Made it to Texas

Made the trip to Texas today, I'm currently in Beaumont. The drive was not too bad but when I got here I could not find a place to stay. Every hotel and motel for 50 miles in all directions is full of repair crews from all over the US here to get everything going again. About 90% of east Texas had no power since Ike came calling. Things are pretty messed up around here. Many hotels are still closed due to no power. The area I will be inspecting in is called Baytown. It is about 20 miles east of downtown Houston. I've seen some wild things on this trip. Today it was the Motel 6 with a big section of the roof missing but still filled to capacity.

I thought I was going to have to sleep in the car tonight but a friend told me about this FEMA shelter here in Beaumont. It's pretty cool. A huge tent city with all the amenities. Hot showers, a place to sleep, free food and even a laundry. I writing this while I wait for my clothes to wash. Just in time too. I was down to my last shirt. It's the little things like a laundry that really help when you are out on the road for a long time. I would take a few pictures but it is not allowed since this is a "Federal Facility" and no cameras are allowed. There seem to be mostly repair crews from out of the area staying here. It's pretty busy but not at capacity by any means. It looks like they could house a few thousand here if they needed to. I did not try the food yet. Tonight they had steak, potato, veggies and pie for dinner. I'll see what breakfast is like tomorrow and let you know. It did not sould like they were serving MRE's which is what my friend got when she was bouncing around Louisiana from shelter to shelter. As I said yesterday, she is back home now. I will try to get down to Texas City where she lives over the next few days. We only know each other from on-line gaming that I do, we have never met face to face.
It should be fun.
Looks like the washers are done so I'll log off for tonight.
Later,
Dana