Kim’s dad was in town for a few hours yesterday. After work we took him to Stroud’s for dinner and then dropped him off in Topeka later on. Stroud’s was awesome! Add that to my list of places to take people while in town. They are famous around here for their pan-fried chicken, which was amazing! They serve everything family style, so you order a few things and then they bring it all out in huge portions. I have so much leftover food I’m not sure I can finish it at lunch today.

I’ve been following the stories from Hurricane Katrina as close as I can. It’s such a sad story for so many people, including people close to Kim and I. Kim’s good friend Gabe has been living in New Orleans for awhile now. She and her boyfriend Brad live in a house fairly close to the water. Gabe also worked as a teacher in the French Quarter. Here’s an email she sent out recently:

Thank you ALL so much for calling and e-mailing. I can’t believe this is happening. Brad and I are safe and sound, we are currently at Brad’s parents in Piqua, Ohio. I have talked to some of you during this ordeal, but now my cell phone is not working (sometimes I can call out, but I cannot receive any calls, and I cannot call any New Orleans area codes.)

We boarded up the house on Saturday morning, packed up the car with important papers and stuff too important to leave, and got on the highway around 2:00pm heading towards Memphis. We got caught in about 30 minutes of slow traffic (never gridlocked) and then had fine traffic the whole way up to Memphis. We stayed Saturday night, and then Sunday morning was when the mayor of New Orleans got on CNN and issued a mandatory evacuation. At that point, we didn’t know what to do – should we just drive up to Ohio/Michigan, or should we just chill in Memphis? We had to take into consideration that we have a house that if it gets minimal damage, we need to get back right away to start insurance processes, and start clean up. And also, Brad’s work – at a chemical plant – will be needing mechanical engineers to start maintenance, etc………so we didn’t know what to do.

We decided to stay in Memphis one more night, Sunday night. We woke up on Monday morning, and at first, the damage to New Orleans was not THAT bad. It was bad, but we thought there was a possibility that our house could be ok. So we didn’t leave Memphis until about 6:00 Monday night, when we finally heard that no one was going home until at least Monday or so.

So we drove to Ali’s in Cincinnati last night, and now we are in Piqua. We are watching footage right now and it is just unbelievable. I am just sick…….people being rescued from the roof, thousands of people stuck in the super dome…..ugh. I am sure the house is gone, along with all our furniture, prints, appliances………..I know it is all just stuff but this is crazy. What about school? So many unanswered questions. For now, all I know is that we will be having a Labor Day weekend at home! Not so bad, when you think about it. I will keep you posted. Talk to you all soon!

It makes it all so much more real to hear a first hand account of it. Please keep Gabe, Brad and everyone else in your thoughts.

All this damage is actually causing problems for us, even though it’s on a much smaller scale. Our cruise on the rock boat was leaving and returning via New Orleans. The boat that they use has already been re-routed to Galveston, TX for the next couple of cruises. I was really hoping to go to New Orleans for the first time, but unfortunately it isn’t looking very likely at all.