Friday

Traveling is always a surreal day.  you spend most of your time walking quickly to the place where you need to be and then you wait for the plane to load.  Then you get on the plane and wait for it to take off.  Then you fly for a few hours and the rush starts again.

We had a couple of teens who had never flown before in our group, but they did fine.  We had our hands up like we were on the Dragster, although the Dragster at Cedar Point has faster acceleration than an airplane at take off, so it was a bit of a let down. 

Our travel went very well.  Thanks to the planning of Cindy and Kip, we had plenty of time in Syracuse before we took off and we had plenty of time in Detroit where we switched planes.  It took about 2 hours to drive our rental van to the town of High Island, Texas.  We passed through the tiny town we're staying on our way to check out the Gulf of Mexico.  We drove south a bit to the town of Gilcrist.

You should check our trip out on Google maps.  Just go to www.google.com and pick the map option.  Enter High Island TX and pick the satellite view option.  you can zoom right in and see the church building we're staying in.  It's on Weeks Ave.  Then move down south a bit to the town of Gilcrist.  See all those house tops in the satellite image?  They're not there anymore.  The pictures below are taken of the former town of Gilcrist.  That's all that's left.  Literally, there are less than a dozen houses where there once was about 300.  There were 2 churches, a bunch of businesses, a post office and a fire house.  They're all gone now!  Completely gone.  one of the members of the church was telling us tonight that there is a law that says if the ocean encroaches on the land and erodes it and replaces it with sand, then that land is now owned by the town.  The law is there to ensure they don't develop the beach too close to the gulf, but now the entire town is just a big sand bar, so the people who used to live there aren't sure where they're going to build their new houses, if they're allowed to.

We were also told that the post office has posted a list of more than 1,000 people piece who are still missing from the storm.  many believe they were carried out to sea during the storm.  The tiny town of High Island, with a graduating class of 19, has many stories of people who decided to ride out the storm who were in their houses when they were overtaken by more than 20' of flood water, not including the height of the waves that crashed in.  While this town was higher than the surrounding areas, still, many found themselves in a dangerous situation, and some lost their lives in the storm.

It might take many years for them to pick up the pieces of their possessions, which have been strewn all over the county, but they will never stop picking up the pieces of their lives and connections with those who lost everything in this storm.

We asked why so many would have tried to ride the storm out instead of heading farther into the mainland and were told that there are many storm each year - the forecasters never know where they're going to hit and how hard they'll hit.  many people have a "wait and see" approach and wait too long.  We saw a few cars that are half-buried in the sand, left there as reminders of those who tried to drive after they should have and were swept out to sea.

I've heard our group say a number of times: "I'd rather shovel my driveway than go through something like this!"

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.  We'll do our best to keep you updated, but there is little left here and an internet connection just hasn't been a priority for those who lost everything in the storm.  Our cell phones are working here, so be sure to check the message update at 315-225-1099 each evening.  We're an hour behind you, but we'll try to post a daily update as we get ready for dinner.

Tory and Liz enjoying a snack.	God's amazing creation from 20,000 Ft.
Many oil wells were still chugging away.	This is the river that makes High Island an island.  Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds will fly through this little town each April on their way back to North America for the summer.
It's not always an island, but there is bayou all around.	This camper may have people who have come to watch the birds or people who have no other way to live.
This is the only business open for about 20 miles in any direction.	This used to be a house.
The cell phone service is hit and miss too.	This house is still standing, but there is no way to get to it.
This is about all that's left of the town.	There used to be dozens of houses and businesses here.
And here.	This one is being rebuilt - not sure if this boat will be seaworthy again.
Dozens of houses used be here too.	And here.
And here.	And here.
There should be a SubWay right about here - glad we weren't planning on eating dinner here today!	Look at the debris piled up against the palm trees.  it's everwhere!
Sometimes there's something standing, but you can't tell what it is - or was.	Some places are for sale.
A few are rebuilt.	Not much left here.
or here.	This house is advertising for a building company.  We're told some of their other houses were wiped out, but they're not advertising that.
Where did this house go, and all the stuff in it?  There isn't big chunks of houses anywhere to be found lying around.	Still, American and Texas pride are standing tall!
This barn doesn't have a functional roof any more.	This truck tried to escape the storm.  No one wants to move it.  It stands as a memorial.  There are many others we've seen.
This building in High Island is still standing..	This one isn't!