We debated driving directly to the Houston Astrodome, where they had sent 10,000 displaced residents from Hurricane Katrina. After learning that the Austin Convention Center accepted 5,000 evacuees, we decided that Austin would be the perfect place to visit with Matt's sister and her family while also volunteering at the convention center. Rebecca and Jeremy graciously opened their beautiful new home and refrigerator to a pair of hungry travellers. Our guest room had a large screen television that provided the perfect opportunity to get caught up on the news and more movies than we care to admit. Brandon (Rebecca and Jeremy's youngest) is still working on the whole aiming thing, so guests be warned when considering having a seat in the bathroom. Jen learned this lesson the hard way.

While in the Lonestar state, we were introduced to 105 degree temperatures, fire ants, Texas Pete, the Texas Two Step, March of the Penguins, bats under the bridge, Rudy's BBQ, and let us not forget the Alamo. We found the temperatures in excess of 100 degrees to be really quite pleasant as long as we were inside an air conditioned house sipping on lemonade. The fire ants are vicious and malicious. Mowing the lawn barefoot is highly discouraged, as Matt painfully learned. While attending Cameron and Shannon's elementary school dance, we learned a few new dance moves we hope to use on our trip. Any visit to Austin should include a visit to the Congress Street Bridge at sunset. Here you can observe as hundreds of thousands of bats make their mass exodus from under the bridge in search of dinner. The site and smell is unforgettable. As for the Texas style BBQ, we are addicted. It is smothered with a dry rub (a wonderous collection of spices), then slow cooked in a smoker. The meat melts in your mouth tantalizing every taste bud before sliding down your throat to eventually meet your stomach which quivers with complete satisfaction. This may be an appropriate time to mention we gained a few pounds during our stay with the Doty's. In fact, Matt gained ten pounds (literally). We prefer to regard this weight gain as storage for the international leg of our journey. The Alamo was well worth the trip down to San Antonio. It is another great reminder of our history as a young nation.

For those of you who would like to help but are not certain how, there are many organizations doing great work and are always in need of volunteers and donations. Some of these include the Red Cross (www.redcross.org), Salvation Army (www.salvationarmy.org), and Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org). George Bush (former president) and Bill Clinton also established the Katrina Fund (www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org) to aid in the recovery process.

The Austin Convention Center has become home to over 5,000 evacuees from Louisiana and Mississippi, as a result of the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. The convention center was well organized and orderly, with abundant supply of food, water and medical supplies. This is obviously in stark contrast to the Super Dome in New Orleans. The added time and distance from the disaster as well as smaller number of evacuees clearly made a difference. They also had more volunteers than they knew what to do with. In fact, the Red Cross was overwhelmed by the amount of volunteers that showed up to lend a hand. Initially, this hindered their efforts to help because volunteers were tripping over each-other with not enough people to train them or just point them in the right direction. It is a good problem to have in the larger scheme of things, and an uplifting reflection of fellow Americans wanting to help each other in times of trouble. It was not so long ago that firefighters from Louisiana (and many other states) came to the aid of New York City, our home at the time. This point was not missed on us.

Our time with the Red Cross was spent assisting in triage (taking medical histories and providing basic first aid), helping evacuees re-unite with family members (through internet searches and registering them on-line with the various registries), helping individuals fill out FEMA applications on-line, and many times we just listened. The stories we have heard are truly unbelievable. Each story is verified by the next. Perhaps it seems more shocking because it occurred in our own country. Many of the stories you are already familiar with because the media covered them extensively including stories of the murders, rapes and drug abuse that went on in and around the Superdome. In the Austin Convention Center, the number of people experiencing withdrawal from heroine was large enough to warrant the organization of a daily shuttle to a methadone clinic.

The majority of what we saw and experienced at the convention center, however, was extremely positive. Displaced residents looked after and cared for one another, individuals came from all over the country in search of their family and loved ones, and some residents of Texas came to the convention center to temporarily adopt individuals and families who had lost their homes.

Jen took advantage of every opportunity to hold many of the children who were running around while helping their mothers sign up for the family registries on-line. Matt was approached by two young girls about eight or nine years old. They wanted to help the people who were affected by the hurricane so they did what eight and nine year olds do so well, they organized a lemonade stand. After two hard days of lemon squeezing and juice pouring, they proudly donated their profits of $28.75. The over-riding theme we saw over and over again was the importance of family and loved ones above all else.

Volunteering with the Red Cross has been both a rewarding and interesting experience. One of the obvious rewards is the sense that, in some very small way, you may have actually helped someone who needed it. The interesting part is seeing first-hand the inherent challenges a large organization like the Red Cross faces in organizing and providing disaster relief. The cooperation and coordination with other organizations and volunteers is essential but not always present. When the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, the helpful body simply appears to be flailing around, despite good intentions. Given the fact that the Red Cross has a history of providing assistance in times of disasters, we certainly expected it to be more organized. With that being said, we still believe they are doing incredible work and work that is definitely needed.