A Fun Guadalupe River Weekend

“Hey Bro, it’s my birthday – let’s go have some fun on the Guadalupe River!” It didn’t take me long to make some calls and reservations, load the motorhome, hook up the Jeep, and hit the road for a fun extended weekend on the Guadalupe River.

We can’t resist Gruene, so the first stop was to cruise some of the shops, grab a bit to eat at Cantina Del Rio (a funky small spot just up the hill from the Guadalupe), check out who’s playing at Gruene Hall, and take a dip in the beautiful Guadalupe River. The tacos were tasty, the Margaritas were excellent, and the Guadalupe River was cool and refreshing!

From Gruene, it was a 20 minute drive to Lazy L & L Campground along scenic River Road which crisscrosses the Guadalupe River several times, twists and turns through the trees, and runs up and down some small hills – a scenic ride. Lazy L & L Campground is huge with over three quarters of a mile of tent and RV camping (187 sites) on a bank overlooking the Guadalupe River. They also have sand volleyball, horseshoe pits, tube and raft rentals including a shuttle, and live music on the weekends. School was about to start, so my daughter and our 3 grand kids joined for a couple days of camping and enjoying the river.

Normally, we would rent some tubes, pack a cooler with beer, and jump on the shuttle bus for a float down the Guadalupe River. Before renting we talked to several tubers and thanks to the Texas drought the river is running really slow – a two hour trip was taking around four hours and included a lot of walking the tubes down the river. And the wind was blowing which with slow current meant some of the tubers were going upriver faster than the current would carry them down river. So we filled the cooler with cold beer and appetizers and walked 100 yards from the camper to the river and spent the 103 degree after noon in the cool clear water of the Guadalupe – what a great way to spend the afternoon.

A day on the Guadalupe will make a person very hungry and an Urban Spoon search for the best nearby restaurant took us to Gennaro’s Trattoria in the nearby city of Canyon Lake. Wow, what a fantastic Italian restaurant – very reasonable prices, huge portions, and unique authentic Italian dishes. They had a little bit of everything from pizzas to pastas to some fresh seafood including a whole sea bass in a fantastic sauce and excellent deserts! I waddled to the car and slept like a baby as soon as we got back to the RV.

After a couple days at Lazy L & L Campground we moved just up the road to Rio Guadalupe Resort where we had a two bedroom riverfront cabin and an RV site rented for Friday and Saturday night. Rio Guadalupe Resort is one of our Favorite Texas RV Parks because it has some great pull through full hook-up RV sites, a pool, cabins overlooking the Guadalupe River, tube and raft rental plus a shuttle, and a fantastic location on a beautiful stretch of the Guadalupe River. And there is always lots of great people watching.

The first afternoon was spent sitting, floating, and swimming in the Guadalupe. We’d sit on some rocks in the middle of the river and chat with the tubers nearing the end of their three to five hour float – some were a tad water logged and sunburned and ready to get off the river; others were very tipsy and not sure where they were, but they were lively and funny; and some were being pulled by their kids or a designated sober tube puller! Lots of giggles.

Saturday we spent the day on beautiful Canyon Lake which is about 15 minutes from Rio Guadalupe Resort. Canyon Lake is one of the deepest and clearest lakes in Texas and we had a blast. We found an isolated cove, dropped an anchor, and spend a few hours in the clear cool water. After some BBQ at Baja BBQ at Canyon Lake Marina, we were back on the lake at one of the party coves with limestone bluffs, deep water, and bluffs that were perfect for leaps of faith from over 25 feet above the water. Of course the three grand kids (3, 7, and 8) were the first ones to jump followed by us big brave fearless men!

Once we were all sunburned (not a cloud in the sky, no wind, and 103 degrees!), waterlogged, and all the cooler ice had melted and the beer was starting to get warm, we decided to head home and repack the cooler, sit in the Guadalupe, interact with the tubers, and listen to the live music about 15 feet from the river. That was followed by a delicious dinner of steak and twice baked potatoes and lots of games at our campsite. And a song and dance on the table to celebrate a fun few days on the Guadalupe River!

All of us hated to leave the river and the grand kids were dreading going back to school, so we stopped in Wimberley for a late lunch brunch at Kate’s Place – wow, what a fantastic restaurant that’s quaint with some very good food and reasonable prices. Mimosas, Bloody Mary’s, delicious French Onion soup, outstanding Eggs Benedict, fantastic waffles with fruit and chocolate, and some great salads – what a way to end a fun weekend.