Dave and Pat On The Road: Starting 2014 TODAY.

If you follow our blog with any regularity you will know that our postings have been sparse for a good part of 2013. Many reasons for the lack of posts, but really, the biggest single reason is that we have been in (remote) parts of the south Texas oilfields and cannot always get an internet connection. The other reason is that I am somewhat of a procrastinator and won't start a post until I have all the pictures processed, saved, and in some kind of order. Today is your lucky day. Got everything together, have a good internet connection and plenty of time to get this done.

Since our last post, September 12 I believe, we have experienced some fluctuation in the world of oil well gate guarding. Chesapeake, the company we have worked with for the past year and a half, sold a lot of their wells to another company, Exco. This resulted in a lot (perhaps hundreds) of gates being closed or transferred to other guard companies. Our gate at Tilden was one of those gates.

After tearing down and packing up our gate operation we sat idle for a short period of time and then got hired by a different guard company. Guard 1 Services took us on and sent us to a fairly new gate, and Exco gate, near Dilley. We liked it there but that too was destined to close after just a few months.

While at Dilley we decided we'd better get our Cedar Creek fifth wheel in to the dealer to have some work done on it. Some of the work is covered by warranty and our warranty is about to expire. We were able to borrow (rent) a motor home from another gate guard couple who got a new fifth wheel and had not yet been able to sell their motor home. Its now been one month and we still don't have our Cedar Creek back. Should be just a few more days, I hope.

We have worked a couple other gates on a temporary basis while waiting for a more longer-term assignment. Currently in the Triple R RV park near Crystal City TX. Our hope is that our fifth wheel will be ready about the same time we get our next assignment. Meanwhile, we are enjoying the time off.

Winter sunset in Texas. Something you rarely see in the northern climes.

Construction (destruction) at the Calvert Ranch gate. When we got there it was pretty much brush country. When this tree-chewer got done there were roads and paths and clearings all over the ranch. We watched this machine reduce a 30' tall mesquite tree to chips in about ten minutes.

Some of the new oil storage at Calvert Ranch. This was brush land when we got here.

Pipeline under construction on Calvert Ranch. All the oil from the several wells flows to a central point, the tanks above, for transfer to tankers.

We had a lot of walking sticks show up at our house. The most I've ever seen in my lifetime. This one hung around for weeks, had sex right in front of us (no shame whatever), got pregnant, and had her babies. Interesting experience.

Annie ignoring a walking stick on her pen.

The rented motor home at Dennis well near Crystal City TX.

Pump jacks at Dennis. These were installed while we were there.

Moonrise near Christmas, 2013.

Site we sat for three days so other guards could have some time off. Closest town is Catarina TX, but even that's not very close. Look at the map of texas - when you find Catarina (it's north of Laredo) just look at that large white area of Dimmit County with no roads, towns, or other landmarks identified on the map. It is the middle of nowhere, and that's where this site is.

When a drill rig moves in you will see lots of huge vehicles and machines. Most of the machines are a puzzlement. You see engines, gears, pipes, but you have no clue what it does or how it works. The oil industy is a distinct sub-culture that has a lot of its own secrets.

No secret here. This is one of the friendly roadrunners we see in Texas almost every day.

This is normally dry and dusty, but when it rains nothing moves, except the flowing water.

Porta potties at a well site in the center of a huge wheat field. Is this middle of nowhere? Not quite, but you can see it from here.

Our Molly with her Christmas present for 2013. Molly made it to age 15 on New Year's Eve. Her health is failing, however, and we are concerned for her future. She has definitely become a senior citizen.

Annie with her Christmas present for 2013. Annie is now six and doing well. No more back problems.

Molly fell asleep during the middle of her snack time.

How Molly gets most of her meals now. She can't chew and keep food in her mouth so Pat feeds her a semi-liquid diet. It's kind of like hospice care for dogs. We love her.