Gate 15 Officially Closed….Just In Time….

October 25, 2015w2bergen 1 Comment

Last Wed. was our last day at the gate. On Tue morning Rich went in, and we had hopes it would be the last, but no. Now the maintainer (road grader) broke down. The had brought in several loads of rock to spread around the valve area and the ranchers gate. The maintainer broke down in the middle of the ranchers gate. They managed to back it up behind the gate to lock it. The operator waited all afternoon for the mechanic to come, but, no avail. Theirs always tomorrow. So Rich came home and told me Wed was my day to close. lol. So Wed morning I went to the gate at 6:30 as usual. The guys started coming in by 7 am. They finally all drove out around 7:30 to begin to dismantle my gate and replace it with a tall fence to match the existing fence.

They had to take off the 2 – 8, sections of aluminum swing gate and replace it with 8′ rolled fencing. Finally around 8 am. or so the mechanic came in and fixed the maintainer. They began to finish their spreading and grading of the gravel. Now they had around 7 guys to help with this gate. How hard is it?

After quite awhile they finally had it up, laced the new piece on to the existing poles. Then they had to put in the 2 metal poles…….Lets back up the truck, put the shortest guy up, standing on the top edge of the bed, and have him pound in the poles with the pounder….lol….The rest just stood around and watched…….AND THAT IS HOW THE WHOLE MORNING WENT……LOL….

My Gate ……….2 8′ swing aluminum sections…..

Finally at 1:05 Pm. The gate was FINALLY OFFICIALLY CLOSED…….

My Gate after closing………took almost 6 hrs. and 7 men……lol….and this is what they were doing as I left………….sitting…..nothing…..lol..

This has been quit and experience for us. Will we do it again? OF COURSE….next spring we plan on being available in April. It has definitely been challenging at times. Learning how to sleep at the 24 hour gate, learning how to handle 100 degree heat, the attack of the crickets in Carrizo Springs….and now we are infested with ants in the RV, because of where we were staying in our FREE spot. It was good as it was free, with all hook-ups, but it was not mowed. Basically it was the back of a service yard that was tall dead critter infested weeds, with tires etc. stuff people had thrown out and was never cleaned up. The ground was all rutted with tire marks. When it rains, the soil turns to a horrible mud. So glad we got out when we did as the remnants of Hurricane Patricia are now upon us. We left Wed. afternoon late, and stopped at Walmart and bought 2 back tires for the pickup and Thur. we arrived at East Gate in Harlingen. ……OH HAPPY DAYS..…Glad to be back…..Of course it started raining, we left last spring in the rain, so I guess it should rain when we arrive. lol. Now the last 2 days it has been pouring because of Hurricane Patricia. We only got around 2-3″ yesterday, but up north, parts of Texas including where we were, are getting 10″ – 12″ or more. It is so good to be back, just like coming home. Everyone is so glad to see you and we are to see them……. Familiar Faces……Friends……Already went and played pool with the girls yesterday, and Rich is playing with the guys this morning…….OLD TIMES……Rain doesn’t stop anyone here. One good thing that I love, which most people hate………..were back with the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles……lol…In the desert it was total silence…..Nothing….but here we are only a mile from the airport and on the flight path. I have always loved watching the planes in the air. At home in Illinois we are around 90 miles from Chicago, but on the flight path for O’Hare and Midway. The planes are already descending. Sometimes you can tell the color as to who the airlines is. Right behind the park there is a train track. Many times a freight train comes through. We are also on the main drag in town and less than a half a block from the main road to turn to the airport. So in the evening, you hear the sirens of the police and ambulance. But here in the park we are secluded in our own little world…….Love It…..

But the silence of the desert is a good thing also. We would spend around 12 hours everyday for 6 weeks, just sitting. Many times we spent hours before someone would come or go to sign. So we would sit their and become in tune with the area. What we thought was a horrible desert with nothing but cactus, mesquite trees and nothing, became a beautiful area full of nature. I have wrote about the turkeys, the Mexican ground squirrels, the quail, deer, but not the Road Runners.

Now we seen many of them. They are so cool to watch. They are not as personable as the ground squirrels, but they are not afraid of us either. They would run with their head forward and I would say, “Hey Mr. Road Runner”. They stop and look around, and then continue their mission. Always looking up the road and around for a bug or food item. As they run, they hold their lean frames nearly parallel to the ground and rudder with their long tails. Roadrunners eat poisonous prey, including venomous lizards and scorpions, with no ill effect, although they’re careful to swallow horned lizards head-first with the horns pointed away from vital organs. Roadrunners can also kill and eat rattlesnakes, often in tandem with another roadrunner: as one distracts the snake by jumping and flapping, the other sneaks up and pins its head, then bashes the snake against a rock. If it’s is too long to swallow all at once, a roadrunner will walk around with a length of snake still protruding from its bill, swallowing it a little at a time as the snake digests. Did you know they can our run a Human?

Roadrunners reach two feet from sturdy bill to white tail tip, with a bushy blue-black crest and mottled plumage that blends well with dusty shrubs. They are really a beautiful bird.

The first weeks we were their, they would be climbing on our truck. They would hop on the hood and peck at the window. He would also try pecking at the windshield wipers. Then he would hop to the back of the truck and peck at the back window. We had the windows down all the time, and thought he might hop inside. He would hop on the outside mirror and then in the window but never inside. He would do it over and over. Quite an interesting bird, but always with a goal in mind……running…..stop…..look…….run again…..

Another animal that is prevalent here is the Javelina…pronounced with an H…..We seen several of them dead on the road from being hit. I only seen them once. I was going to the gate on the gravel road, and came over a rise and right in front of me was a small herd of them. I don’t think they are too smart as they didn’t seem to know what to do. I had thought about it, I would have been able to take their picture. They are a medium sized animal that resemble a pig. Its eyes are too small for its head. They are a social animal and run in herds. They are 2′ – 4′ in length and are 20lb – 40lbs.

As we sat their everyday, I began to realize, the oil and gas company’s that come in and dig up the land, really don’t do that much harm. Yes they do destroy some of the habitats, but they strive to put it back as is was. After an area is done, the rancher has contracted what he wants done with the land. It is seeded with native grasses, and it then becomes a great grazing area for the cattle. The ranchers that have deer, set up their feeders in the clearing. Then it is a great spot for there blinds for hunting season. All the little animals and birds adapt during the construction process. Have you ever just sat outside in the woods are fields, or even in your back yards? Do it sometimes……Listen to the sounds of nature……..As we sat their, I would close my eyes……

I would hear the birds overhead in the trees….even flocks of geese going south…..

I heard the turkeys in the brush about a block ahead of me……

then from behind, a little soft sound of peeps….the quail were coming out and going across the road. and the my little ground squirrels….

.Their high pitch chatter….to the left………then to the right in the cactus patch far away…..they were communicating…..I was sitting in their environment……This is their daily life…..Now the gate is closed…….We said Good bye to all the Ralphs…….lol…..

Our first Ralph was sitting by his hole the day before we left, just observing again……Now he can return to his life without humans…..lol….

