My grandpa, Jesse Edwards, died at 1:15 am on Friday, December 18, 2020. I woke up to a text from my dad, immediately called into work (after a bit of crying), and drove down to New Braunfels to be with my family.
My family hadn’t planned on seeing each other until New Year’s Eve, so this unexpected time together was something to cherish — and cherish it we did.
New Braunfels has exactly three trails run by the City of New Braunfels, and two made it into my hiking book.
So between drinks, tears, and storytelling, we went out as a family to both.
Up first: Panther Canyon Nature Trail
If you’ve ever been to Landa Park in New Braunfels, you’ve more than likely hiked this trail. I hadn’t in years and it was a perfect 2 miles through the woods.
My sister Jessica and the kids came out with us, along with Dana & Robert, and Tesla and Whisper. We were a crowd. A sad, tight-knit crowd.
Pepper Jo planned a witch movie she wanted to write the whole time, and Danzig just wandered off the trail at every moment to go “the kid’s way.”
It was lush and green and easy.
Up next: Dry Comal Nature Trail
On Sunday morning, my mom and brother-in-law John joined in on the outing at hike number two. Plus three dogs. (We love our dogs!)
We’ve lived in New Braunfels our whole lives — my mom has been around since the 1970s — and none of us had heard of this trail.
“I always wondered why cars were parked here!” my mom exclaimed as we pulled the car to the far edge of the Little League Baseball fields parking lot.
This hike was a super short trail that just had a bunch of winding trails that crossed over each other. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was refreshing and nice.
After wandering for about 2 miles, we called it a day to head back home.
Family + Nature. What a fantastic combo.
We love you, grandpa.