It's Memorial Day Weekend here in South Texas, and the highways have been crowded with people heading out to enjoy themselves. The more time I spend here in the Lone Star State, the more I see the amazing diversity of the heritage so many Texans have.

Come south and you'll find all sorts of cities with Spanish names, from El Paso in the west to Corpus Christi in the east, with all sorts of San something-or-others in between. But head a little to the northwest of San Antonio and you'll find a surprising number of towns with German names.

New Braunfels. Bergheim. Boerne. Groene.

I drove to New Braunfels today to see hundreds of Texans enjoying themselves in the Guadalupe River. Some were riding rubber rafts, while others were lounging in inner tubes.

[caption id="attachment_412" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Toobin&#39; on the Guadalupe"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/DSC_0039.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-412" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/DSC_0039-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

Here in Texas, at least, they call it "toobing." I'm not sure why they changed the spelling, but I remember comedian Ron White's funny bit about toobin' down some river for six hours, drinking beer and never once having to stop to pee.

It looked like a lot of fun, but I didn't have a swimsuit with me. I have a feeling that sometime between now and the end of June, when I pack up to return to California, I'll go back and try it.

I love whitewater rafting, but this is almost the opposite of that. I have a feeling you would spend an afternoon in the river and hardly ever even move a muscle.

For someone who has been hiking and exercising as much as I have, that sounds wonderful.