Hurricane Ike Evacuation Update #1

Well, I woke up this morning to James watching the news. He said Hurricane Ike had turned more north and was coming more towards Galveston. Houston would probably get lots of rain and wind. When Rita had it and we evacuated, it took us 16 hours to drive to Austin with no AC (James wanted to conserve our gasoline). Well, three years later, we were faced with the decision whether evacuate, but this time, we had to consider Andrew. We couldn't put him through a miserably long car ride, I mean, the kid doesn't like them to begin with. After talking to my parents, we decided to evacuate around 11am in order to get the house prepared. James headed to work; and we would pick him up on the way out. I worked from home in the morning and then packed up our things. It's hard to pack up for you when you don't know when you might be returning let alone for a 6 month old.

Anyhow, to make a long story somewhat shorter, we encountered evacuation traffic as Galveston was called for a mandatory evacuation, which placed lots of people onto the roads. It took us 2 hours to get to Katy (normally less than 45 minutes). Then, after 6 1/2 hours after leaving League City, we arrived at my brother's house. Some positives: (1) it took us less than 16 hours; (2) we used AC the whole time: (3) we made it safe and sound; (4) Andrew faired well only crying about 30 minutes of the trip; and (5) most of my family and friends are safe too or are en route to safety, including my dad's sister and brother and their families who are coming to Footon's too.

Well, I am exhausted and off to join my sleeping husband and son. Here's a picture of Drew and Daddy chilling and grateful to be out of the car. We were changing A.J.'s diaper and clothes and thought to let him go free for a bit.