………Life goes on in the desert……

Our Little Mexican Ground Squirrel Friends…..Ralphs

October 20, 2015October 20, 2015w2bergen 1 Comment

We have been Gate Guarding now for going on 9 weeks. The first 3 we were on the oil rig in Carrizo Springs and then we moved here to the gas pipeline in Tilden. We are Gate 15, one of the last 3 gates to be open of 25. Our gate holds the valves at the half way point of the 30 miles it runs. They are now finishing it up. They were suppose to have had it all done by the 1st. Well that didn’t happen. Every time we think it might be our last day, something changes. The company gave the contractor a deadline of next Wed. The inspector came in and said they needed to pour another concrete pillar to hold up the valves. They only put in 2 and they need 3. Soooooooo, that means they built the new forms on Sat. No concrete delivery on Sunday I guess, but we guarded anyway. Concrete poured yesterday, Monday, and they also put up the fence around the valves.

(Did you know, here in Texas, the concrete trucks mix on site. The trucks have a separate water tank and then the sand gravel mixture. Interesting fact ya think?)

This is a 24″ gas pipe line….I believe it’s larger than the norm. They wanted quantity.

So now today is Tue. All they have to do is take off the forms and backfill. Bring in gravel for the base, clean up the extra stuff and then replace our gate with permanent fencing. Do you think they can get that done in 12 hours…….NO……….

Fencing finished around the valves. These valves are the midway point between 30 miles of pipeline. Still need the forms taken off the 3rd pillar. Our gate is about 100 feet from here.

.Rich called and said everything is done but the new fencing replacing our gate. That will happen tomorrow……….So looks like I will have to make another trip out……Bummer. Nothing like them being slackers…..But it does guarantee me 8 hours pay….lol

So now to my favorite subject this blog………..OUR NEW FRIENDS….RALPH and his buddies….

We first started here, you might remember, this little guy would go up to Rich’s shoes and chew on them. He came every day. I researched on him and found him to be a Mexican Ground Squirrel, native to Southern Texas and Mexico. He has 9 stripes of irregular rectangular dots down his back. An adult can reach 15″ from his head to the tip of their tail. They live in burrows in the ground and have several different openings. They eat grains, nuts berries, bugs and even road kill. They do like meat. So I put out some wheat bread.

Wow, instantly tamed. They loved it. So they started coming over to my side. Rich named the one Ralph. Ralph grew as we feed him….As you see his belly is really filled out. In the sun his fur is shinny. He became a pest.

Next we tried left over corn. I think he could smell it from the distance. He came right over. I put it on the chair and he knew it.

He climbed right up. Several times he even tried to climb my legs. Scared me…….lol….One day Rich was taking a nap, he woke up and Ralph was on his lap…………….hahah……..They also eat and store it in their cheeks and go back to their burrow and store their food. We knew right where Ralph lived. He lived at near the edge of the road where the rancher pulls into his gate. Not a very good place.

He gets up in the morning when the sun gets hot. He sits by his hole for 5 to 10 minutes in his erect stance and watches everything around him. If the guys were working in his view, he would watch them for awhile. After awhile more showed up. One came from my side in the cactus area. Rich named him George at first. He would cross under the gate and come and take food. Then he would run back to the gate and eat it.

So cute. Some times they would hide behind the gate and stare at us…..

I would say, “Hey Little Buddy, I can see you” Then he would come running for food. They are so darn cute. When they run, their tails fly up in the air and they are so fast. I think the tail is used as a rudder also for many things…When they sit. the tail is straight out most of the times. When they run it is flung over their back towards the front. It helps with their gravity points. Many times they will run just a foot or so, the tail is flung over their back, and then they stop suddenly and the tail fly’s to the ground.

One day Rich was eating his cantaloupe and he decided to cut the rind up in pieces. We took a baggie and WOW, they loved it. They also love Watermelon rind. They eat it like humans, the eat the meat of it and leave the skin….lol…It think this is the way they must get their water. They live in a dry arid area, and the only way they can probably find their water is from the cactus plants. Their is plenty of them.

Now I also set out water for them every day. I use a bottle top and put ice in it to melt. We have attracted more of the little guys. At first, there was just one over by Rich, we named him Ralph. Then several more showed up. One over by me in the cactus area beyond the fence, George. Then by Rich at the other end of his gate was a sand mound with a number of holes. Another one came from their. Now the sad thing is, we used to know who Ralph was. Now we’ve fed them so much, they are all beginning to look alike………Chubby…..lol……Now were up to at least 3 Ralphies…..lol….and 1 new little guy………………….BUT………They are NOT SOCIAL among them selves…..

They live alone and don’t like others around. Their tail is small until they get upset. Then it fluffs out and they play tag. At least that’s what it looks like. They chase each other in circles and off into the cactus. Then one comes back….then the other one, and it starts again. Even though the history I read says, that they aren’t social, I sometimes got the feeling they were playing. I could be my imagination though. They also make several sounds. When they are spreading their tail, ready for attack, they make a teeth chatter sound. Some times, when they sit and another one is near it is a low pitch vocal chatter. The one I love to hear is the one when they are projecting to a distance.

They stand up erect and their mouth is fully open. They project a high pitch shrill chatter, almost like a bird sound. I think it is a sign of claiming territory. They have been so much fun. What else do you do for 12 hours in the Texas desert….lol….

They also love peaches, and one day I gave Ralph my empty yogurt cup. He loved it and carried the cup away to his hole. He put it over the top. lol. maybe his sun shade?. But finally the wind took it away, so I picked it up and put it in the trash.

Here’s 2 more cute pictures, and these are the original Ralph, I caught him eating my shoe. These little guys are so cute to watch. They are so smart, and have an awesome lifestyle to watch. No matter what happens here with the pipeline, they have adapted and stayed out of the way. But they watch everything. Its amazing to me, you think your the only one out here for miles sometimes, but you have no idea the eyes that are upon you from the bushes. lol. Could give you the creeps couldn’t it……lol…..Now as our days are starting to get chillier in the mornings….lol….65-70…..I notice they aren’t getting up as early. They wait for the sun to shine and heat up their burrows. They are suppose to hibernate very soon, but some say the southern Texas ones may not. I bet it depends on the heat of the winter. I was going to write about the Road Runners also, but I will leave that for next time. They are awesome also.

Nature in Southern Texas is Beautiful……

Still at the Gate….and Hill Top Cemetery

October 14, 2015w2bergen 2 Comments

Chris came the other morning and finally brought our License. We are now Level 2 Private Security Agents registered and certified by the state of Texas…..Rather impressive I think….lol…We can now get jobs at any Company in Texas that is looking for Security. It is really quite a business down here. The fingerprinting stations rotate in different towns through out the state. Their were at least 6 different towns just in our section of the state open when we were fingerprinted. They move around every week within that section, so no one has to drive very far.

