Katrina Relief Sunday Activities

Sunday

We woke up more refreshed, since we didn't try to poison ourselves like friday night. Matt Larsen missed out on the breakfast that Sharon prepared. Biscuits and gravy, sausage and eggs. We were able to skip lunch. Patrick, and Mike Taylor from North Carolina went with me to try to get the last shelter online. First, Patrick climbed the NOC tower, and adjusted the link between Oak Ridge (ATT Tower) and the NOC. Signal was still poor, so we headed to Oak Ridge (again) before heading to the Start tower, and the Alto shelter. We were able to use a compass heading to get the antenna lined up, and got a connections, but a poor signal. -81 is not enough to sustain connection for this link. So, someone will have to climb NOC again to tweak the signal. The guys that went to the Kings camp (the one with special needs) and tried but were unable to get a 900 link up for them. This link NOC to Oak Ridge feeds that camp.

We arrived at Start, and put the link back to the NOC live, and aimed the AP in the right direction. We started using compass bearings, so we could show the climber(Patrick) the correct position on the ground, instead of relying on distant landmarks for antenna placement. The link was a -73 with a 100/100 speed test.

We then went to the Alto Camp, and met with some of the evacuees, and explained what our group was trying to do for them. This group was very fortunate, since all of the family members from several households were related, and were able to stay together. The father was seperated for awhile in the beginning, but he made it out and back to his family. He was stubborn and would not leave when the rest left home, and he barely made it out. His daugher said he ws really lucky and really stupid at the same time. They have no idea when they will be going back to their homes, (in the NO area). The camp is a bible camp compound, with buildings, and power, water. They are even using the meeting hall building as a kitchen, meeting room, and bedroom for some adults and kids. There were all kinds of clothes that had been donated there.

We did not get a good enough signal at this camp either. 6 miles through dense trees did not work, since we could only get about 15 feet height out of the Su side.

We returned to the camp and enjoyed the best brisket meal I have ever tasted. It was so tender, Clyde Sr. wondered how the cows could swalk with such tender brisket. After dinner, the circus tent was dropped, and preparations for the move got underway. Pallets of pc's to be configured and put into service were shrink wrapped, and readied by Jimmy and crew. We had a late night strategy meeting to discuss what provisions we would need, and safety issues were addressed. Two guys from New York and one from Ohio arrived, and at around 0030 a pair from California rolled in.