K.O. and I left Abilene yesterday morning about a quarter before seven.

Destination, Bishop, Texas. Reason, to retrieve my travel trailer I left at the jobsite.

Due to the building storm in the Gulf, Edwin, the manager decided to fire up the plant Tuesday afternoon and hopefully gin all the cotton they had been stockpiling on the module yards. He assured me when the "outer bands" made Corpus Christi, they would shut the plant down and let all the employees go home to deal with their families.

Edwin has grown up there and survived many storms. He says when the "outer bands" hit, there will be rain but no high winds. On his expertise we sent three trucks into the melee, hoping they will clear the yard and vacate the area long before Ike roars inland.

K.O. and I were both committed to the show in Wichita Falls this weekend with our project. That gave us a small window to make a mad dash South to bring the travel trailer back. (Edwin's recommendation was to insure it heavily). Tuesday as K.O. and I were finalizing prep work on the project, we decided Wednesday was the day for our trek. We put our plan together and headed to our respective homes.

We had decided to take K.O.'s new pickup, so he was scheduled to pick me up at my home at six thirty Wednesday morning. Six thirty came and went so I called him on his cell phone. He was running ten or twelve minutes late. Finally he arrived and we began to transfer a few required item into his truck. In short order we were rolling through the outskirts of Abilene headed South.

We arrived at Bishop after a brief stop at French-Ellison Kenworth in Corpus. The time was almost 1 pm.. We fueled and headed to the travel trailer. We went into the office and visited with the manager and the office manager briefly before beginning to unhook the utilities and store items inside for the trip home. We may have been on the ground an hour.

We had a quick discussion about what return route we needed to take and decided on the Interstate 37 route we had driven down. Just as we were making the sweeping turn from Highway 77 onto I-37, I looked ahead. Cars, just as far as you could see. Six lanes of them. K.O. reached under the seat and turned on his CB radio. It was crackling with inquiries about "Was this the evacuation or was there an accident?). Finally we got word that there was a three car accident and all lanes were blocked except the inside lane. Of course we were in lane six, the outside lane. We probably lost between a half hour and an hour, but once we cleared the accident traffic flowed very well.

I didn't say anything, but I was figuring the time line and we were going to hit San Antonio at prime rush hour. Yuk!

This trip was an educational one. On our way down we ran in and around National Guard convoys, many truck loads of plywood sheets, trucks hauling generators, DPS troopers escorting buses Southward, Emergency Vehicles flowing both directions. On our return trip we were passed by a convoy of DPS black and whites totalling about 18 with two "undercover" cars mixed in.

K.O. and I had taken a route from Abilene, to Coleman, to Brady, to Mason, to Fredericksburg, to Comfort, to San Antonio, to Corpus Christi, to Bishop, then reversed it coming back. 836 miles by the time we arrived back at my house, I projected 863 miles by the time K.O. arrived at his house.

As we meandered through the Hill Country shortly before twilight, we talked of our ancestors and the tremendous sense of adventure they had to possess. Along with that, they had to have a tremendous faith as they explored this vast country. I can only imagine what they felt as they topped each hill and saw land rolling before them for mile after mile. The adventure of crossing streams and rivers as they located them and filed them to memory for future use.

K.O. and I talked about how long our one day trek would have required a hundred and fifty years ago. Of course there would have been no need then to retrieve a travel trailer as "it" would be the bedroll rolled up behind the saddle.

I often find myself wondering what role I would have played in that time span. Would I be an adventurer, a cowpoke, a lawman, a gunslinger, an outlaw, a rancher, a doctor, a newspaperman, a bartender? The possibilities go on forever.

Daydream believer.

Have a day!

FATHER, thank YOU for the safe travel yesterday. I pray that you will spare those residents along the coast the fierce blow that seems ready to launch. Bless them as they seek shelter, as they travel from harms way, as they try to protect their properties.