When a hurricane feels more like a whirlwind

When Hurricane Harvey was on the radar, we did not anticipate the devastation it would cause in our area.  I was expecting some rain and strong winds but nothing catastrophic.  It wasn't until they cancelled school for the Friday and Monday BEFORE Harvey even hit, that we decided to leave town.
The Ngogas had just gotten to Texas a few days before and I was not about to introduce my East African friends who spent the last 2 years in the desert in California to a hurricane!  And the thought of being cooped up in the house with 14 people, including a kid and a dog who are terrified of thunderstorms, for 4 DAYS with possibly no power, was not gonna happen.
So we gathered ourselves and secured the cats we left behind and drove off into the beautiful sunset of Blanco, Texas.

As Harvey poured on Houston we got comfortable at Aunt Jan's ranch for the weekend.  Surprisingly, bands of rain and cooler temps followed us to Blanco but it did not stop the kids from enjoying the pool while we were there.

Traveling with this many people could be overwhelming.  I don't even plan vacations for my party of 9 much less a party of 14.  Unpredictable days, being out of routine, and anxiety over what's happening back at home are a recipe for disaster for some of my crew.

But again, what could have been awful

turned out to be awesome.

Taking one day at a time, cooking together...

eating together...

spending time playing and resting...

...away from home was actually just the right thing for our families to bond as we were all new to one another.

The weekend passed and news showed terrible flooding all across the Houston area.  We had family and friends checking on the cats and the house and thankfully water was not getting close.  Not sure we would be able to get home, and hearing school was cancelled the rest of the week, we decided to take our party north that Monday.  

We headed to Dallas but not without making a stop along the way.  We stopped in to see Katerin who had just started classes a few days before at UMHB.  AND turns out Christine had friends in Belton too -- a family from Rwanda!  We met Bernadette and her family and found out Bernadette was also attending UMHB and had a class with Katerin.

Katerin meets the Ngogas

New friends in Belton

It's no small task to host our families, and if you tell me "come visit" you need to be prepared because we might take you up on it.  It's too expensive to get hotel rooms and eat out much with this many so if we travel, it is usually to see family or friends.  
As we headed to friends in Dallas, we learned that the Ngogas had more friends close to our destination--Another family that had moved from California as well, so to make it easier on our hosts, some of the kids went with Christine and some of the kids went with us.  All this time, Christine's husband is stranded in California trying to get the rest of their things moved.  

Thankfully, we were well taken care of!

touring Dallas

We love the Curry's!

Jeremy turned 40 something while we were gone

KFC on our way home!

Hurricane Harvey felt more like a whirlwind for us as we stayed away for a few days....watching the news, getting to know one another, depending on friends to help us.  We were very grateful to come home to a dry house, but that was not so for many living close to us.   
We met one more family that week that were friends of the Ngogas.  This family was just 20 minutes away and had also moved to Texas from California.  Their house flooded during Harvey and some of our kids were able to help clean out their house during the days school was cancelled. 

Friends

One thing I am so grateful for through this whirlwind is friends.  Friends to travel with, friends that stayed and checked on the cats, friends that generously hosted our families--some new and some old.  This could have been a terrible, horrible, no good very bad trip, but because of our friends, we got through it with smiles.

And because of Harvey, we began sharing suppers every night with the Ngogas.  The first days the Ngogas were in Texas, we were both trying to be careful to give each other their space.  But it felt kind of awkward and hard to discern.  After Harvey and sharing EVERY meal together those days we traveled, it just happened naturally that we continued to come together for supper.  And we are glad for that!