Galveston Homecoming!

It's been over eight months since Ike ravaged our little Galveston Get-Away and this was the first trip for the cats. Actually, it was only the second over-night trip for Jerry & me, since we're still in construction phase. After such a long absence, I didn't know how the trip would go, but all FOUR cats were well behaved in the car and as soon as we arrived Little & Denny headed straight for the 3rd floor balcony door to go outside.

Little turned 21 in January and I was worried that he might never see his beach house again. We're grateful he's doing so well and still able to enjoy his favorite things. Here he is with Denny, hanging out on the balcony.

First order of business ... deck inspection!

Most important ... get a drink from the fountain while Denny chews up the pony-tail palm plant.

Just chillin' on the deck in our normal sleeping spots. For them, it's like nothing ever happened.

We played in the Galveston Country Club Memorial Day tournament on Saturday and here's Jerry & Connie celebrating a long putt. We came in second, which was a surprise!

Sunday was a long hard "work day" ... scrubbing mold off a variety of surfaces and throwing ruined things away. It's such a bummer to still be dealing with storm related clean-up, but that's life. Since we just got things "dried-in" we're behind a lot of people who had insurance payments just after the storm.

We're still missing walls outside, but the double layer of sheetrock we installed to close-in the inside entry way is holding strong. Cracked floor tiles and bare stairs with carpet tacks greet you when you open the front door, but the second and third floors are getting back to normal. We have a long list of remaining repairs and will have Juan down to quote on the work this weekend. Slowly but surely, it will come back together.

Clorox wipes are a great thing when you're killing mold EVERYWHERE. We've been through the storage closet on 3, the entire pantry, most of the kitchen and the extra bedroom. Lower kitchen cabinets need work, as does the downstairs bath. The dishwasher seems to be giving up and needs replacing, but all the other major appliances survived the storm.

As things have "settled" on the property we're discovering cracks here and there that were caused by the building being torqued from the intense winds. All in all, we're lucky it's even still there. I have some photos of first row beach houses, but I think everyone has seen enough. It's sad to see people's belongings inside shattered windows. Mother nature can be tough.

Here are some beautiful shots of West Beach ~ there are no dunes and some areas of the beach are very shallow. However, it's still there!