Tales of Ike, pt. 2

So, it took only one "special" night at home to convince us that we ought to get the heck out of Dodge. As unlikely as it may seem for a 4-year-old, Jamie has an old friend, Siler, with whom he has been tight since he was about 1 1/2. Siler recently moved to Corpus Christi and Jamie has been really missing him. When the storm looked like it was headed to Corpus, Siler was going to come here, but now that the tables had turned we decided to make the 3 1/2 trek to see them. Getting out of Houston wasn't too bad though we had to detour around closed highways. Most of the traffic lights were out (many still are and apparently will be until November) and this is a challenge given the odd mix of extreme timidity and aggression that characterizes Houston drivers.

Jamie, of course, began asking if we were in Corpus before we had gotten a mile from our house, so the drive was long. But once we got there we had a wonderful time, staying in a hotel with an indoor pool and open-bar Happy Hour. Siler's parents took wonderful care of us and Jamie and Siler were beside themselves with excitement.

The next day, Monday, we spent at the lovely aquarium in Corpus and at Siler's house, where the two of them resumed their silliness as if they had never been apart. Our leave-taking from them was really quite poignant. Jamie began crying at the first mention of leaving Siler and just went he'd gotten it back together a little we asked them to hug. Once Jamie's wee arms were around him, Siler broke into tears and looked up accusingly at Sarah and said, "Don't take him from me!!!!" Sweet boys.

We stayed that night in the hotel and then got up the next day and went provisioning for a return to Houston in which, as of then, one could not get water, ice or gas. Connor, of course, had managed to dirty all the clothes we had brought for him, so we also bought some new clothes and headed out. We stopped every 60 miles or so for gas, wanting to keep the tank clean. Sure enough, about 50 miles out from the city the gas stations were empty. We then found an open restaurant to feed the boys and headed back into town to spend a powerless night, which was actually perfectly endurable thanks to a miraculous cool, dry spell that lasted most of the week.