Monday, January 16, 2006
The Three Legged Dog Runs North at a Very Slow Pace - Fleeing from Rita Continues
As we pulled out on Major Drive I felt pretty good. Leaving on time, maybe a little early, everything A-OK. Two hours later I was still just 5 miles from my house on Major Drive. I decided to turn around and get on US 69 at Tex 105. Bad plan, another three hours had gone by and I had moved only 1/2 miles. Then I saw a short cut to the highway. I took it. With no AC, driving at any speed pulled air into the car and alleviated some of the heat. Well, I got up on US 69 and the traffic was moving at 50 mph. This is great I thought. We are going to be OK with this evacuation. (Such silly thoughts as this kept coming into my head for many hours. (I guess sometimes I just get in a hopeful frame of mind and can't get out of it.) The speed of 50 mph lasted for about 10 minutes and then we came to another halt. At 5 PM we were only about 20 miles from home, but I was still optimistic. By 6:30 we were in Warren, about 35 miles from home and we stopped for a restroom break. Little did I know at the time I had already set the stage for a bladder infection. Then night began to fall. I had never seen so many people on the road in my life. At 9:00 PM we were in Woodville, about 50 miles from home. Time for restroom break again. After that, we got back in the car and trudged on. I won't say the time dragged on. It just went by. Now there were 4 lanes headed north and one headed south on a two lane road. I called Scott and asked him to find me a place to stay. He called back - How about Nashville? Not good.
Off and on the traffic would speed up and again I would get optimistic. Silly me. Finally at 3 AM we made Lufkin. 90 miles from home. Time for restroom break and I got ice. And a bit of snack food. The people in the quick stop were talking about looting the place. The guy behind me had been let out of prison and was trying to get his govt check cashed. I hurried out and we went to the Lufkin High parking lot to try to get some sleep. The place was like a refugee camp. Actually it was a refugee camp. More to come...
As we pulled out on Major Drive I felt pretty good. Leaving on time, maybe a little early, everything A-OK. Two hours later I was still just 5 miles from my house on Major Drive. I decided to turn around and get on US 69 at Tex 105. Bad plan, another three hours had gone by and I had moved only 1/2 miles. Then I saw a short cut to the highway. I took it. With no AC, driving at any speed pulled air into the car and alleviated some of the heat. Well, I got up on US 69 and the traffic was moving at 50 mph. This is great I thought. We are going to be OK with this evacuation. (Such silly thoughts as this kept coming into my head for many hours. (I guess sometimes I just get in a hopeful frame of mind and can't get out of it.) The speed of 50 mph lasted for about 10 minutes and then we came to another halt. At 5 PM we were only about 20 miles from home, but I was still optimistic. By 6:30 we were in Warren, about 35 miles from home and we stopped for a restroom break. Little did I know at the time I had already set the stage for a bladder infection. Then night began to fall. I had never seen so many people on the road in my life. At 9:00 PM we were in Woodville, about 50 miles from home. Time for restroom break again. After that, we got back in the car and trudged on. I won't say the time dragged on. It just went by. Now there were 4 lanes headed north and one headed south on a two lane road. I called Scott and asked him to find me a place to stay. He called back - How about Nashville? Not good.
Off and on the traffic would speed up and again I would get optimistic. Silly me. Finally at 3 AM we made Lufkin. 90 miles from home. Time for restroom break and I got ice. And a bit of snack food. The people in the quick stop were talking about looting the place. The guy behind me had been let out of prison and was trying to get his govt check cashed. I hurried out and we went to the Lufkin High parking lot to try to get some sleep. The place was like a refugee camp. Actually it was a refugee camp. More to come...
