second or two and then plowed through the water (anything for Mexican food).

After leaving the restaurant with our stomachs extremely full we exited I-10 on 46 to New Braunfels and got a couple of miles down the road and found that the road was closed due to high water. Now we’re kind of worried. Are we going to be able to make it to the house on a river that is probably flooded as well?

Being the pioneers that we still are … we pressed on and took a detour through San Antonio, seeing our trip as yet another adventure in the Stunz marriage. We finally made it to New Braunfels and headed down River Road towards the house. Barely ¼ of a mile down the road there was water flowing over the road enough to keep us from going on. So … we started looking for an alternate route and found one through the town of Gruene (pronounced “green”). As we headed down river road there were places where the water had come off of the hills and washed the road out but our mighty SUV made it through every time.

We made it over the river crossings without and problem even though the Guadalupe was up very high and got to the house. The upstairs of the house is level with the road and the downstairs of the house is level with the river. We went inside and from above there is a balcony and an excellent view of the swollen Guadalupe, which is normally 25 to 50 yards away but is now right out of the back door but receding.

We decided to take a look downstairs and as we walked down the steps there was a weird reflection at the bottom of the stairs. Andrea flipped the light switch on and we saw that the weird reflection was water. After checking to make sure I wouldn’t get electrocuted I stepped into the water which was about calf deep. I went to the back door and opened it and the water rushed out. The good part is that the downstairs of the house has concrete floors and cinderblock walls. The water wasn’t deep enough to get to the mattresses on the beds so really there was not much damage. Andrea and I spent the evening wet-vacing the water out and we had a blast working together. We have always enjoyed working together.

We crashed that evening after a long day of travel, detours and adventure. That pretty much sums up our marriage – travel, detours and adventure. In 16 years we’ve come a long way through some fun stuff and through some hard stuff. And in all of it we have tried to see how good it is.

Tuesday and Wednesday were relaxing days. We sat by the river that went back into its banks, ate at the Grist Mill in Gruene (again by the generosity of others) and Chipotle and spent some time at Starbucks. All of those are favorites of ours.

The three days were great and today on Thanksgiving Day I am grateful. I am grateful for the generosity of others. I am grateful for a wife who is willing to go through the adventure of life with me. I am grateful for so many other things … the list is long.

BTW – If you’d like to rent an excellent house on the Guadalupe this summer, I may be able to hook you up.