Life after Ike and Trip Delayed

Well, I finally got to download some pictures. I promised a few people I would post pictures of our yard of what Ike did here. We were some of the lucky ones. No house damage. My heart goes out to those who have severe damage or loss. Prayers are with them.

Today was the day we were to take off for Destin. Unfortunately, due to other circumstances we didn't get to leave. Our daughter is having a tough time with depression and after seeing her dr this morning our plans are up in the air. They want to hospitalize her and she is refusing, so things are not too great on the homefront. We will give it another day to see what she plans to do and then make a decision as to whether we can leave and when. We are all packed up and ready to go.....

All Is Well Here On The Home Front

We arrived back in Houston, Saturday night. We heard the electricity came back on early Friday morning. Yeah!!!! I guess we are lucky, as many others still do not have it. The first job for us was inspection of the property. Two big pine trees down but luckily they didnt do any damage. The smaller shed had blown apart and debris thrown around. Some damage to the kids trampoline but maybe fixable. Several sections of fence down. All in all, things look pretty good. Then on to the emptying of the freezer and frig. It was loaded to the gill. It is sad throwing away food but again we are thankful. Off then to the grocery store to do a little stocking up. Alot of the shelves were empty, especially the bread and dairy isles. Oh and I couldnt get hot dogs or tuna fish. I guess they are popular items. I also paid a visit to the golf course where I work. They are up and operating, in fact I have to work the next 6 days. Ugh.. Not much time to get the packing done for our workcamp trip to Destin. We plan on leaving next Monday. Hope to stay in Missippippi for a night or two at Bay St. Louis.
Well, thats it for now. Hopefully next report will be us enjoying ourselves in Destin.

Power Still Out

Well, even though we are not in our home, we keep up with the latest on whether we have power there or not. Not, as of noon today. They are slowly getting it back in our area so I suspect it should be in the next few days hopefully. As for now we are still in Florida at a nice resort and making the best of it. We are so much better off than those in Texas.
Kevin and I are suppose to be heading out to Destin a week from Monday so as long as we get back to Texas and everything is okay with the trailer then it should be a go. I have alot of preparing to do but I can get it all done in no time. We will also have to see what the gas situation is when we leave to be assured we can get it for the trip.
My daughter and I took two of the boys to Epcot on Saturday. We had a really great time. It wasnt very crowded so didnt have to wait long to get on the rides. Today we all went to Magic Kingdom. It was very hot so hubby and I along with the baby, only lasted about three hours. We will go back and pick up our daughter and kids when she calls. Her husband, by the way, is back to work as of yesterday.
On Sunday we went to St. Petersburg. That is where we lived for 3.5 years after leaving Massachusetts. Our house is there and we rent it out. We stopped by to check on things and we were given a list of "things to do". Ya sure.... Don't ask and we won't raise the rent.... We havent in 4 years. We have to think about this. While in St. Pete we both went out with old friends. Kevin out to golf and myself out to lunch with girls and then to Ft. Desoto for a little beach time. In the evening we met up and all went out for a chinese buffet. Headed back to Orlando late evening.
We are really trying to enjoy but it is just a strange feeling not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Will we be staying here or packing up and heading home. Our daughter had to reserve and pay for another week in a timeshare just in case. Luckily she has that option. Time will tell.....

Decisions Decisions

We have had a few very stressful days trying to decide what to do and where to go. We had plans on taking an early morning flight this morning back home to Houston. With the hurricane on the way, we had to make the decision whether to fly home or stay put in Florida until the storm has ended. We had pretty much decided to stay rather than chance taking the kids back home and not having any power which could be for days on end. The airlines made the final decision for us since it cancelled all flights into Houston today anyway. Now the problem will be getting home and when. We fly standby so before we get to go, all the other paying passengers will have to go ahead of us. My daughter has rented another time share for us for a week. We had to move out of the one we were in this morning since our week was up. We returned our rental cars and rented new ones as it was cheaper this way. It has just all been a hassle, but we are safe here with the kiddos. Continental has already contacted my son in law and they are flying him back to Houston Sunday morning and working him from there. My daughter is awaiting her call. They both fly for Continental. So we may have the kids here by ourselves.
We havent been doing too much here other than watching the weather channel. I did get to the
outlet stores to buy a birthday gift for my grandson who will turn one in a few weeks. We also got to go back to Celebration Station for more seafood. I had a lobster roll this time. mmmmm.
We will go to Epcot one of these days. But for now back to the television. Our hearts go out to those that will lose their homes. We have friends staying at our house that left their home in Galveston. We don't expect much damage since we are about 85 miles north of Galveston but one never knows, we just can't underestimate these powerful storms.

An Unexpected Vacation

Well, we had an invitation we couldnt refuse. Our daughter had rented two timeshares in Orlando for themselves and another family. When the other family backed out, they were left with this 2 bedroom timeshare. Oh my, what shall they do with it... How about offering it to mom and dad. We accepted without hesitation and due to the fact that it doesnt cost us to fly, added to this adventure. Of course we knew we would be expected to do a little babysitting as an expression of thanks. We don't mind, as long as it isnt everyday.
Friday was a day of checking in and stocking up on some grocery's.
Saturday and Sunday all run together in my mind. I know we did some pool time and watched the baby while dd, sil and 4 and 6 yr old went to Universal Studios. Oh and Sunday night we went to our favorite place to eat in this area in Celebration. It is the Town Tavern. They are from Boston as we are and we got to have our seafood that we miss so much. I had clam chowder and a clam roll and hubby had seafood platter. Yummmmmmm. We may go back...
Monday was a fun day. We took our 4yr old grandson and went over to Ft Wilderness (disneys campground) I love it there. They have been doing some revamping so it isnt as lush as it usually is but I'm sure it will grow back. They are redoing some of the sites to make them larger.
They are also going to do over the pool area. From there, we took the boat over to the Contemporary Hotel and jumped on the monorail. We got to ride up front with the conductor. Logan got copilot license and wings for helping. We played some games at the game room and then returned to the Fort by boat. It was a great day and nice to have one on one time with him.
Today we took the baby almost 1 yr, to Downtown Disney. Had lunch at Earl of Sandwich where we always have a great sandwich while visiting here. Also checked out the Thousand Trails campground where we have a membership and it is our home preserve. Not sure what is in store for tonight but probably head out to dinner somewhere.
We started coming to Orlando in 79 with our kids. I have lost count as to how many times we have come back. I enjoy the excitement of Disney even if we don't go into the parks. I love to roam around the hotels, downtown disney or the campground. We usually do the parks when it is cooler and off season. We plan on camping at Ft. W. in January so will probably see them again then.