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Off again we go to Gammaw and Gampaw’s house! This time as a part of advisory evacuations due to the wild fires in San Diego county, unfortunately. We got a precautionary evacuation phone call about 5:30 am Monday because of a small fire that had broken out just east of us and decided to watch and wait. The Daddy sent us off about 11 am because of poor air quality and to avoid the inevitable traffic if there were mandatory evacuations. So we packed up our stuff and headed on up the road to better air quality. The Daddy was going to stay behind to see what happened because we didn’t know how bad it would turn out and whether schools would be open the next day. It turns out that he followed us a couple of hours later. The schools closed for the week and our area remained a voluntary evacuation area for a couple of days. So we have had a nice couple of days with Gammaw and Gampaw. No hardship here! I’m grateful that we had a place to go. I see all of the families that ended up at Qualcomm stadium and think how stressful it must be for them. We have a bed to sleep in and 24 hour connection to multiple news outlets. I can’t imagine sitting there waiting for news and wondering whether our house was okay. Not to mention the logistics of keeping track of multiple little ones in a place that big! And how do you sleep in a situation like that? My heart goes out to everyone there. It’s overwhelming to think about how many people are displaced right now, not only in San Diego county but in all of Southern California.

I have to say that I was so grateful for that automated phone call Monday morning. As nervewracking as it was to get that call, it gave us time to think through all of the stuff that we might need to take with us. Things that I forgot about, The Daddy remembered. As I looked around, I realized that, as much of a pain as it would be to replace the “stuff”, it was almost all replaceable. Anything that I really wanted to save would fit in my car or The Daddy’s truck with room to spare. I can’t imagine, though, getting that “reverse 911″ phone call that says “Get out now!” with little or no warning. I know that I wouldn’t be able to think straight.

I know that the implications of this much destruction are beyond me right now. I know that I have absolutely no comprehension of what it will take to recover from this. I am just grateful that the weather and conditions have improved so that they could contain the fires that are left. I am grateful that it looks like things are on the downhill slide and that much of the county is out of danger.

We’re probably going to head back today which means I have to get creative about ways to tire The Tot out for nap time and bed time again since it’s not great for The Tot to be out in the smoky air… Indoor obstacle course anyone?