All is well...

Well, heather and i made the trek down from Tomball this morning. Yeah, we know, government officials were saying stay off the roads--but i think they were primarily speaking about those folks who travelled to dallas, san antonio, and austin. Those of us that were close probably had an okay to return...at least that is how we looked at it.

The drive down 45 was much easier than when we went the opposite way. We only encountered one slow spot and that was downtown. Other than that speeds were at and above the speed limit.

There was no major damage to our house that we can tell. The only thing that was amiss was our gate to our fence. The latch had broken in the high winds. I'm actually surprised that my fence is still standing. All is well with the Horelica house. We have power and we will start the post hurricane clean up probably tomorrow.

I didn't see any major structural damage to any of the neighboring houses. Our back neighbor's large tree in the front yard is split in half and there are several other houses with uprooted and broken trees and tree limbs. It truly looks like we were spared the devistation.

Now, must turn our attention to those folks who need it. I do hope that those of you that still have to travel will be safe and have patience. Things will be okay...

Last post for the night...

Well, Rita is a merely a few hours away from making landfall, most likely west of Port Arthur. So far no bad weather here...that's good news. We still have power at the house as far as i can tell anyway. The winds at our house are about 38 mph sustained gusting to 50 mph. Good news again. I'm pretty sure the house can handle those winds. I guess we'll see in a few days what has happened.

So we spent the evening eating chocolate chip cookies and drinkin' margaRITAs. Not a bad way to spend the night during a major natural event.

Well, I'm turning in for the night...in what i hope will be a nice night's sleep. I'll post again in the morning for more updates...

Stay tuned and stay safe.
see you on the flip side...

Latest Update...

The winds are starting to pick up around here in Tomball. The winds aren't bad yet. It appears that Rita is still tracking a bit to the east, which is good for most of us. We won't take a direct hit, but will probably still have some high winds and rain.

We just took a ride around the Woodlands area and there are a few people out and about, but other than that, a ghost town (minus the tumbleweeds, well there are a few things blowing around.) No businesses are open and there is no gas to be found. I have about a half of a tank left. That would get me back to the house assuming there was not any gridlock. I really can't take that chance, so i'll be looking for some gas before i head out.

Perhaps later tonight i'll post an update of the current weather. Have a good afternoon and be safe.

Well Rested...

After 25+ hours on the road, we are finally well rested and ready to relax. Of course, we are still a little apprehensive, but ready to relax. We both got plenty of sleep last night. From the latest weather reports it looks like Rita is heading a bit further east, putting landfall east of Galveston and west of Port Arthur. That would be the west side of the storm over our house. The bright spot to look at here is that the west side of the storm is not as intense as the east side. We're still gonna get lots of wind and some rain...but it could be worse.

So, what are we going to do with our time? We've got books to read, i've got the laptop to work with...well at least until power goes out and then i have 4 hours of time left on it. We'll chat with our relatives and just hang out and have a grand ol' time.

I hope you are fairing well wherever you have gone! I think I may hold the record for longest time driving with the fewest distance travelled...at least among my co-workers. A report has it that a normal 3 hour trip to San Antonio took one of my co-workers around 18 hours to travel. Man, seeing the roads first hand is a sight to see...one that i hope never to see again!

Well, if you know of anyone that is wondering where we are, point them to this website. The cell phone network seems to be extremely busy...so getting calls through has been a hassle. Be safe where ever you are!

Where are we?!

Okay...anyone checking out this website can keep tabs on me and heather. So, where are we? Only in Texas can you drive 25 hours and only travel a distance of 45 miles. Well, at least during a hurricane evacuation. After 25+ hours we ended up at my aunt and uncle's place in Tomball. I'll tell the story later, but man...did that blow!

So, anyway...you might see some frequent updates here over the next few days...assuming we have power!

So, where are you?

5 Years...

September 2, 2000. The day Heather and I got married. Yep, it has been 5 years!! Can you believe that? I almost can't. It's been great so far...

Well, with Heather in school there isn't any time for a nice little vacation somewhere. So, instead, we bought bedroom furniture...we're adults now. Here are a few pictures of the new furniture and the way it looks in our bedroom.

This is a 7 piece set (includes headboard, footboard, 9 drawer dresser, mirror, armoire base, armoire cabinet, and a nightstand)

Yes, Back in the States.

Ok...i know there are some of you out there wondering if i made it home. I should've posted this a while back, but here it is now.

I did make it back to the states okay. International travel can be a pain, but the sights and experiences are well worth it. Upon my arrival into Atlanta (after an 11 hour flight from Moscow) we hit the un-airconditioned and sweltering hot international terminal. I spent more time in that hot environment than i wanted to. If i were visiting the United States for the first time, i would not have had a good impression.

Anyway...here are a few more pictures that i have displayed for your viewing pleasure.

The follow two pictures are using my camera's "stitch assist" feature. This is basically a panoramic views. The first one is a panoramic view of Red Square. The second is a panoramic view of Moscow from the Moscow State University overlook. It was quite hazy this morning, but you get the idea...





This next picture is of our farewell picnic in the Korolev woods outside the Russian Mission Control Center. Only person missing is Andrey...he's operating the camera.



This next picture is of us doing our little blues song that we wrote. Man, that did not go well...The Russians enjoyed it though, I guess that is what matters.



Here is a picture of the Buran in Gorky Park. Yep, looks familiar, doesn't it. This , BTW, is not a flight model. It was used in testing, but did not fly.




Here is the main building on the Moscow State University campus. This is one of seven building throughout Moscow. These soviet looking buildings are referred to as the "seven sisters". While the other buildings are not identical to this one, they are very large and quite impressive.



Here is another one of the seven sisters.



Automobiles ranged from this ...



to this...



Well, that's about it for now...there may be some more pictures later on...
Come back tomorrow and see what is significant about Sept. 2nd.