Evacuated, but OK

We have evacuated our house. Our neighborhood was given the evacuation order at 6am yesterday, and we left at about 7:15. We had everything prepared, we just had to get it in the car and decide where to go. We each had 1/2 a tank of gas in the car. . .thank goodness for that. The lines at the gas stations were outrageous.

We spent the morning calling around to our closest friends, making sure that they were ok. We do have a couple of friends who decided not to leave, and I'm really shocked. The air quality alone should be enough to make you leave. The smoke and ash in the air makes it impossible to breathe without coughing or keep your eyes open without getting them filled with ashes.

The biggest concern was where to go. We sit between I5 and I15, north of 56. 15 was closed going north. 5 was sitting like a parking lot, as was 56. We cosidered getting on 8 and going east--even all the way to Arizona, but we decided against it, since many of the fires are in east county, and it is all brush and countryside. We figured that the fires spread much faster there, and we would be overtaken by them. Turns out we were right, about the time that we would have hit Alpine, we heard on the radio that the freeway had been closed because the fire had jumped and was on both sides.

It seemed very scary to me to go south, since that seemed llike we were blocking ourselves in between the fires north and east, mexico south, and the ocean west. But, S.'s boss called and said he was at the office and the air was clear. He told us to come down here, so we did. We are at a Navy base in the bachelors quarters. (You know the single sailors are LOVING the invasion of families and animals, huh??) Anyway--we have with us my friend B and her 3 kids and 2 cats. Her husband is out on deployment (back in 27 days!!!!!!!) so we wanted to stay together with her. Fortunately, they had rooms for both families. We have a "suite" that is 3 bedrooms and bathrooms with a common living room. Another family has the 3rd room. So, it is a lot of kids in a little space and they are sleeping on the floor, but we are safe and basically comfortable. I forgot the kids stuffed animals and their blankets, so going to sleep was a little difficult, but other than that, we are totally fine!

We have told the kids that we left the house because the air was too difficult to breathe. We have not mentioned to them that our house is threatened, but that is still a possibility. It is remote, for now, but it is possible. I am strangely calm about that. Everyone I talk to on the phone keeps freaking out about it, almost like I SHOULD be freaking out, but I'm not. Part of that is because I got out EVERYTHING I have to have (that would be my 4 boys) and most of the things I REALLY want to have (birth certificates, marriage license, wedding album, scrapbooks, computer hard drive, etc.) and several things that I want to have (2 sets of clothes for all of us, school library books, etc.)

I got my jewelry, but I only remembered to get the drawers of my jewelry box--I forgot the necklaces hanging in the side doors. My pearls are there. That makes me a little sad. My pottery, antique furniture, college diplomas, etc. are all there. But, basically, if I lose those things, it would be a hassle. That's it. Just a hassle. Not a tragedy, not a life ending event. We are not only safe, we are comfortable. We are alive and our friends are too. Maybe it is because I am just a renter, but I am ok with it all right now. I know that if it does burn, I will be sad and will cry and go through all of that, but for now, my perspective is good. We had a very timely sermon about that on Sunday. Relying on God everyday for all your needs makes sure that you keep your focus in the right direction. If you start counting on yourself and thinking you're so great--you can quickly see what you are capable (or INcapable) of!

San Diego city and county teams are amazing. Their responses have been outstanding. They had a horrible fire here a few years ago, and they lost many many homes and people died. They have learned from that and from New Orleans, and from 9-11 and from all kinds of other things. There are so many ways that they are taking care of people. At this point, they are still pretty helpless as far as the fires go. They are mainly fighting from the ground, because the winds are bad, but they are keeping people alive, and the evacuation areas are safe and comfortable. There is OUTRAGEOUS amounts of food and supplies being donated. People are taking care of each other (these are people who's OWN houses are also threatened). Restaurants are donating food. People are calling in to radio stations and offering their land for animals, RVs, tents, etc. It brings me to tears just to hear the stories.

And of course, there is my beautiful military family. We came onto base and were immediately put into rooms. The bowling alley let us bowl for free. The movie theater changed the evening movie to a kid movie and showed it for free. They have extended our rooms through Monday for now. We take care of our own. That applies to all of San Diego right now--but it definitely applies to the military family too.

The only crazy thing is that I forgot something for S. to sleep in, so I had to get him something at the exchange. . .he is wearing a NAVY shorts and tshirt!! ha ha!

All 3 of our phones are working (we got N. one. . .that is another story. . .I can't remember if I've posted it before). Anyway--we are having trouble getting calls OUT, but we can recieve them. We can't talk long, because they are asking us to stay off the grid if we can, to allow emergency calls to be made. But, if you want to call us, you can. Our batteries are dying quickly--I guess because we were on them all day yesterday--but 8:30 they were all completely dead, we couldn't even talk on them connected to the chargers (sorry S&G--we couldn't find a way to try to call you back!!)

My sister, B, has offered to send out emails for me, so I will probably send an email to everyone in a little bit, so that she can just hit "reply all" to it and forward any info. I have access to the email at the hotel front desk, but it is several buildings away, and I only get 10 minutes and the line is long. So, if you don't get an email, send me one, and I'll add you to that list. I am hoping that if I do Bcc that it will still go out to reply all. I don't know if that works, but I know I'm not supposed to put anyone's email address where it can be seen--all that "netiquette" stuff!

Ok, more as it is possible!

Thanks!