We are still at our Gate 15. They don’t have much left to do, but they are spending most of their time at other gates, trying to get them closed. Out of 25 gates, only 3 are still open. We thought we would be done last weekend, then we were told this Friday. Now today we were told they might not be finished till next Wed. Hopefully we will be done by Sunday. Their not closing the gate this weekend, working through to get it done. They still have concrete work to do at the valve area and build a fence around the valves. So the days stretch on. Last Friday we had a bad rain storm and left early. When it rains in Texas on the back roads its not good. They had to grade the gravel road because of all the ruts. The weather has turned hot again, It was over 100 degrees, the last several days. So glad this is almost over.

I went to visit Hill Top Cemetery the other day. It was formed in the late 1800’s after Boot Hill Cemetery was closed. When Choke Canyon Reservoir was formed in the 1980’s, the remains of another Cemetery was relocated in the Hill Top Cemetery. I didn’t find as much history on it as I thought, but did find some interesting stones. You might think it rather strange that I seem to enjoy Cemetery’s, but many people do. Many stones tell a story of a person. How many children, what type of job in life, how old they were and sometimes how much they were loved by their family.

Here is one that I thought was special, as the wife had written this beautiful passage about her husband, for all to read. They must have shared an amazing Love.

Some were very sad. This plot was a father on the left Abel and his 2 little children, Mark 4 and Alicia 8 on the right. All three died on Oct 9 1994. One would assume it must have been an accident. The wife is still alive. They planted palm trees and bushes on either side. On the far left is another stone. I believe it was Abel’s mother.

This is the back of her stone. It is a family tree of her children and Abel’s name is on it also. This was a very beautiful setting, but so sad when you try to imagine their story.

I also found some simple stones, some cross’s. Homemade. The one on the left is simply wood. The one on the right was made with concrete with colored stones pressed in to decorate it. He passed in 1948.

Many of the plots are surrounded by rusted iron fences. It must have been the thing back then to surround the family with fence to keep intruders out.

This must have been an infant. Behind this plot across the road was another family plot.

It was surrounded entirely by a crumbling stone wall. Ironically, their was no gate or way to easily enter. The stone on the left was Mary, she died when she was 29 in 1889.

As I walked around you can see the grass was dead and brown. The heat has been 90-100. I seen many places that there are water spigots located through out the cemetery.

Some were actually being used. The family must spend lots of time coming out to take care of their family plots.

I seen only 2 mausoleums. This one was really old and crumbling. The headstone was on the top and at the other end must have been a ventilation pipe.

Here Lies Our

Beloved brother

Tommy Sotello

There was a lot of love and thought put into this one. I has a concrete base with wooden sides. Alphabet beads were used to write his name and a plate of glass was sealed over it.

Another one similar to the last. It is formed with concrete.

This lady was also very loved by her family. Her photo was their along with a coffee cup, and a ceramic grocery store. Flowers, a solar light, metal rose and an arbor completed the plot.

Here is a row of identical cross’s. Their wrapped in Christmas tinsel that has faded and grown old with time. It makes you wonder how long its been since the last family visitors’.

This one was really constructed with LOVE…..concrete blocks and wood posts….created a garden fence with flowers inserted. The flowers were all silk and also very pretty. They hadn’t been faded or wind beaten yet.

This plot was all by itself under a tree. It contained one headstone and had a single faded silk flower attached to the gate. ……Simple Beauty……It is a really beautiful Cemetery sitting on a hill top.

This is the view looking out over the country side. So tomorrow is another day. My turn at the gate. The temperature is coming down a bit.

“I think only 94…lol…”

A Quick Trip to Harlingen & “Boot Hill Cemetery”….

October 6, 2015October 6, 2015w2bergen 2 Comments

Last Friday was Richs’ day to go to the gate. They closed the gate at 3 pm. for the weekend for the hunters. We think they were trying to pacify the landowner because they were running past the Oct. 1st deadline. We don’t have to go back till Mon. Sat. morning, we got up and did a load of laundry and decided around 1 or 2 to go to Walmart for cat treats and litter. We decided to go to a town called George West. {weird name} We headed east out of Tilden and first came upon the Choke Canyon Reservoir which is run by the state. Well they wanted $5 a person just to enter. So much for that. On down the road to the next town. Its name is Three Rivers. From a distance we could see that it had a HUGE Oil Refinery in town. Looks like Star Wars Town Doesn’t it….lol…

As we pulled into town, you could see that the town was attached to the Refinery. The town was wrapped around the refinery on several sides. Obviously the town survived on the refinery jobs. Again several NEW motels in town and lots of campgrounds. As we drove from Tilden, we could see we were in the heart of oil country, but the boom was over. So many campgrounds, now deserted or just with a handful of campers. Several places were trailers all in a wagon circle or lines like little streets. They were similar to Fema trailers. They also were deserted or just a hand full of vehicles out in front. As you look in the distance across the land scape, you could see many oil tanks in the fields from wells that had been drilled. The highway is just busy with tankers carrying oil to the refinery.

On we went, with the next town being George West. It wasn’t what we expected. It didn’t look big enough to have a Walmart. We seen a sign that said McAllen 150 miles. I jokingly said. ” We should go have pizza at Mr. Gatti‘s.” Its a great pizza/salad bar in Harlingen. Why not? We had the weekend off. Three hours later we pulled into Eastgate Park in Harlingen. It felt like going home…..lol….We pulled in front of Debbie and Ricks house {managers}. They came out totally shocked, thinking we had come early. lol. “No, we were just on the way to Walmart”……lol…Had a nice visit with them and went down to visit more friends. Bev, Roberta, and Ken were just wrapping up a garage sale. We had a wonderful visit with Bev. Her husband Ernest had just passed away several weeks before. They were Workampers. Bev cleaned and Ernest was the I.T. man. He was so smart with computers. Last year, he had spent all season trying to get the new internet system to work with the outside company. He was not health, but a “Super Guy”. He will be so missed. Not only for the work he did, but as a friend. Then we ended up at Roberta and Kens. If you remember from last winter, Roberta has the Parrot and the little cockatiel. “Maui and Love Love”. Had a great visit with them and finally found a motel. Of course no clothes or makeup, so a stop at the Dollar Store to buy make up and Cat treats and litter. lol. The whole purpose of the trip. In the morning we were next door to the Golden Corral, so after breakfast we headed back up the road towards Tilden.

But it won’t be long………We’ll be Back………

Back in Three Rivers, we stopped at DQ. In pulled some really cool cars.

It was a Car Club from San Antonio, out for a cruise.

This one was really neat….

The engine area was painted bright purple and right inside on the nose, above the grill was this signature.

Beautiful cars……

We were back home before 3. Poor Kitty, he was deserted……Gave him lots of treats and he was “Happy” again…..Monday was my day at the gate and Today was Rich’s. Its getting slower and slower. I decided to walk to the store today. It is always closed when we get home. How silly. It was in the 90,s again. Lucky I didn’t die of heat exhaustion. The store was nothing to brag about. All I bought was a sack of Ginger Snaps, and a Drumstick ice cream. Had to eat it FAST…..

On the way I went to “BOOTHILL CEMETERY”……….

