I call it Hell.
Actually, it’s just the prep work that’s hell.
Once we actually get to where we’re going,
It’s pure Heaven.
Friday we leave on our annual trip to Leakey, Texas (Population 387).
It’s in South Texas hill country where the landscape is absolutely gorgeous.
We rent a house on the Frio River with our friends the Gustafson’s.
There is no cell service, no Internet, we do have satellite TV but that’s about it for frills.
We have to bring all our food and drinks for the week; there are few options for securing the few things we inadvertently forget to pack.
There is a small general store with an old fashioned soda fountain, and we can usually find what we need at the gas station in town (including pizza).
Every day is the same.
I wake up leisurely, sit on the deck overlooking the river while consuming massive amounts of coffee and read my book.
One by one the kids wake up and head down to fish or swim.
Gus and Mike make a huge breakfast, Mo goes on her run.
A few hours later, it’s time to head upstream.
We pack up our tubes, our kids and our cooler (overflowing with cold soda’s and adult beverages) and head to one of the many entry points on the river to float back downstream.
Each float takes anywhere from 3 to 6 hours, depending on the entry/exit points we choose.
We stop at deep swim holes along the way and swing from tree ropes.
We rate each other on form and finesse; the longer the float, the more cranberry vodka’s consumed, the less the finesse!
We meet new friends along the way, fellow floaters often trading their choice of beverage for ours.
We’ve learned over the years to have the truck's packed with snacks for the ride back to the house.
We get out of that river famished; each kid has their face buried in a bag of crap all the way home!
Once back, it’s shower time, light the coals on the bar-bi and commence to throwing together a hardy evening meal.
By nightfall, we’ve played some games, watched home movies from trips past, roasted marshmallows for smore’s and told plenty of tall tales.
The kids stay up late as we parents fall one by one into bed for a long nights slumber.
Morning comes early in these parts.
And we get to do it all over again.
See you in about a week!
