COWS, COWS, COWS

Our gate is on a cattle ranch. It could also be called a feed lot. There are thousands of acres and currently, from what we have been told, nine wells on the ranch. We are guarding wells 2,3,4,5 which are being frac’d now. We will probably be here until we leave for the summer.

Being a city boy I have never been around too many cows so do not know much about cattle ranch’s. I was surprised to see that they were all bulls, minus their balls. And there are thousands of them on the ranch. According to our service guy Austin, the females are kept in another area for breeding purposes.

A crew comes out every day and puts feed into troughs and there is water available in ponds. And, unlike a lot of south Texas that we have seen there is a lot  of grass here and no thorn bush or other scrub brush and cactus.

They are putting in a new pipeline, or an extension of one, right next to us. I think you can see in the above pictures the barbed wire fence that is protecting us and our support trailers. That is because the cows (bulls) (cattle) are very curious and will look at anything. We have had to chase them away when they come down the road and try to get past us.

As you can see from the last picture we are  just off the road, our support trailers are next to us, and the pipeline equipment is very close to our trailers. They are currently boring a hole under the highway and when that is done they will start digging the trench next to us for the pipe. That means even more customers, because after the trench, in come the pipe and welders and who know who else.

This is the busiest gate we have been on, the last three days have been well over 200 in/outs.

The other morning I killed a small scorpion. I would guess it came from the top soil they took off to get ready for the pipeline

Linda wanted this picture, even thou the scorpion is a little crushed. If the scorpion is out, can snakes be to far behind????????

love to all of ya

Jim and Linda

THEY CALL THE WIND MARIAH……..

 

…………well, I have a few other words for it!!!!!  We have had our share of windy days…sometimes so strong we can barely get the door open.

The gate has been busy and will get busier as they are starting to frac.  Depending on who you talk to, the frac will take 10 days to 3 weeks.  We are hoping for the 3 weeks. We are averaging about 150 in/outs a day.

After we finish here, we will head over to our lot in Hondo…..we are anxious to see it as all we have seen so far are photos.  We are going to unload a few things from the trailer and put in the shed for storage and do some yard work…….OMG did I just say “yard work”!!!!  Those words have not come out of my mouth in years.

Our summer plans are still up in the air……..the only definite is taking our grandsons, Jamie and Jordan, to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Washington DC the week of Memorial Day.  Both boys have been wanting to go back to DC….so off we go.  Everything else will be scheduled around doctor appointments for Jim to see what can be done with his knees and spine.  We could very well be spending the summer at home again.

That takes care of all our exciting news…….

Take care and love to all……

 

Linda and Jim

THIS IS A SAD DAY FOR US

 

 

We lost my little buddy, Indy, today……

 

      

We had noticed that he had lost his appetite over the last few days and made an appointment to take him to the vet today.  Unfortunately, since we are gate guarding, only one of us was able to go and that was Jim. 

The news was bad……he had a tumor on his pancreas and liver and the doctor said that he had only a couple of days left.  Our options were limited….bring him home and try and make him as comfortable as possible or have the vet give him an injection. 

Jim and I are both mourning his loss…….he was such a quirky little guy…..one of a kind…and my shadow.

Jim and Linda

WE BOUGHT A LOT IN TEXAS

We are members of the Escapees rv club, which is mainly a club for full time rv’ers. They have campgrounds around the country and as a member you can buy a lot in some of them. We have been on a waiting list for a lot in the Hondo (D’Hanis) Texas park for about a year or so. In the winter they send out a list every month of lots that are available for sale. We were number 18 on the list this month.

There were two lots that we liked, one was a bare lot and the other was am improved lot with paved driveway, small shed, covered paved patio and some vegetation. Apparently no one wanted the improved lot so we are now the proud owners. It is on the back edge of the park so we will not have anyone behind us.

Here is a link to a park map. We are on lot 60     http://www.lonestarcorral.com/Park_Info/park_map.htm

and here is a satellite view of the park     https://www.google.com/maps/@29.331567,-99.255434,784m/data=!3m1!1e3

some pictures       http://www.lonestarcorral.com/ToWaitList/Lot60/Lot60.htm

We are looking forward to seeing our lot in early May when we are done gate guarding for this summer.