Located in Tilden is Boot Hill Cemetery, one of the only two authentic cemeteries of its kind in the southwest. It was so named because many of those who were interred there died violently, “with their boots on.” Many of the early graves were those of people who were killed in accidents, murdered, or who died of cholera during an epidemic in 1869, although some were known to have died of natural causes. The cemetery was established sometime after Frio Rio came into existence in 1858. It is currently located behind the bank half a block north of the courthouse plaza on Highway 72 and half a block east of State Highway 16, across from the new sheriff’s office. In 1877, Boot Hill Cemetery was abandoned in favor of the present Hill Top Cemetery and then neglected for more than half a century. During this time a number of the markers deteriorated, fell down, and became lost, along with the local history they contained. In 1955, when the Cenizo Garden Club was organized, its members began to clean up and restore the cemetery. They cleaned the plots, cleared out the brush, and located as many graves as possible.

The grounds were enclosed by a low border of native stone and the Boot Hill Cemetery sign, a large boot made of masonry mounted on a large slab of petrified palm stump, was added to the cemetery grounds.

The club was also instrumental in obtaining a historical marker, which now stands at the entrance to the cemetery.

This is the only grave that has a name on it…..Glenn Greer….died 1878….. He was thrown and killed while trying to ride a half tamed horse. His grave is still evident today (July 2002), as his family was notified of his death and they sent a iron railing and marble slab for his grave.

Epamindondas M. Crain had made a trip to San Antonio in 1869 when the cholera epidemic was raging, contracted the disease and died a few days after reaching home. His headstone reveals that he was born in 1816 and died in 1869. He served during the Civil War and was a private in the 29th Brigade Texas Troops Confederates States Army. Three other cholera victims were also buried here during this time, but their identities are unknown. All the graves of the cholera victims were completely sealed with rock tombs. The story that has been handed down is that the citizens of Tilden were so terrified of cholera that they were afraid it might work up through the soil and infect others, so they sealed these graves in rock tombs. How true the story is, no one knows. (Note: When Renee Smelley visited the cemetery in July 2002 these graves were evident by the rock tombs that were on top of the ground, but were falling in and apart.)

Dick Gossett was wounded in a gun battle at Fort Ewell and buried here in 1869. Known as one of the most noted outlaws of this area, a confederate deserter and a ruthless cold blooded killer. Dick’s brother, Malachi, and their partner, Tom Green, tried to get him to Tilden for help, but he died before they reached town. Note: No headstone located.

John Smithwick was murdered in 1870 while he was being held prisoner of the law. The murderer thought Smithwick knew too much and this might be brought out during the trial. Evidently the murderer was later shot by another person seeking revenge for the murder of Smithwick. Note: No headstone located.

A stranger arriving in town on the stage coach had the bad judgment of walking around town in a top hat. Some men from a local Dogtown saloon took notice of the tall hat and jokingly decided to put a bullet through the crown. Clabe Young, one of the pranksters, had bad aim, shot to low and the unfortunate stranger was killed instantly. Note: No headstone located

Wheeler, Phelix, infant son of Leonidas and Sarah Walker Wheeler, died of natural causes. He was born on September 13, 1870 and died on October 16, 1870. Note: No headstone located..

How many others are buried in Boothill Cemetery we will probably never know, but it is thought that others were also buried here before 1877.

Tilden was on the caravan route between San Antonio, Dogtown, Fort Ewell, Laredo and Mexico. Some time during the Civil War a stage route was also added and saloons began to spring up in Dogtown. These all brought many undesirable characters to the town as well as men who were on the run from the law that used the surrounding area and brush to hide. Some of these undesirables provided quite a few occupants for Boothill.

In 1877 Boot Hill Cemetery was abandoned in favor of the present Hill Top Cemetery. Hill Top Cemetery was originally called Graveyard Hill and many early setters as well as several generations of their descendants have been buried in Hill Top. Hill Top Cemetery still serves the community today. I will be checking out that cemetery soon….

This sign was at the corner of the court house…….Rather interesting….I decided to include it for all the history buffs…..lol….Tilden is the county seat of McMullen County

Two Weeks On The Pipeline…..

September 26, 2015October 2, 2015w2bergen 2 Comments

This last week and a half has brought much change. On Friday, Sept. 11, we were still 16 miles from Carrizo Springs Tx. gate guarding an oil well. We were Gate 3, and our neighbors next door were gate 2. They were a married couple and her twin sister and 3 dogs. Down the road was gate 1. The new couple had just come in on Wed. and taken over, as the other couple left. They were new and were going to get their license. We had a really hard rain on Thur. nite and their awning was torn off the trailor. Well, if you remember, my last blog the crickets were so bad. Well they just got worse. Friday nite, we all got the call around 9:30 that all 3 gates were closed………….Wow………..Now were were expecting it but, to have all 3 at the same time….rather surprising…..We were to be off duty 6am. Saturday morning and pack to leave. So this is what we got up to……

More Crickets…….Horrible Horrible…..the smell was getting so bad. They were everywhere…..Piles under the wheels. So Rich got out the Raid and sprayed the screen. Then we pulled our patio rug out the the road and sweeped and dumped all the crickets.

They were so Gross………Grrrrrrrr……..We actually were very glad to leave. Then the worst part, when we put in our slides, Rich chased the crickets off the bottom, but when they were in, Guess What…………..Crickets came in on the top of the slide……….Oh No………We ended up killing Crickets the next several days…..We even went to bed at nite hearing them in the Motor Home…..Yuck….

We had asked Chris our supervisor if their were any other jobs. He said their were 12 hour gate jobs in Tilden. It was 2 hours away straight east. We could also have free hookups. It wasn’t what we really wanted, but we decided that we would go. We stopped to see the neighbors and Carol came out and said, “See what happened”…..They started up their 1986 Motorhome and a huge pile of liquid came out underneath. We felt bad, but had to leave. Their car and broke down on Thursday, in town. The parts couldn’t be ordered till Mon. and now this. I text them on Tue. and found out they had to be towed to San Antonio and they were in a motel, waiting for one of the vehicles to be down. I hope they are doing well now.

We arrived in Tilden and found it to be a small town of 450 people. It is the County Seat, and is also the home of Boot Hill Cemetery, one of the 2 authentic cemeteries of its kind in the southwest. It was so named because many of those who were interred there died violently, “with their boots on.” I will be investigating this before we go….Sounds so interesting. It’s main income now is due to the growth of the oil industry. It is the home of many of the employees of the oil or pipeline company’s in the area. The area is full of wells, but now it is really slow as the Oil boom has really slowed down. They have lots of housing, and trailer parks for the employees.

Here is some of the housing.

