On the Road Again, again . . .
Well, we did move pretty much on schedule, early on Wednesday, the 16th. Ryan, the Marathon safety guy came by around 7:30pm Tuesday night and told us we could shut down the gate and start getting packed up. He said we probably needed to head out the next morning about 6am to be at the new gate to wave the trucks in as they arrived at the new site, and said the first ones would probably arrive around 8.
Yeah, right!
Mark, our Gate Guard Services support guy, showed up a little before 6, and by 6:15, we were on our way. I was driving the rig, Jan was following in the truck, and Mark was towing our generator/water trailer.
Since I had already scouted out the location last Saturday, we had no problems making the 45 mile trip and finding our site. We arrived about 7:30am, and by 8:30 the canopy was up, the cell phone booster was operating, and we were ready to go. We’re now located about 8 miles south of Charlotte, TX, southwest of Pleasanton, and west of I-37.
Of course, the first truck didn’t show up until after 10 in the morning, so what in the heck was the 6am thing all about. Right now we’re just waving people in, and not having to take sign-in info, so that’s nice.
We had hoped to get a couple of full days off while the drill rig was being set up at the new site, but because this new location is on a game ranch the gate has to be manned (or womanned in Jan’s case) at all times so that the emus and other animals don’t escape. But we did get time enough off to drive into Pleasanton, about 20 miles away to have dinner at Chili’s, so I guess that will have to do for a while.
One thing that’s always amazing to watch is the big trucks hauling in the parts of the drill rig. Some of these pieces are twice the size of our RV and probably weigh a heck of a lot more. Yet here they come bouncing down the back roads, in a cloud of dust and hearty ‘Hi-O …
No, wait. That’s something else.
Anyway, someone told me the other day that H&P, the company that owns the drilling rig, is taking delivery of 2 new rigs a month and still can’t keep up with the demand. In addition the GAO (Government Accounting Office) just announced last week that the amount of oil found in the area where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah come together is greater than all the proven reserves in the rest of the world combined.
So much for Peak Oil.
Now that we’re settled in here, I’ll get back on my every other day posting schedule.
——————————————————————————————————————–
“The United States symbolises the worst ideologies in the world: growth and freedom.” – Finnish writer Pentti Linkola
asdf
