Saturday, January 28, 2006
The Three Legged Dog Goes West
Dawn breaks over the Lufkin HS parking lot the morning of Sept 23rd. All night long (2 hours long) people had been talking, kids playing, and the port a potties were stinking.
"Wake up everyone, " I said. "We are leaving." It was 6 AM.
I started up the car and off we went. Problem number one, very little gas in the car. "We gotta get gas."
I got one the loop around Lufkin and headed clockwise. I saw a gas station of on the other side of the freeway. Just ahead of me there was a fuel tanker headed for the same station. I followed.
The both of us pulled into the station. He headed for the gas tank covers and I somehow got very close to the pumps having come into the station from the opposite direction that everyone else. By everyone else I mean hundreds of cars and multiple hundreds of people. Like in most of the population of East Texas. Through a modern miracle, 40 minutes later I had gas, less than $3 per gallon, and I was back up on the loop. It was then that the enormanty of my stroke of good fortune hit me. The line of cars going into the gas station was nearly half way around the Lufkin loop. All coming from the opposite direction than me. People had been and probably would be in line for hours. I breathed a thank you prayer and drove.
I was looking for TX 7. I feared it might be traffic locked. It was not. Soon we were headed west at 70 mph, no one ahead of us - no one behind us. Yesterday seemed a dream already. The plan was now clear in my head - TX 7 west to TX 6. Tx 6 north to Waco. Interstate 35 north to the Fort Worth area where my cousin lives. I called her on the cell, and she said come on.
We drove west a few miles and came to a small country store that had a cafe. We had a hot breakfast and bought ice. We had the big three - hot food, gas, and ice. Looks like the worst would be behind us.
Looking at the map I saw the first potential bottleneck was Crockett. There might be people coming from the south that would cause traffic jams. But going through Crockett took on 20 minutes. Great! The next pinch point would be where TX 7 crossed Interstate 45. That would be at Centerville.
We arrived at Centerville before 11:00. Traffic was at a stop. It took us two hours to get into Centerville and get to where we could assess the problem.
And soon we saw the problem. I'll not soon forget the scene. It was right out of War of the Worlds. (neat tripod sound ) . There were people, not cars, people, hundreds of them, lined up with cans, cups, bottles, in their hands to get gas. At 1 PM it was about 100 degrees. The crowd was monitored (not controlled) my a few Texas State Troopers. I asked them to help me cross over 45. I did not want gas, so they waived me through. In an instant we were free again. No traffic on TX 7 beyond IH 45. I watched the pitiful scene now behind me my in the rear view mirror. All those people from Houston. Most of them now out of gas and only a little over 100 miles out of Houston. All headed north. I breathed another prayer. Set my jaw and drove.
We stopped after about 50 miles and I topped off. We actually got ice cream. Another 50 miles and we were at TX 6. I had anticipated traffic, but there was none. In a few more minutes we were in Waco and on IH 35 going north at 75 mph trying to keep up with the traffic. An hour and a half later - Friday 9/23 about 6 PM - we were in her house in Godley. Safe. Comfortable. I called my daughters and assured them we were OK. I breathed another prayer.
In the night, Rita came ashore. The next morning, I got up and went outside to look towards the East. Everything was black in that direction. All of East Texas was getting smacked. Hard.
We got no rain, no wind. We stayed Sat & Sun and headed back on Monday Morning. I wondered, what would we find. The little car with one hubcap had done well so far.
"Wake up everyone, " I said. "We are leaving." It was 6 AM.
I started up the car and off we went. Problem number one, very little gas in the car. "We gotta get gas."
I got one the loop around Lufkin and headed clockwise. I saw a gas station of on the other side of the freeway. Just ahead of me there was a fuel tanker headed for the same station. I followed.
The both of us pulled into the station. He headed for the gas tank covers and I somehow got very close to the pumps having come into the station from the opposite direction that everyone else. By everyone else I mean hundreds of cars and multiple hundreds of people. Like in most of the population of East Texas. Through a modern miracle, 40 minutes later I had gas, less than $3 per gallon, and I was back up on the loop. It was then that the enormanty of my stroke of good fortune hit me. The line of cars going into the gas station was nearly half way around the Lufkin loop. All coming from the opposite direction than me. People had been and probably would be in line for hours. I breathed a thank you prayer and drove.
I was looking for TX 7. I feared it might be traffic locked. It was not. Soon we were headed west at 70 mph, no one ahead of us - no one behind us. Yesterday seemed a dream already. The plan was now clear in my head - TX 7 west to TX 6. Tx 6 north to Waco. Interstate 35 north to the Fort Worth area where my cousin lives. I called her on the cell, and she said come on.
We drove west a few miles and came to a small country store that had a cafe. We had a hot breakfast and bought ice. We had the big three - hot food, gas, and ice. Looks like the worst would be behind us.
Looking at the map I saw the first potential bottleneck was Crockett. There might be people coming from the south that would cause traffic jams. But going through Crockett took on 20 minutes. Great! The next pinch point would be where TX 7 crossed Interstate 45. That would be at Centerville.
We arrived at Centerville before 11:00. Traffic was at a stop. It took us two hours to get into Centerville and get to where we could assess the problem.
And soon we saw the problem. I'll not soon forget the scene. It was right out of War of the Worlds. (neat tripod sound ) . There were people, not cars, people, hundreds of them, lined up with cans, cups, bottles, in their hands to get gas. At 1 PM it was about 100 degrees. The crowd was monitored (not controlled) my a few Texas State Troopers. I asked them to help me cross over 45. I did not want gas, so they waived me through. In an instant we were free again. No traffic on TX 7 beyond IH 45. I watched the pitiful scene now behind me my in the rear view mirror. All those people from Houston. Most of them now out of gas and only a little over 100 miles out of Houston. All headed north. I breathed another prayer. Set my jaw and drove.
We stopped after about 50 miles and I topped off. We actually got ice cream. Another 50 miles and we were at TX 6. I had anticipated traffic, but there was none. In a few more minutes we were in Waco and on IH 35 going north at 75 mph trying to keep up with the traffic. An hour and a half later - Friday 9/23 about 6 PM - we were in her house in Godley. Safe. Comfortable. I called my daughters and assured them we were OK. I breathed another prayer.
In the night, Rita came ashore. The next morning, I got up and went outside to look towards the East. Everything was black in that direction. All of East Texas was getting smacked. Hard.
We got no rain, no wind. We stayed Sat & Sun and headed back on Monday Morning. I wondered, what would we find. The little car with one hubcap had done well so far.