But this is the nicer one. Right now, many of these units are empty. We found our place to park and hooked up……Not really nice at all………..but FREE………everything we needed. Our new supervisor came, John. Here we find out its a gas pipeline and he is going to give us not only one, but 2 gates…………Yea…..Double Money………..”The catch”….its 32 miles from town. He gave us directions……travel 23 miles south, turn left, after 7 miles turn on San Diego Road……drive approx. 3.5 miles on gravel road. You’ll find 2 gates across from each other……..Be their 6 AM. Monday………….What!!!!………..its dark out at 6…No lights on the gates……Their are NO NUMBERS on the gates either…….How do we know?……No signs……lol….We decided to go out the day before and find it…..Thank Goodness…It is a horrible gravel road the shakes the truck from front to back…..You cant go over 15 to 20 mph for the 3.5 miles…..It is desert, cactus, mesquite trees, and they call them ranches………..lol….

Wild Turkeys, roam the roads and ranch property. Groups of a dozen or more….

We found it….It turns out this pipeline is gas and is nearing done. The pipeline is over 32 miles long. It is connecting 2 gas plants that are 32 miles apart. Right now they truck it over and it is over 90 miles one way. So this will be quite a savings. Our gates are right in the middle.

Richs’ Barbed wire gate……he has to open it for each truck and log their plate and signature

My Gate on the left. It is a double swing nice galvanized gate….lol…This is our canopy were we hang out. The Guy is Bruce…..We called him Louisiana for most of the time. lol..We didn’t know his name. He was from Louisiana, lives in Arkansas, but works for this company in Texas. He is a welding inspector. He spent more time washing his truck and talking than working….lol….But that’s where we learned a lot of info. He was very nice and loved telling us all about the industry.

Gate 15 and 16 are right across from each other on the country gravel road. The pipe is a 24″ pipe, that is already buried. They are right now cleaning out the pipe and getting it ready to fill with gas. It is quite a process. My gate is the center of the project and is where the valves are. They are cleaning them out with Styrofoam “PIGS” as they call them.

Used “pigs”, being taken to the land fill…..Different colors mean different textures for cleaning….

They are the same circumference as the pipe and some have bristles. They are shot threw the pipes under pressure, from the plants to the valves. They clean out the inside. It takes one, 3 hours to go 15 miles. When they come out at the valve area, their is a big boom and lots of dust is stirred up in the air.

After filling with water, they also build up the pressure for 8 hours to make sure it is sealed. Then after draining they have to shoot more pigs through to dry the inside of the pipe. They said the pipe held 2 million gallons of water in the pipe. It was then drained into the ranchers pond and the remainder over the next hill. During the drying process, they told us it could take up to 150 “pigs” to dry the pipe. Now the drying process is over and they are connecting the 2, 15 mile sections and welding them together at the valves. We have maybe 2 weeks tops here and it will be over. My gate will be last, as it is were most of the activity is.

Heavy Equipment crossing the road on tires, from gate to gate…

They are now grading and cleaning all the areas of the pipeline. Some places will be reseeded as to what the rancher wants. Then all the gates the contractors installed, will be replaced with new fencing.

The 2 ranches that we are on have the most interesting, beautiful iron works on their gates. The rancher gates are left undisturbed and the contractors installed their on gates about 50 ft from them. The ranch on my side is owned by a man from Houston. He uses it for hunting. He has a pond, deer stands, and his house trailer for his stays. We were told he has over $800,000. worth of white tailed deer on his property. Hunting is quite an industry in this area.

The owner was down last weekend and was Quail hunting on his property. Other wildlife in the area are Turkeys, Javelinas, Wolves, some Bobcats, lots of Ground Squirrels and Road Runners, and of course the dreaded Rattlesnake.

Now on Richs’ side is the most beautiful Proud Deer standing over the gate…..Standing so tall and Proud….

This rancher feeds his deer with a product called “Record Rack”…..We have seen deer, but only the young ones.

All in all, this has been a long 2 weeks but we’ve learned and experienced so much. And of course above all me made some nice money so far. In 2 weeks or less, we will be done and on our way….Don’t know where Yet……lol…..That’s the Adventure……lol….

Until then, we are getting up at 4 am. Packing lunch and coolers, leaving to buy a bag of ice every morning. We arrive at our gates at 6 am. We stay till 7 pm. and then head back home, arriving by 8 pm. Eat and to bed by 10 or earlier. It gets to 95 in the afternoon…..we drink lots of liquid….I eat ice and run water over my head also….lol….and the worse part is ….NO PHONE SERVICE….NO INTERNET .until we get home….So not a lot of time to write this blog….But the wildlife is breathtaking. We are spending everyday in their environment and can watch their daily activities…..We have lots more stories to tell….

Invasion of the Crickets and Seismic Trucks…..

September 11, 2015September 11, 2015w2bergen 3 Comments

Today is 9-11…..A day we will never forget……and will always remember

Around 3 am. I was woke up by a very loud semi noise. All last evening we had heard this noise from a distance. I walked to the road and couldn’t see it. Later threw the mesquite trees across the road we could see moving headlights. We knew the seismic trucks were in the area. We were told over a week ago they would be coming. We had seen some company trucks and 4 wheelers in the area, but last nite they arrived.

So I got up and looked out. Their were 3 of them. They came to our gate by mistake and then went over to the neighbors gate. After they signed in, off they went in the darkness. When I got up this morning, I could still here them working in the distance. After I went outside, they came out from the area over by the neighbors. They are very big.

The seismic trucks are used to plot out the land and decided where the oil is. Their are 2 ways to do this. One is to dig a hole and stick in some dynamite. Then send down sound waves that bounce back to help them diagram the land. This is the other way. If you look at the picture, in the middle of the truck, their is a huge metal plate on the bottom. The travel along together and then stop.

The metal plate goes down and all the weight of the truck is put on it. You here the engine revving, as they send sound waves down through the plate into the ground. The instruments in the truck record it and after about 3 minutes they move to another spot together. We had heard this all nite. It sounds like when a truck is stuck in snow and trying to rev the engine to get out. They finally came up the lane and left around 1 pm.

I thought they may come over here to this property, but maybe tomorrow. or tonite? For the last several days, we have noticed the crickets were getting thick. Well today was horrible. You could see them come crawling over the road to our screen. They would jump on me. I looked at the awning top by the roller bar and was ….AMAZED…..Time to do something. They were thick on the top of our awning. They were like this on the inside and outside. They birds just sat on the fence across the street and just looked at us……….ARE THEY ON STRIKE…..THEY MUST WANT US TO LEAVE…..LOL….

I bet their were couple thousand all together. I got out the mothballs………Nothing………They didn’t care. So finally I got out the ant and roach killer. I started spraying…..OMG………They were dropping like fly’s from the awning.

They were thick around the tires in the sand. Then by the charcoal bags they were ……HORENDOUS…..YUCKKKKKKKKKKKK………….If you look, they were thick between the bag and the smoker….Horrible…

So I sprayed and sprayed……..they were jumping like crazy, then some were flying….they would land on me.

I walked around the rv and sprayed the back side. They weren’t as bad.

I was thinking, maybe because rain was predicted, they were looking for a dry spot. I don’t know but these birds had better start working around here and stop watching us from their fence…….

This is the aftermath by the smoker….but if you look at the bags you will still see more still alive…..Well I still have a half a can left, and more in the cabinet. Stay tunned and we’ll see what tomorrow will bring……lol….

