Susan,
I'm glad you're back home safe! Any damage to your place?

The wind just blew off some of the ridge vent on the house and lots of branches in the yard. No big deal. I have two brothers that live in Texas. There houses were not damaged and they have been told there will be no power for several months. One of them is going to bring his family to Houston to be with her family and the kids will be able to go to school over there until they get power. My other brother does not have kids just 6 cats and 2 dogs which are at my house right now. Yall take care and see ya on the beach real soon.

Susan

That's good news about your house Susan, but not good about your brothers family. I don't think a lot of people really understand what a shock it is for the hurricane victims to be displaced from their homes, jobs, and customary way of life, until something forces them into homelessness. And if people don't have a financial means of paying for suitable accomodations and travel expenses, then they're at the mercy of relying on friends, family, or strangers to help them. I can only imagine what that would be like!

On wendsdaywe decided that it was past time to leave and I had chosen to work most of the day closing the mill t5hat i work in.This was a decision that I feel was wrong.All day I had a feeling of very high anxiaty that was way beyond what you would call stress.
I had gone to galveston on tuesday and picked up Cris Lang ,knowing he had no way to leaveSarah and I adopted him for the durationalong with pets and my daughter.
Its very hard to look at your life and say I need this and not this,Grab what you can and walk away.Our inventorywas,Grill.2ice chests,tools ,tents and shade.non essintials were 1 kite and a skateboard,camera.
We thought that backroads would be best so we got on Main street(old 90)and went west in 2 trucks ,set up to be one way if need be(no destination but west)We got to the extremities of Houston before we saw what I already knew,we left 24hours to late and the traffic was already at a standstill.For the next 13 hours we inched along the road felling the tension build around us but realizing every mile we were better off.
Finnaly we get to Columbus at 1:30 pm andIts a total zoo,no gas angry tired people everywhere and roads gridlocked .We had a meeting and decided to go back 5 miles(outof gas)and take a country road away from the masses.This was our only reasonable decision and the police were tring to keep all on the highway.the road we took had an outlet near la Grange and luckily there was gas but I didnt know that and my truck was out.We stopped under a the shade of a few pine trees and watched mo kitty have a heat stoke(not really but it was not pretty)while we reason our next move.
Sarah sugguested that we go knock on a door and ask for Gas.I was aprehensive but that was the only thing left to do.
The namless resident of this beautiful counrty home was so happy and eager to help us that it made us cry,we got the gas we needed to get to La Grange and make it to my employers(and friend)ranch.
Honey Creek Ranch is on the upper Guadalupe river near Keerville.Right below the Carter ranch(houston Arms dealer)Family ranch.My boss and a majority of his employees were on the way and we had an open invite to hole up there.About 40 peops ended up there ,lots of kids and things to do to clear your head of the events past.The entire group played well and provided for one another and the mode turned fesive as we ate,drank,and be merryed.
we knew there was an old fish pond all concrete and smooth,so I showed the kids that they could skate and bike in it ,so Honey Creek now has a skatepark....Movies to come.
It was a very hard decision to come home ,with the gas shortage and all.Looking at the downside of a terrible drive is hard on your nerves.Honey Creek has no t.v.'s so all news is hard to trully grasp.But my fear was unwarrented and the drive was good.All the clan has been taken home and kittys are home and happy.when we got there the damage was non existent
Our lesson to be shared is
1,Listen to your heart
2,Be resonable and gether thoughts from your peers
3,NEVER spell ck:wink2:
4,Count your blessings and thank God for them always
5,Dont rely entirlly on your car.Take a bike for each person
Not at all in order but you get the jest of it all.
Thank you all for the offers and kindness.
see ya on the beach,
Rick Mcgaffey

Rick,
I hear your story and 1000's of other that are simular to the evacuation.Things have been learned from this experience that will help you think things through the rest of your lifes.Over all dont panick and look at the big picture.We now have a way to troubleshot forthe next time.At work we have spent the last 2 days listing and

Rick and Sarah,
I'm so glad ya'll exscaped without injury and are now safe in your own home! Thank God for kind strangers like the ones that gave you gasoline!

I've never been stuck in a hurricane, but in the summer of 1977, I was working up in Alaska on Salmon boats. We were out at the mouth of the Kuskakwim river just SE of the Bering Straight that seperates Alaska from Russia, and were loaded up with King Salmon. Our boat was a smaller 35 ft fishing vessle and was riding fairly low in the water because of the load of salmn and ice we had on board.

Within a short time a storm blew in and swells were getting huge, when all of the sudden the hull of the boat cracked and water started gushing in, much faster than the pump could pump out. the 5 of us decided that we wouldn't stay a float much longer, so we aimed the boat toward shore which was about mile away. By the time we got 1/4 mile from shore, we went down with all of our salmon. The outside temps were upper 50's and the water was high 30's. We had our life jackets on and grabbed what we could. We all floated and swam to shore, but where we realized that we hadn't grabbed but two gallons of fresh water and one box of sailor crackers.

