Recovery and Luck of the Draw

The party was a roaring success ! Lots of food [and some left over for football today] lots of good friends and a good time was had by all . 
 The birthday folks got a lot of good natured ribbing and some cards that weren't quite X-rated , we watched the TV as the reports rolled in about the storm damage and various folks thought of friends and acquaintenences in the path of that big bastard and quite a few phone calls were made to check on their condition . Fortunately returning reports were all positive , the damage is/was extensive to property , I'm sure everyone has seen the news by now and I can assure you the worst is yet to come as areas open up and folks can get back to homes and businesses . . Last we heard it may take quite some time to get into all the areas , the guys who were working at the refinery at Texas City have talked to their bosses and the refinery is going to be up and running before too long if they can get the workers back in . Problem is all the surrounding housing is pretty much destroyed and the area is inaccessable and no power to the town . The refinery itself has emregency generators but you still need people to operate everything and not likely anyone is going back in there very soon . A portable housing situation is in the works but right now the guys here are sittting tight . 
I read about all the gas prices going thriugh the roof and WHAT A CROCK ! There is no shortage , there is no big problem other than a bunch of greedy bastards with unpronouncable last names who see a way to make a fast buck . After talking to a lot of these oil field workers the problem seems to lay between the top of the heap and mister middle man who sells the end product , that leaves a lot of room for that old demon, greed to work it's way in.
Enough of the rant , by the luck of the draw we have escaped injury and/or damage from the storm or the party  , but the trip is still young and I'm sure there will be many opportunities to get stupid down the highway .

And thats , that

The storm has passed and given the folks up north of Corpus a whipping . We have experienced little or no effects here and are getting ready to start cooking for my good friends birthday party . We did take the precaution of moving the location back away from the shore to my friends house just to be on the safe side , 
still expect a big crowd and have plenty of food to celebrate . 
A partial menu 2 smoked shoulder clods , 1 crown roast of pork , twice bake potato , cole slaw , various dips and chips , baked beans [from scratch ] , homemade biscuts and corn bread ,4 kinds of fresh sausage on the
grill , frozen limeade pie , fresh peel and eat shrimp , fresh seafood ceviche' , needless to say we ain't going hungry ! 
After the party and recovery period I have told my other friend from Kentucky [AF1] that I'll meet him in Kerrville on the 26th of Sept . We want to attend the big alternative enegy fiesta up there and see all the new technology available , then will head over to Big Bend and Terlingua . 
I'll post an update on the big party later as soon as I recover ! 

looking better all the time

It appears from the local TV that the area I'm in is going to be less affected by the storm. Expecting some flooding and high winds but after riding around earlier today it looks like the folks here are well prepared . 
Doesn't look like Galveston will be so lucky , predictions run to bad to real bad , hope they make out all right . One of my friends here works in Texas city and came home today because of the refinery shutting down ansd was real glad to be out of there .
I'll keeep giving updates as long as the net holds out  but we are expectingat best loss of power for aa while  
 Till the next time.

Ready and Waiting

A quick update from Corpus Christi , we decided not to leave . Obviously there were a number of factors involved . Mostly it was just being stubborn about watching the Weather Guessers and finding it hard to believe all the drama they spouted , another factor was the local media being calm and collected . I watched some of the voluntary evacs leaving [boats , trailers , rv's etc ] doing 60 mph plus and decided "A" wouldn't fare too well in that lash up , he just doesn't like running at high speeds .
Now it looks as though "IKE" is going to turn in above Corpus and give us a little relief . We expect rain / wind and some high tides but we all have been through that before and know how to deal with it >
I'll give an update if things change .

Decisions Decisions

Here we go again ! Just get settled in and ready to have a party and here comes a Hurricane . Looks like we have to make a decision this afternoon where to go , sure ain't gonna be towards Louisiana ! I expect Terlingua will see me sooner than later but haven't made up my mind yet . The other thing is we have quite a few folks flying in for this big party and we need to get on the phone to restructure their plans also , my friends here are reluctant to bugout for a number of reasons . One is the difficulty in returning and another is because of the over dramatization of the severity of these pesky storms . A little less drama in the reporting would probably make people take these things a bit more seriously . Speaking of which , the Corpus Christi TV stations are doing a great job , no running in circles and shouting just good solid information and everyone thus far appears to have their heads on straight and telling folks what needs to be done and reporting the evac routes and shelter locations  . The old saying "never let them see you sweat " means a lot when you are in a tight situation , staying calm and organised will save more lives than some weather guesser leaning into the wind trying to get a better rating or sell more advertising will ever do .
Other than this niggling hurricane , life is good and right now the sun is shining . Time to get busy and make our plans , expect I'll give an update later today and see how everything shakes out