…………..Any Ideas on Cricket Control…………Any help will be appreciated……

I also had this kinda cool moth on the screen.

But I did wait till it left to start massacring the crickets….

This is the moth on the screen compared to the crickets.

Also another visitor yesterday was this little bug….

.Look like he stopped on my log paper to take a short bath….

Also had some Quail this morning….

The other day, a very nice Escalade with 2 women dressed very nice stopped. It turns out they are the property owners from San Antonio. They come down every couple of weeks to check. They were wondering if the seismic people were here yet. They also said they have hunters leased to the ground. Soon they will be coming in to deer hunt. After that will be quail…..So what does the future hold for us……we don’t know………They came by yesterday and pumped our septic, filled our gasoline tank with 200 gallons, and our water tank is also full……So time goes on…..

Labor Day Weekend in the Desert…

September 7, 2015September 7, 2015w2bergen 1 Comment

……..Isn’t this a Beautiful Southwestern Texas Sky……….

Happy Labor Day weekend to All

…..Here we are Celebrating the Holiday working….lol…but doing NOTHING….About 3 days ago, the oil company (Sundance) decided that they couldn’t fix the well and moved everything out. Of course we weren’t told anything about what was going on. The first we knew about it was just before sunset. One of the workers, Randy, came up from the rig. He gave us his grill, 2 bags of charcoal, lighter, tinfoil, and 2 pkgs of baby back ribs with a jar of rub.

He said they were packing up and leaving in several hours. Wow. We were so surprised…..Surprised they were leaving, and really surprised, he would leave us all his Goodies…….. He had been going to grill that nite for some of the boys, and when they got the word, he decided to get rid of it all. What a Nice Guy. So back down to the rig he went. Little by little they started leaving that nite. The tower had already come down, but the spot lights remained all nite. Randy was out before 10 pm. He was heading home to Laredo. The next morning more men and equipment left.

2 water tankers left. They are a rather strange design, but common here in Texas. The spot lights left, flat beds and drop decks came in to load equipment consisting of cranes, pipes, tower, and etc. Finally the portapottys and the garbage cage even left.

Almost last came the company trailer. 84′ of trouble….lol…This guy had quite a hard time getting it out. Our gate is right at a curve in the road, which should make it easier, but was still hard. He managed to scrape about a foot section on the side of the gate…..Ouch…I seen that one coming. Finally, it was out. Later only one last thing…….The people came in for the rest of the rig which was folded on a trailer. So went through the log and ….Yes everyone who had came in……..had went out…..So I wondered, what does it look like down their………..So I took a ride down to the oil pad….

It was a huge area, that had been filled with gravel and compacted to make a huge flat area. Dead center was the oil well.

That is all there is too it. I don’t know what I expected, but everything was cleaned up and gone….Just like that….In the distance, you can see a light….That is our gate area. Notice how dirty the truck is….lol…So now we wait…………….Nobody has said anything to us, and when we ask, every one has a different story, from…..”We Don’t Know” to “They are bring in a new huge rig to drill a new well. Their going to concrete this one over and move over on the pad and drill again. You haven’t seen nothing yet”. So we don’t know what to believe. We now have a supervisor that comes in and checks every morning. That’s it. We sit here and Rich sleeps in the recliner, just in case, cause that’s what were being paid for……lol….easy money….In the mean time, they have been working on the road right outside our gate.

It is nothing but sand. When the wind storms kick up it is terrible. So the other day, a road grater, water truck came in and started watering down the road and plowing it. Next thing ya know gravel trucks were lining up and dumping gravel.

They all turned around right outside our gate. I don’t think I would be overestimating at over 75 trucks came each day for 2 days.

The water truck was continually watering the road and backed into our gate and the neighbors and kept us watered all day. That really helped keep the dust down. So I think most of that is done and now we have a much nice road to drive on. But as I think about all of this expense, it makes me realize about all the money it does cost to drill for oil. We wonder why it cost so much at the pumps. We are getting an education. First the Oil Company’s have to write contracts with the land owner. The land owners can require guards on their property, and if they lease out their grounds for hunting, which many of them do, they can require during hunting season no drilling on site. Then all the prep work. We had Seismic people come in the other day. They drive all over and test the ground for oil veins. As the drilling starts, it seems like everything is contracted out with different company’s. The Gate Guards are another company in it self. The Electrical company’s bringing in the generators and spot lights for the gate guards, and for the drill site. In fact the amount of generators and the size was amazing to see go through the gate. The semi flat beds and drop decks, cranes, port a potty, and even a garbage trailer. All contracted or rentals with other company’s. Even the workers were from several different company’s. One guy told me that if you don’t hit oil in a drill site, its 3 million dollars down the drain. So what Rich and I would like to know………..Even with all these expenses, how is it the Oil company’s still make all that money…..fascinating……They even have to build these roads and leave them in good shape, per the land owners contract……The money they put into the road back to the pad and to form the pad at the site had to have been a fortune. On the other hand, the gate next to us has at least 2 or more trucks a day coming in to take out the oil that is pumped. and I know that many days it is a lot more than 2……So now here comes the profit….lol…

So here we sit, just watching the gate. We had been told about a blimp far away that was on the border.

We can see it at night. It is a white blimp that is tethered at all times. It sends down readings and the cameras view the land for many, many miles. It helps them to catch the illegals coming across the border and to confiscate drugs. It guess it is doing a great job, and they will be putting in more across the border in the Rio Grande Valley.

If you look closely at the picture it looks like a fish…lol…We were thinking we were closer to the border than we had thought, so today I asked the boss who came in to check, how far were we, he isn’t from this area, but he was told only about 10 miles…..Wow…..No wonder so many illegals here. He said they caught about 10 several days ago. He had one the other day jump out at him as he was driving cause he was ready to give up and wanted water. So sad. He said many of them are found dead. I so believe that.

We have been sitting out side at dusk enjoying the nite life. The skunk hasn’t been back in a few days. Many deer are around. We seen this herd of about 6 deer.

Then they just slowly walked across the road one by one….You can see one already in the bush on the left, one on the road, and several more still to cross.

Then late one evening, this one just came slowly eating and walking right across the road from me. He looked at me

And then went on his way and out our gate……And we also have many, Many, MANY Rabbits……

This little guy was right in front of us the other nite. He just looked at us. I went in a brought out some lettuce….He didn’t even leave….but he didn’t want my lettuce….He was eating all the yucky dead grass…..So many rabbits play in the morning and evening hours. You can see them all up and down the roads…..Late evening and morning are the coolest times……Now how do ya like this temperature……This picture I took inside the sunscreen in the shade….

HOT……….HOT………..Hot………….

One Week Done…..Life is Good….

September 1, 2015September 1, 2015w2bergen 3 Comments

We arrived one week ago today. It has been a rewarding week full of new things. The trucks are busy moving in and out, but not really fast. The scenery and wildlife around us is amazing to watch. We are living in their ecology and watching the lives of the birds animals and insects as they survive.