Our land location consisted o tundra, which is very bare with no trees and bushes, and the ground is covered with mossy type vegitation. Although we managed to bring some water proof matches, we had nothing to burn to start a fire. However, a couple of our large plastic containers that we use to pack the salmon in floated ashore and we used them to stayout of the rain and wind. We huddled together inside these containers to stay warmer. After the first day stranded, we all began slight hypothermia, dehydration, and slight starvation. Like I said before, we had only 2 gallons of fresh water, and one box of crackers to last us, and were laying around in wet cloths.

After 3 days of being stranded, a barge passing by spotted us and came to our rescue. The only way we survived the ordeal, was because the fishing company's owner's grandson was on board with us, and had had a small stash of cocaine. Taking the cocaine kept us alert and awake, so we didn't die of hypothermia. We also rashioned our box of crackers and water. Not much for three days and 5 guys. But that was back in the days when I was in great physical shape, so I was more resilant than I would be now if I were to endure the same situation.

One of the first things we were given on the fishing barge to drink after being rescued, was seal oil. At that point, we didn't care, we were happy to be rescued and given something to drink. Evidentally, sela oil is suppose to be very good for fighting off dehydration.

Several hours later we were back safe in Bethel, Alaska where our home fishery was located. We all were brought to a small hospital to be checked out and where fluids could be put back in our bodies. We stayed in the hospital for 24 hours and then were released.

glad to hear all is well.
it could of been worst.
i was on pins and needles
the hole time watching the weather channel.
worrying about you guys.

hey troy
remind of the time i got lost in the woods for a day and half
when i was nine.

Quote:

Originally posted by bugymangp hey troy remind of the time i got lost in the woods for a day and half when i was nine.

Glenn,
I imagine that was a tramatic experience for you at 9 years old!

hey troy
i really wasn`t that worried until the sun went down.
i just sat under a tree and cried my self to sleep. they found me the next morning still sleeping.
what really scared me was when my father got hold of me.
i couldn`t sit down for week. if you know what i mean.

Quote:

Originally posted by bugymangp hey troy i really wasn`t that worried until the sun went down. i just sat under a tree and cried my self to sleep. they found me the next morning still sleeping. what really scared me was when my father got hold of me. i couldn`t sit down for week. if you know what i mean.

Glenn,
I've had my butt blistered many times myself for doing stupid things!

One of the worst things I ever did, was when I was mad at my friend that lived next door. We were playing in his tree house and we had a argument over who would play with the toy cap gun first. I climbed down the tree, grabbed a gas can that was sitting close by, and poured gas on the tree trunk. I found some matches on his back porch and lit the tree on fire, with my friend still in the tree house!

Fortunately for my friend, his mom peeked out the window of the house and saw the fire, and then she came out quickly, grabbed the water hose and put out the fire!

I got my butt whipped by his mom with a ping pong paddle, and by my mom with the infamous spanking belt that me and my brother's always feared, and I was grounded for a week! I was 7 years old at that time. LOL

or how about the time i tried to make a parachute out of
a bed sheet and my mother found me on the roof of our house about to jump off. :D
boy, the dumb stuff i did as a kid could fill a book.
now i think we`re getting off topic.:D

I remember a time in my younger days that i hauled a buggy up on the roof of a motel and buggied in 43mph wind as my friends looked on..........oh wait that was just 2 yrs ago.........aj:D

Hey guys

This is all new to me. little scared though. Thought all I need is a kite and a buggy not a ping pong paddle !!!.
Pleasure meeting you all

Quote:

Originally posted by Monty Hey guys This is all new to me. little scared though. Thought all I need is a kite and a buggy not a ping pong paddle !!!. Pleasure meeting you all

Hey Monty welcome to the site and to the event it is one of the best. Ping pong paddle's are optional, but spud guns are mandatory LMAO. Just kidding kite's and buggies are all that you need and of course a big smile on your face from all of the fun. Not to much longer and we will all be together again can't wait.
Big John

Just glad we all made it through RITA without real damage-- our new shop was in the midst of getting moved in when the warnings started-- we were told to evacuate Wed nite-- by Thurs AM it was "Mnadatory"-- we lit out fo rthe RIO GRANDE near Laredo-I did talk to Rick and Sarah adn Terry on Wed nite--
ALl my "com" gear was in boxes, fially put together the "spaghetti"-- and had to run some new wiring inthe building so it has been several days wihout "communication"

It was interesting to read the thread last nite-- My daughter was in traffic trying to leave Houston as well --7 hours to go 13 miles!!!

One of our club members did manage to get in some buggy time-- in fact he invented a new twist on the sport-- not bad for a hurricane evacuee!!! see the photo here --long URL-- you can see it by going to yahoo groups search for skypirates in our photo album "Last Fun Fly"

Looking forward to a great DBBB again this year--- our beaches are cleaned of all the sea grass-- now the temps are getting bearable I think we can get insome quality buggy time prior to the "gathering"