Snow in Dillon, 97 degrees in Texas, & now IKE

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

I've been in Texas since Thursday of last week, 97 miserable degrees day after day, which was quite the shock to my system after Dillon's Labor Day snow and continuing cool weather out here at the dam. My mother-in-law, who's in a nursing home in Texas, had a sudden turn for the worse with her Alzheimer's, triggered by a bad fall (hit her head hard). She rallied a bit Sunday and seems to be holding her own again, although she no longer knows anyone but Wayne.

Because I teach an AP course and also am obviously the only person in the entire universe who can produce football and volleyball programs for our high school , I had to return yesterday. But guess what--Wayne called today and is coming back, too, because of Hurricane Ike. You Texans know exactly where Matagorda, Bay City, and Wharton are--right in the path of the storm at the moment. My daughter Susan and her family live in Bay City and are poised to evacuate any minute. Matagorda, where my daughter teaches, had a mandatory evacuation order at noon, and Bay City will no doubt be getting one soon.

Wayne called this afternoon and said the evacuation in Wharton was still voluntary, but police cruisers were announcing via loudspeaker that the order would probably be mandatory by this evening. He'd planned to stay inn Wharton until the repairs on his mother's home were underway, but he's leaving this early this evening for Austin and then will begin heading back to Montana tomorrow. He already had a hotel reservation in Austin because he needed to be there tomorrow on business. Lucky for him that he made that reservation before Ike took aim at the Texas coast.

By the way: From Dillon to Wharton, Texas, approximately 1800 miles, our 2008 Ford F-350 crew-cab took $700 worth of diesel. Wayne was pulling our 16-foot cargo trailer loaded with junk to add to the auction, so that no doubt affected the mileage. I flew down because I couldn't take off for the 2 weeks he planned to stay; the round-trip airline ticket from Idaho Falls to Austin and back was only $312. (I did have to bring my own water and snacks on board, though.)

I miss Texas (Austin, in particular), but I do NOT miss that Texas heat.

Carolyn

[Driftwoodgal]

Carolyn,

Sorry to hear about Wayne's mothers fall.Where is she in Texas.

It is hot here in the summer, but sure is nice in the winter when you have snow all around you.

Ike is going to be a real nasty storm. They just came on CNN and said that people that haven't gotten out of Galveston will die. The storm surge is projected to be over 22 feet. This one is going to be real nasty where ever he hits. Sure hope people have listened and evacuated.

Let us know when you are here, would love to get together with you guys.

Colleen

[trukdoc]

Ike is on the way to Sulphur Springs.

[mail2us]

I truly love Texas and Austin is a great city. Being from Florida the heat is even worst in TX. Used to work for USPS in Dallas, Houston, San An mostly but got all over the great state. Playing golf in 98-105 degrees is the challenge when in Dallas/Ft Worth some years back. Someday Judy and I will truly love Montana cause we want to go there. Dennis

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

We love Texas, too! It will always be home, and it may be "home base" sooner or later. I hate the heat there, but I love the Hill Country, Austin, the food, wildflowers, and all the other things that we think make Texas special.

My mother-in-law is in Garden Villa nursing home in El Campo, Texas. It's a small, older nursing home, but it's in excellent physical condition--clean, modernized, bright, cheery--and the staff has been wonderful to Clara and to us. She's 97 and failing quickly, but at least she's safe, a relief to all of us. We tried to convince her to come live with us before she became so ill, but she wouldn't leave her home. We'd still like to move her to Parkview Manor in Dillon, a very nice place, but she's too frail to move at this point. Also, she doesn't know where she is, who she is, or much of anything else now, but she is calm and no longer cries all the time.

My brother and his wife in Chappell Hill, Texas, received very little rain from Ike, although they did lose their power for a bit. No problem--they moved into their Montana for the duration. My friend Kay, just down the road from him and a bit outside of Navasota wasn't so lucky. She and her husband have been without power since the storm came through there. Kay's e-mail to me tonight says, "As I was coming to work this morning there was a roadside electric sign stating “all Bryan/College Station shelters full” – in other words, keep on a-going! Right now we don’t have a food issue, but as time goes by and the resources are depleted here in this area, we might have a problem. They are declaring Galveston Island totally uninhabitable and ordering ALL to leave. So, you’ve got all those people scrambling for places to stay. There are long lines for everything – gas, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. It’s pretty crazy around here! No power, either." My daughter and her family in Bay City had lots of rain and wind, but her windows were boarded and her husband had purchased a generator, so they managed just fine, too. Their power has been restored.

One of our friends did lose most of his home when a tree fell through it. He lives northeast of Houston and seemed to have the full brunt of the wind and rain. No one was hurt, and the house can be rebuilt.

We are so thankful that people heeded the warnings and got out of harm's way down there. This storm, as bad as it was--residents of Houston are suffering terribly--could have taken the lives of many, many people. Texans are tough--they'll get through this.

Wayne and Carolyn

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Carolyn,

Thanks for that update, it is always good to hear from those on the front lines.

Our prayers continue for Texas and all the other states so horribly affected by Ike.