July 8, 2009

New Braunfels Tubing Trip, Part III: The Aftermath

After each camping adventure, I like to solicite input and after-thoughts about the trip. This is my fellow campers opportunity to put in their own two cents on the blog. So here it is, Part III (the finale) of the New Braunfels series.

What was the worst thing that happened?
Brent says: The sunburn!! Also, the river water was too low.
Joe says: The absolute worst was having to drop a deuce in the raunchy porta-potties before I discovered where the restrooms were. The next worst thing was when I ripped up my foot by jumping into the river barefoot
Kristi says: I got a monster headache the first night, and while everyone was out joking and giggling, I was laying down in my tent waiting for the Aleve to kick-in. Running a close second, my husbands injury which was a serious downer. Then, I had to nurse him back to better.
Jimmy says: Ditto, Brent. The river was too low and I got a sunburn.

What was the funniest thing that happened?
Brent says: “There are SO many!?!” The first night we had a major case of the giggles – everything was funny. That was also the night that Jimmy decided to take his tube for a test drive. He must have tried 5 times, in the dark, to get into the tube – he hadn’t found his technique yet.
Kristi says: Oh, Bless his heart. My husband was so melo-dramatic…”EE-MER-GIN-SEE!! Everybody STOP what you are doing! I think I broke my foot!” …Joe stupidly jumped into the river without water shoes or sneakers and ripped up the bottom of his foot. Everything is more dramatic when you’ve been drinking all day. Just ask anyone that was there, this was by far the funniest thing that happened.
Jimmy says: “He-He-He. There are couple of them”. Brent was in a goofy mood the first night and had us all giggling. That weird guy crossed over from the other side of the river with his guitar and was improvising songs.
Joe says: I forgot how to bong a beer right.
Joe says: A funny thing happened on the drive to NB. A suburban of what appeared to be a bunch of college kids was driving crazy. I have little patience for poor drivers. So when the suburban cut us off, I pulled up next to the driver and flipped them the bird. We passed the suburban and didn’t think anything more about them. A few minutes later, they pull up directly in front of us and three full moons were pressed up against the back window. We burst into laughter. I guess this was not the desired response, so they proceeded to moon us several more times over the next few miles. We gave them a friendly tap on the horn and give them thumbs up. It was too funny to stay mad. To bad Kristi didn’t pull the camera out fast enough…

What was the best thing that happened?
Jimmy says: The steak was BAD ASS! It was right on time.
Joe says: Hanging out. “I have no one defining moment…What was the best thing? Oh! Finding the toilet!” We spent the first half day using what were easily the most disgusting porta-potties ever. Late into the first night, Jimmy discovered the real restrooms. They were a little further away, but worth the walk.
Brent says: I meet a new friend – a lady friend from Houston.
Kristi says: I did not get a sun burn! I was the only one that did not get burned in some shape or form. Thank you SPF 50. Plus I had a great time with everyone on this trip.

What will you do differently next time?
Joe says: (1) wait until the river flow is higher, (2) know where the bathrooms are before you need them.
Jimmy says: Take my own tube and implement the two car method where you park one care at then end and another car at the beginning and go back to get the other car at the end. I would rather find a cheap hotel and have somewhere to go cool off.
Brent says: “More frequent sunblock application.”

Kristi says: I will check out another camp ground. The place way stayed had sooo much potential. But they just didn't keep up with things like they needed to. They need to swap out the porta-potties more frequently and clean the restrooms/showers more frequently.

What item(s) do you wish you had brought with you?
Brent and Jimmy say: “More Beer!” They concluded that they need to keep 2 or 3 in the trunk for reserves.
Joe says: A hat. I had to buy one.
Kristi says: Usually when we camp we don’t have the luxury of electric hook up. So, I didn’t think to bring any electronics. However, it might have been nice to have a box fan in the tent. If I go back in the dead of summer to another camp site with electric hook-ups, I think I will bring a fan.