Lessons Learned from a Wildfire Evacuation...

Wow...what a couple of weeks we've had!  I'll update everyone on all of our adventures during our unexpected two week vacation in the coming posts. For now, mom is taking over at the request of some family and friends to share some of the things we learned.
In case anyone missed it, we've been away from our home for 2 weeks because of this...the Las Conchas Fire.

The Los Alamos National Lab is in the foreground. The lab closed Monday and didn't open until the following Wednesday.  We left on Sunday, June 26th with the voluntary evacuation and stayed in ABQ for a couple of days.  Once the mandatory evacuation for Los Alamos was called and it was obvious that we wouldn't be going home anytime soon we headed up to Denver to stay with Uncle B and Aunt K.  Just to keep you interested, below is a picture of the hospital where baby S was born. CRAZY!

 Anyways...onto the lessons learned...
1.  Plan ahead of time what is most important to everyone and have a written list so when an evacuation or emergency is called, you can just go to your list and check it off as it's loaded in the car. We joked about it when we first saw and smelled the smoke. I wrote the list anyways and threw it in the desk. Four hours later I was pulling it out because once the reality set in, I didn't have to stress about what to take. Think about the things that cannot be replaced. I took blankets that my grandma made for my children and J took a couple of his West Point regalia.
2. Plan to be gone longer than you think you will be. I packed for 3 days...not 2 weeks! Yes, we could buy a lot of things but you're already stressed, it's just easier if you have it (ie--diapers, formula, swimsuits)
3. Everyone talked about the 6 P's -- people, pets, paperwork, pictures, personal electronics (and chargers), prescriptions.  Will any of your bills be due soon?
4. Make sure everything fits in your car comfortably and have it easily accessible so it doesn't take long to gather

5.  Laundry--Monday is  my laundry day and the fire started Sunday. In the midst of all the madness, I had to do a load of laundry so that we'd all have a few "essentials". If there is even a hint at evacuation, do laundry!
6.  Toys, Toys, Toys!!! The kids needed something to do other than cartoons in the hotel room.

And hopefully, you'll be as fortunate as we were and eventually be able to come home to a home and a few extra surprises...  

 Baby birds in the nest outside our kitchen window...

 Singed leaves and ash in our yard...

And veggies growing in the garden!
FYI...to date the fire is still only 50% contained, has burned over 150,000 acres, and depending on how the wind blows, we can still smell smoke!  Thanks for listening and perhaps this might help someone in the future.  M will be back soon with her witty and entertaining posts.