Gone to Texas \ Reality sets in

At last  I hit the bricks , left Lake City for Talla hassee on the 5th of Sept. A stop to see my friend Jon for a great meal and restow some stuff in "A" , a great evening with good friends and lots of conversation about airplanes , motorcycles , and politics . After we solved the problems of the world and a good nights rest , I managed a late start about the crack of noon !
  On the highway to Quincy and the first Flying J , fuel and pit stop and it's off to see the wizard , down route 90 till the log trucks made me crazy and then up on I-10 . Nice ride all the way Pensacola and as it turned out an unnecassary fuel stop [ I found fuel all the way across / no shortages from the storms ] onward to Gulfport MS.
I made a rest / food stop at another Flying J and checked in to the home front to let everyone know I was OK and the trip was going well . Seems there was a little apprehension about a crippled up old chef and a thrty year old motorhome blasting across the southern U.S.with little or no plan at all. Needless to say all involved were relieved I hadn't met with disaster.
  I left Gulfport at sundown after thinking about driving in the heat of the day and the all too real nightmare of hittin Houston on a Monday morning with all the craziness tha implies , I drove onward to Orange Texas and stopped for a power nap and a bite to eat , left at dawn thrty and had a magnificent ride all the way down to Corpus Christi . Between Gulfport and Orange is the unpleasnt experience of driving across Louisiana , if at all possible AVOID IT !! Dirt roads on the backwoods of ANY state in the union are superior to the interstate across Louisiana , it has been that way for a long time and shows no sign of improvement . AVOID IT ! nuff said .
  Arrival in Corpus was made after a drive through some of the prettiest country in Texas , route 59 out of Houston down through Victoria and points south is just an easy drive and is a pleasure to look at the south Texas countryside .
My friends were at the local water hole called the "Blackwawk"  and I was able to surprise them with my early arrival , after the obligatory round of "good to see you " and an ice cold Lone Star , it was time to retire and  find a spot for "A" and a good nights rest . Monday was a sort of preparation day for the upcoming party on Sat. and a ride around to say howdy to some more friends . Things are starting to come together for the upcoming big event , and of course the possible approach of "IKE" , onward to a new adventure , stay tuned    

Legends/ Lies and Old Friends

A surprise phone call from an old friend , that reconnected us after a long period of time led to a speed run down to St. Petersburg for a visit and consequently on to the Fl. Keys Getting a car rental from Enterprise car rental proved to be a breeze and was the beginning of a very enjoyable week of meeting old friends and making new ones . By the By Enterprise treated me very well and I can recommend their service highly , that is not a paid AD they just do a good job !
A three hour trip down to Tim's place proved to be painless with light traffic and clear skies . Needless to say I stocked up with local delicacies ,seems two old chefs can't visit without firing up the grill ! Upon arrival and besides catching upon two years of news of other friends , our health conditions and who we had talked to or couldn't find , the planning started . We decided on a tour of Gulfport / St. Pete area including Fort Desoto and the State Park there (Really sweet looking campground for RVs ) , a day out at the dog track and Sunday there was a dance at the Gulfport Casino . I'll skip the dog track other than to say we lost about a $1.25 each on a whole day there .
The real story is in the casino , not a real casino now but probably was when it was built back in the 1930's , now it is a venue for dances , weddings etc . Now I liked to see Ballroom Dancing but sure as heck can't do any ! I'm way too crippled up , as we entered the casino I started to look around and think of what a cool place this was . Early in the evening there were 50 to 60 people there and the three piece band was playing to a largely empty floor , to be honest I had no idea how big the place was until a little later and the dancers filtered out on the floor , at one time there 70 plus dancers and there was still a lot of room , at least that was what I thought . These dancers move ! the youngest couples were in their 20's and the oldest was probably close to 90.
They all moved better than me ! The Magic began as we watched these impeccably dressed couples drift onto the hardwood floor into each others arms with a secret smile at each other that bespoke of years of love and caring . The evening played on with the arrival of a few couples carrying suspicious looking cloth bags , thus began my education about Ballroom Dancing !
Like some bizarre gunfighter ritual these new arrivals brought new life to the floor , from those suspicious bags came the dancing slippers , special socks to wear, the straightening of ties , vest and jackets a tug on the chiffon and silk here and there and things started to happen ! As the new couples stepped onto the floor I remarked to Tim " I believe these folks have done this before " . The steps became more precise, the hands held just so , heads tilted back with a million watt smile and this little cosmos in a vast universe changed for the next few hours . The magic of watching people who thoroughly enjoyed each other dispelled the everyday evils and demons that plague our everyday lives . As I watched and took pictures I wondered and hoped a little that perhaps this constant crisis of oil/ gas we seem to live with will perhaps push folks back together at gatherings like this . We stepped outside to leave and there was a family of five playing on the beach , across the street at an outside bar a single guitar player was entertaining the patrons , around the corner a cafe was doing a brisk business with late evening star gazers on the patio . Not a bad scene to leave you with , tell you about the Keys trip tomorrow.