Long time between posts

Sunday, our last day in Chicago, was again beautiful. Bright sun, few clouds, a gentle breeze — in short, a great day to be outdoors.

So that’s where we spent the day. We strolled the park, walked about 6 miles down the lakefront to Soldiers’ Field (the Bears played Detroit, but we didn’t attend) and out to the planetarium. We had lunch and strolled back to Amy’s apartment on the Chicago river.

Later in the afternoon we ventured out again, this time to take a 90-minute tour on a river boat. This was put on by the “Chicago Architecture Society,” and very interesting. The best part was we got to sit the whole time!

One episode of interest involved a young woman sitting just beside Amy drinking a Corona beer from the bottle. For some reason (an insect?) she flinched her beer hand up toward her ear and sprayed the lady behind her with a liberal dousing of Corona. I don’t think the recipient of the dousing was a big fan of Mexican beer. At least, not all over her hair and blouse.

They didn’t come to blows, but neither did the young wench offer much of an apology (which I thought was very unmannerly of her).

We ate dinner at a Chipotle’s (which Amy tells me is owned by McDonalds) and had a really excellent and huge burrito that included rice, black beans, steak cubes, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. Yum!

Then it was time for Amy to drive us back to our camper. Kenju’s fears were unfounded: it was still there, right where we had left it.

We awoke during the night to hear rain beating on the roof, and the next morning there was thunder, lightning and a downpour. Despite the weather we managed to get the camper put down, disconnected from the water and electricity of the campground, and hooked onto the car. Thus drenched (Corona might have been better—I’m not sure) we pulled out and hit the interstate heading south.

Roughly 12 hours later we pulled into Little Rock AR to eat and spend the night. Little of interest occurred during the drive except for stopping after the first 30 minutes, popping up the camper to get to the refrigerator to remove the ice Carol had left inside (lest it melt and make a wet mess).

Then, Tuesday morning, we hit the road again and pulled into our driveway in Victoria, TX at about 5:00 p.m.

Today I went back to work, just in time to learn that Hurricane Rita is taking DEAD AIM right at my section of the Texas Gulf Coast, and the county where my plant is located is under a mandatory evacuation. Wonderful.

Everyone at work asked why I came back just in time to leave again. My answer? “Just stupid, I guess.” What else can you say?

Tomorrow I will plan (unless something changes overnight) to come into work for at least a half-day, and then either pack up and join the west-bound throng, or board up, hunker down, and hope for the best.

The ONLY reason we’re not definitely planning to leave is Carol’s mom. She lives one mile from us in an “independent living” retirement community. She is not very mobile, doesn’t travel well, and plans to stay. That MAY change if her rental management decides they are closing the facility, but if not we will probably stay here as well. Carol’s mom is a widow, and Carol is her only child.

Tomorrow may bring new direction to Rita, or other changes. We pray for weakening, whichever direction the monster goes. I've just learned that my home county (Victoria) is now also under a mandatory evacuation.

I should get another post up tomorrow unless we evacuate with the masses. We’ll see.