Like clockwork, every year we find ourselves in New Braunfels, Texas to go to our favorite waterpark – Schlitterbahn. This is not like a traditional waterpark as it is a mega-park where the whole experience is divided into 3 sections that you can only connect to by bus. There seemed to have been more water in this area than in all of California!
As part of her 16th birthday celebration that never seems to end (JK!) – we took Ashley and Erica with us this year. The first hurdle we experienced occurred even before we left for our adventure and that was parking. We attempted to park at our assigned lot only to find that the lot was full. Quickly pivoting, we parked at the airport all worried that we were going to be late. Turns out—we were early. The flight only had 50 people on it and we were 4 of those people. We ended up getting whole rows to ourselves!
The flight was uneventful. We landed a smidge past midnight and rushed toward the rental car companies in an attempt to get a car. They closed at midnight, but there were a few straggler employees who were kind enough to let us grab a car. We drove around a bit, stopped at P.Terry (the Austin equivalent of In and Out), hopped down to see the capital, and then crashed for our next day's adventure at the park.
The next morning, I was up early and got kolaches, towels, sunscreen and impatiently waited for everyone to wake up. Ashley was out so “housekeeping” had to knock on the door to get the teenager out of bed. Eventually, we made our way over. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos! The last time we went—Grant’s phone was killed by the heat so we were so paranoid we forgot to take ANY photos. We got the Blastpass that let us cut in front of most lines and got to ride almost every ride there. Interestingly—the park itself closed at 6 pm but remained operational until 7 pm to help with those still in the long wait lines.
After the park, we ate at Los Cucos. It took forever, but eventually, the food came. From there, we drove to San Antonio and wandered around the Riverwalk for a few minutes. Hopefully, Ashley will remember her fleeting moments of the Alamo with great fondness. Realistically, we just hope she looked up from her phone to see it momentarily.
Sunday morning was a blur. Grant and I got up and went to El Mercado. We then drove back and picked up Erica and Ashley. After everyone was reunited, we made our way to La Fonda to eat more Mexican food with Grant’s family. The food was good and so was the company. Once the last bite of churro was had we darted off towards Natural Bridge Wild Animal Safari.
Grant and I have done this a million times, but this was the first time Ashley and Erica did. The park is a drive-thru park where they give you a bag of food/treats for the animals to eat. Once the food is in hand you drive in your vehicle around coaxing animals to come and eat of your hands. We saw lots of fun animals include giraffes, zebras, springboks, and even the dreaded Ostrich. This terrifying bird is always a joy to see and we got an up-close and personal opportunity to feed it. A worthwhile memory.
We drove from there around Gruene and downtown New Braunfels but did not end up stopping. A bit short on time, we floored it and found ourselves at a bakery that Grant found called Tinywood Boxes. The cream-filled brioche covered lightly in cinnamon and sugar was the standout for me. Erica was able to find non-dairy ice cream, so she was in heaven.
Grant wanted to visit his brother, so he dropped us off at a room escape from hell before he took off. The escape room was a bit torturous and my brain did not jive with what the creator had in mind. Organizing cans and then being intuitive enough to know to look at expiration dates to find, which cans were necessary is impractical. Giving us a set of rules and then learning later on that we were to ignore 2, 4 should say Orange instead of Blue, etc. was just unnecessarily complicated. Pass.
While ending on a low light, the other events were highs that shined through. We got through security, ate at a bbq joint, boarded the plane, and landed in no time. Another successful year down with two new recruits in keeping this tradition alive.