The trucks still have not been heavy, still less than 38 a day. They brought in an 84″ office trailer.

That was quite a feat, as the driver had to make a sharp turn to get in the gate. After 15 minutes of jockeying around, he made it Good driver. Much more equipment has come in. From what we understand, the bore doesn’t match up. Problems…lol…They might have to pull up the casing, if that makes sense. A lot of time has been spent by the crew waiting for management decide what to do.

View of the well at sunset…..

Lots of the guys are sleeping and eating in their trucks. Not fun way to live for me. Temps get to over 100 degrees in the afternoon. Imagine sitting in your truck to get relief and eat your meals. Some go to town to eat and I believe many also have rooms in town. There are many new motels in town because of the oil industry. Also many campgrounds, trailers and Fema looking trailers. You can tell the oil industry is really giving the area a huge boost of economy.

The border patrol seems to be out frequently. We’ve seen the helicopter several days but not as close as the first day. Also the truck and horse trailer have been by several times. One morning at day break the Border Patrol truck passed going very very slow. Looking into the brush at the side of the road. I just can’t imagine these illegals coming into this country, trying to walk at nite through this desert. Look at that picture. It is nothing but dense cactus and brush. The goat heads in the sand or horrible, and at night, when they travel, the rattle snakes are out. During the day it reaches over 100 degrees. The heat is aweful. How can they take their wives and children into this desert. No wonder many of them are found dead. How sad for them that they want to escape their country so bad that they put their lives and family at risk.

Last Friday Rich went to Uvalde and did his fingerprinting. It was a drive of around 60 miles one way. So yesterday I had an appointment in Crystal Springs which was much closer. They are always moving around for the convience of the people. But beings their is only 2 of us, one always has to be here at the gate, so we took turns. So now we are done with fingerprinting and our test for the security liscense is also done. I called Chris and he will be coming to pick them up. Soon our raise will be in affect….Yessssssss….I also finally got to go to Walmart…….but, it is a small store, not a super Walmart….just a small amount of food….but then I went to a HEB grocery store and loaded up….It was nice to get out..

Last nite we had a wind storm come up. Really had no idea it was coming. I watch the weather channel on the phone and not till it arrived, did it register as coming. It was only blowing around 23 miles per hour, but that was plenty to kick up the dust. It only lasted for about an hour an half, but it was enough to make my freshly washed hair of the morning, turn into nothing but sand and grit. My lips kept getting gritty and later I found sand in numerous cracks and crannies I won’t mention…lol …I was worried about the awning but it held up well. The sand in the road just kicked up into the air and looked like a snow storm from Illinois. Sometimes whirlpools would just flow down the road like they were dancing in the wind. I was so glad when it was my turn to retire into the clean air conditioning of my trailer and take a shower. Rich does nite duty till 6 or 7 am.

This morning I had to sweep our carpet of all the sand that had settled. The tables were just full. The neighbors black car looks like it was caught in a blizzard…..lol…..Then this afternoon a road grater started going up and down the gravel road.

The sand had blown so bad they had to plow it……

Then the water truck came and even went down our lane and back. It made a huge difference….for now……but……….It is almost dry already…

This morning I was just sitting and out of the corner of my eye I seen movement. Their was a “Roadrunner”. Rich seen him come close the other morning. He came right up in front of my chair and crossed over to the sand. He would run…stop, look….run, stop, tail would go up. He was awesome to see and didn’t even act scared of me.

He ran over to the truck and stopped and then crossed the road.

Their is so much wildlife here. One nite Rich and I were sitting out about 10pm, and I seen a movement out of the corner of my eye. My first thought was….OMG…Illegal….but then we seen a deer. He walked behind the RV and later crossed the road. Rich has seen a number of deer during his nite duty. But the one that kind of concerns me is a skunk. He has been coming over in the evenings and eating bugs by the lights. He runs around and plays…..Well Rich said the other nite he through a stick at him to chase him away. The skunk lifted his tail and ran….Well If I was their, I would have ran tooooooo…….the other way when I seen the tail raise…..lol….If he comes around again, I will get his picture, but it might be from through the window. lol

In the mornings the black birds come out first and eat the bugs on the ground and road. They come in flocks and walk the roads looking. Then the little scissortail birds come out and take over.

Now this is the coolest little moth I’ve ever seen….He has 2 long antenna and a big thing on his back that makes him look like a unicorn. He was attached to the sunscreen for ever…….. But here is the cutest little thing it seen out here yet…………

Meet one of my neighbors…..Kathy and her pet “Peaches” She is a 6 year old Dachshund puppy. Cute and Loveable as can be…….I will tell you more about the neighbors next time…..Can’t tell you everything NOW………CAN I????

Day 1 & 2 ……What A Way to Spend My 65th Birthday….Watching Border Patrol

August 27, 2015w2bergen 2 Comments

Day One and Two are done and here I sit outside at 7 am. outside. Its 72 degrees and almost feels chilly after having 101 degrees in the late afternoon. The temp here is at its coolest around 6 and 7 am. Its the warmest around 5 and 6 in the evening. The heat stays longer as the sandy ground is so heated up during the day, it takes time to cool. The landscape here is pure desert….lol….Huge cactus, taller than me. Course that’s not saying much…lol

Tumbleweed grass and lots and lots of sand. The cactus is very dense. Chris our field manager told us to beware of the grass areas. If you need to venture toward them, look for snakes….and I mean RATTLERS……OH No….Hope I never see one. Don’t worry about the other bugs….Scorpions, Tarantulas, they stay away from activity and people…..Thank Goodness. I made Rich buy steel wool to plug up all the holes going from our hookups. That would be horrible to find a critter when you opened up a bay door.

On day one, Chris showed up before 6 am. at the Pilot Truck stop just as he said. He gave us instructions on what would happen and were we were going. Rich unhooked the pickup as it would be easier to drive separate. He would have to park in a small area when we got their. So we took off in the dark, for the 16 mile jaunt to our gate site. We are in a good area. First we had to go through someone else’s gate to get to ours.

Then on down the horrible road to ours. We are parked about 50 ft. from another couple. The gates are side by side, but the oil fields are 2 different property owners.

There was no traffic yet, so Rich started setting up as Chris gave me all the details and went over the log sheets with us. So easy. Then Chris moved our generator with the light pole attached over to our rig. The gasoline tank is behind it as we have to make sure the generator is filled. Then Rich hooked up the RV and got our electric and AC running. Later that day the guy came a delivered our 200 gallon septic tank…..So we are all Good…

We also have a water tank hooked up. He also gave us all the info for getting our license. We will be getting a Level 2 security license, good for anywhere in the state of Texas……Cool…..It is a manual with an open book test of 50 questions. Well we got that done yesterday. Then I registered online for the fingerprinting. Thank goodness I have internet and my printer. All necessary items for doing this. Rich will drive 50 miles to Uvalde this Friday for fingerprinting. I will have to go next week as someone has to stay at the gate. When all is done Chris will be back and collect everything and we will get our license and a……. PAY RAISE……Yessssss…..Its all about money ya know……

So finally Chris left and some traffic began. Not much. We are at a site which is called a rework site. The well is already functioning but they are going in and drill deeper into the rock and stone level and then decide if they are going to frack. From what I understand, their can be more oil trapped with in that level or below. By fracking, they are forcing sand and water into the area to brake it apart and extrude the rest of the oil. They said this gate could be 4 to 6 weeks but could be longer. Just a wait and see…….We like the UNKOWN….

