Austin Wild Fires

It's this dry in Austin. Its drier than a Popcorn _____. Well, you know. Shelley and I left Rock Chalk in Ottawa, Illinois last Saturday and flew into Austin to surprise my brother in law, Mark Rolland, for his 60th birthday party. It worked. He was very surprised when we walked into the party. We had a great time with Mark and Gayle and all their friends, which is exactly how Mark wanted to celebrate the big 60. Yikes we are getting old.

Then the wildfires started in Austin and many of our friends and family had to evacuate their homes because of them. Luckily no one we know lost their house, but close to 500 homes were burned in the greater Austin area. Very sad for those folks. Even Gov. Parry came back from the campaign trail to make sure he was in charge. Did I mention that it is dry?

Shelley and I are taking a break from the boat to see her folks, the kids and the grandkids in Austin, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. One of the negatives of doing the Great Loop is that you miss family and friends over the year or so it takes to complete the Loop. So this was a needed break. Thanks to great fall fares on American, we can do a whirlwind tour of the three cities, then fly back to Chicago in mid September to carry on down the Illinois.

So if you do not see a blog update, that is why. Kids/Grandkids vs. blog. Kids/Grandkids win. Love to all of them.

Marc