The Hurricane Ike Chronicles: The Evacuation

Well folks, so sorry it has taken me this long to get back to the blog. We are doing just fine! Power was restored at our house last Thursday, but I missed an entire week of work at my real job, plus we've had tons of post-Ike clean-up, and the closing of the shop (whole separate post coming on that topic alone)...so I've been in catch-up mode all this week since the hurricane...Thank you SO much for your concern and prayers for me and my family during this ordeal - I sincerely appreciate it!

I have quite a few photos to share from our adventures with Ike, so I broke up the story into two installments: this one, "The Evacuation", and the next post, "The Aftermath".

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As I mentioned in a previous update, my Mom and Dad and John and I (and sweet Maddie of course) evacuated on Friday September 12th in advance of Hurricane Ike to Huntsville Texas, about an hour north of the north end of Houston. My brother is a track coach at the university there and he offered to shelter us in the Athletic facilities during the storm. The school had its own backup power source so we were assured to never be without power for the duration of the stay. So for three days, this is where we called home...

(I need to state again that we had it SO very good compared to the folks who rode out the storm closer to the full fury of its impact - in retrospect, our evacuation experience looks silly and frivolous by comparison, but it is our real story nonetheless...)

Maddie, Our Evacuation Mascot


Of course Maddie thought this whole adventure, though confusing at times, was quite fun, and all about HER...

Hanging out with her Daddy is one of her most favorite things to do, no matter where are...
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How We Slept

Well....if you take 8 of these....(note the cushy seats)

...you can make one of these...

Not too bad a bed, all things considered...Johnny and I created these Friday night, and by Saturday night, the rest of the family did the exact same thing. It was far better than sleeping on the floor.
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Evacuation is All About the Food

Our makeshift kitchen - a card table stocked with the finest in disposable tableware...

A healthy, well-balanced assortment of food is essential for an effective and efficient evacuation, but this is what we had instead....

Maddie is more than willing to do her share to help with the kitchen chores...

My brother reluctantly allows me to to carefully document the making of a grilled ham and cheese sandwich - what decent foodie blog post doesn't include step-by-step pictorial instructions for creating culinary masterpieces...?

And if you've never simply dumped 2 cans of chili in with a pound of Velveeta cheese and heated it in a crock pot....

...then poured it over tortilla chips...well, you haven't lived...

...now that's evacuee epicurean excellence!
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How We Passed the Time

Whenever we managed to take a break from eating too much of all the wrong things, we were able to set up information central with 2 laptops, wireless Internet with streaming news of the hurricane's approach, and a stack of Romantic Homes and ME Home Companion magazines...all the essentials for being well informed as well as inspired!

Sometime early Saturday morning, when the storm reached Huntsville, we lost cable (how tragic), but never fear, the university backup power kept all the power on the entire weekend, so we were able to do things like watch DVDs in the plush executive suite at the school's stadium to pass the time...

We were really suffering...

I know Maddie, it was a "tough" weekend....but you were a real trooper!

Seriously, we were so grateful to have had this safe haven to run to from the storm - I am so glad we decided to ride it out there rather than at home. My other brother and his family opted to stay home and they said it was the most terrifying 24 hours of their lives...
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Well, what followed this weekend respite was not nearly as fun as we hit the road and travelled back home and faced a real mess. I will tell that tale and share more photos in the next installment of The Hurricane Ike Chronicles: The Aftermath - please stay tuned...

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"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1)