This is our well site at a distance. Its a long lane and then the well which is pumping. There are storage tanks and a gas burn off stack…But hardly any activity. Maybe 8 trucks today. They came with 2 semis with flatbeds and took out a crane and boom. Also several company trucks came and went. Day 2 was the same. At nite nothing. So I sleep at nite, in bed, and Rich sleeps in his recliner, ready to bolt out the door if a truck comes. Chris brought sensors that go off. But nothing…..What a way to make easy money.

So first day we noticed a helicopter in the distance. It was circling low and I mean really low. It almost looked like it landed several times. But it kept making different passes. It came closer and closer.

Finally it was over us. Then the Border Patrol trucks started coming. several went down the other roads. Some were just SUVS and some had enclosed boxes in the back.

Then came Border Patrol Truck pulling a horse trailor. They went down several roads and then the neighbors road and then finally our road. Chris said, when they come, just let them do what they want. So sure, we just watched the show. I guess they seen some illegals but they didn’t catch them. They ended up on some other property. So that went on for over 4 hours. ….. First day fun……lol…

After that we just watched the birds. They are cute little things. They sit on the fence across from us and look for bugs to eat. When they fly, their tail feathers separate into a V.

Here they are just starring at us…..lol…..You can just imagine what they are thinking……lol….Finally Rich put up our sunscreen on day 2…..Now the crickets climb up the screen. They birds fly and catch them to eat.

The funny part is when the cricket is on the inside and the bird is on the outside…..haha…they are confused…..You can see the forked tail. lol.

So far this is our entertainment. Here is our guardsite all set up.

A view from down the road toward our gate and the neighbors.

This is our sign at the gate…..We are employed by Capital Wells Service

…….So my birthday has come………and gone……….I’m now a legal RETIRED person…..living off all your taxes….lol…and thanks for providing me with health care too…..Obama Care Sucks…..Tina usually buys and delivers flowers to work……lol….Not This Year???……Why Not…….FTD By Air Drop??…..Oh Well, I quess Ill just enjoy the Cactus….lol… Who would have ever thought I’d have my 65th birthday in the desert oil fields of Texas……lol…

The nites have already shown us some beautiful sunsets,

But my favorite is this site……..Our Neighbors Flag Pole next to their tower light

….”.WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SITE”……

Waiting……… in Carrizo Springs Texas For Our Gate….

August 24, 2015August 24, 2015w2bergen 2 Comments

Yesterday we had done all our shopping to get prepared, but I still needed to get a haircut. It was driving me crazy. We left the motor home in the truck stop and went to Campers World and did some shopping. Then on to Walmart. Rich dropped me off and he continued to Lowes. They don’t have just a trim at Walmart, you must pay for shampoo, conditioner and massage of the head whether you get it or not. The girl was pretty good and it cost $15.50 plus tip. Rich picked me up and back to the RV we went. We left New Braunfels and headed south for Carrizo Springs. It was a 3 hour ride. We filled up with diesel before we left @ $2.11 a gallon. What a steal. Last year when we left, we filled in Illinois, @ 3.69 a gallon. Such a difference. The farther south we went, the more desolate it got. We arrived and drove through town and parked at the Pilot Truck Stop…..Its really a nice size town. The temperature was 98 degrees when we arrived.

Finally Chris the field manager called. He said change of plans………..we were being delayed by 24 hours, so not till Wed…………grrrrrrr….that means we sit here using our own diesel to run the generator. But what can you do…….Then the phone rings again……….Chris again…..He apologized but they changed their mind again….lol…We were back on for tomorrow morning…..So we decided to prepare……

When Rich was at Lowes, he bought Reflective Insulated Foil…..48″ x 25’…..He cut it to fit the windows. By putting this on all the windows, it really helps with keeping the interior cool. We have found many of the gate guarders do this. Sitting in the dessert like we are going to do with 100 degree heat, you need a nice cool dark home to crawl into at the end of your shift…..lol….So now here we sit, so far I have a decent phone signal, and internet. Hopefully I will still have it at the gate. Rich tried the tv antenna, and NO TV CHANNELS came in…..We have On the Go Dish, but never had it hooked up. We tried one time but we were to illiterate to figure it out. So I don’t know what Rich will do? I guess watch the same DVDS for the next month or so…..lol…..I can read or do lots of things for entertainment. Tomorrow morning Chris will come and take us 16 miles to our gate…….Hopefully its not all gravel roads driving their, and hopefully its not at the ends of the earth…lol….

It has been about a year since I started this blog. I have been very happy with the response I have gotten from family friends and even strangers. I have quite a following now on my site. It has accomplished everything I had hoped. It has been informative to everyone of what we were doing. I have also included some family facts and history. It has just been full of fun stories. So last spring, I started to think. I have written all of this, but what happens when I quite paying for my domain address. Everything would go away. I started researching and found a company that prints blogs. The name is Blog2Print. You sign your blog account on to their website. You have a choice of covers, and setting the format and a few other things. You set your range of dates for your book and “Magic”………..In a half hour, you can format your book and check it out on line. Then order and it is sent to you in less that 2 weeks.

I have now printed 2 books……….This is the first Vol 1 Aug 2015 – Dec 2014………..144 pages

This is the second I just received………Vol 2 Jan 1 – June 2015………..194 pages

This is what the interior looks like. It is printed just as the blogs are written. I was so thrilled to have this done, cause now all these stories will live on. I intend to print these books every 6 months. Someday the kids or grandkids will sit back and read them again and I think they will enjoy them more and more with time.

So at the end of the day, Kitty is still sleeping on the floor. He has really adapted to this style of living. He is so comfortable. I think the motor rocks him to sleep like a baby. What more could a cat want. Food and Fresh water all the time, treats everytime he asks, nice cool air to sleep in. Potty close by, and he sleeps in a nice soft King size bed by his Dad at nite…………….

Why is that……I’m the one that feeds Him……..

………….''AND LET THE FUN BEGIN''……………..

Our Diaries of Daily Life and Travel

Uncategorized

Gate 15 Officially Closed….Just In Time….

Our Little Mexican Ground Squirrel Friends…..Ralphs

Still at the Gate….and Hill Top Cemetery

A Quick Trip to Harlingen & “Boot Hill Cemetery”….

Two Weeks On The Pipeline…..

Invasion of the Crickets and Seismic Trucks…..

Labor Day Weekend in the Desert…

One Week Done…..Life is Good….

Day 1 & 2 ……What A Way to Spend My 65th Birthday….Watching Border Patrol

Waiting……… in Carrizo Springs Texas For Our Gate….

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