Jim and Linda

WE ARE ON A GATE

Got assignment the other day. Could last for two day or two months depending on what they do. The people that were here moved to the new site of the rig. We are here for the rig teardown and maybe a frac.

We have had some busy days with 141, 157, 212, 180 log ins, and outs. A far cry from our last few gates where we averaged 20-30 a day. Reports vary according to who you talk too as to whether we will be here for the frac. We are hoping that is so. One report from one of the guys who set us up is that they will be doing 5 fracs here……we will see.

Our location…..

N28.80065    W097.95517  If you look at Google satellite you will see a big pond across the access road from us. That is for the fracs. They brought in pumps yesterday and started putting down pipe from the pumps to the site.

It took them two days to tear down and move the rig. It comes apart in pieces that fit on big 4 and 5 axle trailers and some of the sections hang over the sides of the trailer and need an escort.

Our pad is not very level and our street side wheels are off of the ground.

Linda has been fighting a bad cold (flu) since we left Betty’s on the 6th. Mine has been not so bad.

Hope all is well

Love to all of ya

Jim and Linda

DEPARTURE FROM BETTY’S (March 6th, 2014)

Well, our time here at Betty’s has come to an end and, as usual, a good time was had by all.  We had the opportunity to meet some new people who we hope to see again on the road and got reacquainted with some old friends that we had not seen in a number of years.

We had decided that we would go as far as Beaumont, Texas on Thursday, stay a couple of days and then head on to Whittsett, Texas and back to gate guarding.  After giving it some thought, we decided we did not want to take I-10 across again and took LA82 which is more of a scenic route through the crawfish ponds and rice fields. 

All was going well for the first 22 miles…….then Jim looked in the rearview mirror and  all he saw was smoke……lots of smoke!!!!!  Our first thought was that we had blown a tire…..so Jim tired to get us to the edge of the road (now LA82 is a very narrow two lane highway with no shoulder) but could only get the passenger side tires off the road.  He got out and discovered that we had not blown a tire but that something had broke on the suspension and we could not move the trailer at all!  So, a call to our roadside assistance for HELP.  Jim was able to get under the trailer far enough to discover that we had broken a leaf spring.  After a few phone calls back and forth we were told that they had someone on the way and also someone from the Sheriff’s department to divert the traffic as we were blocking most of the westbound lane.

  

Lucky for us the gentleman they sent to do the repair was very good and was able to locate another spring, have it delivered to us on the highway, install it and get us back on the road.  All total, from time of breakdown to getting back on the road was 6 hours,  Needless to say, we did not make it to Beaumont, Texas that night.  We drove to Lake Charles, Louisiana and stayed at the Isle of Capri in their “campground” if you can call it that.

      

Friday morning we completed our trip and arrived in Beaumont, Texas.

Take care and love to all,

Linda and Jim

COURIR DE MARDI GRAS (CHICKEN RUN)

 

The Courir de Mardi Gras is a traditional Mardi Gras event that is held in many Cajun communities in south Louisiana.  We were very fortunate to have been invited to the home of Miss Kate to partake in the events of the day which included a roasted pig, gumbo and many wonderful side dishes. 

The festivities begin when a colorful and noisy procession of masked and costumed men (revelers) on horses and wagons are led onto the owner’s property by the “Capitaine” who then asks the owner’s permission to come into his yard.  They then dance and entertain the owners in exchange for anything to contribute to the makings of Gumbo.  The owner will then let loose a number of chickens which are than chased and caught by the “revelers”. Hence the name “Chicken Run”.

 

       

     

After they are finished, they are led off the owner’s property by the Capitaine to the next land owner on the route and a parade follows.  Not a parade like you see in New Orleans or Mobile……no fancy floats……

 

     

But still a good amount of beads and a lot of fun……..

 

Take care and love to all

 

Linda and Jim

KREWE DU BON TEMPS MARDI GRAS BALL

 

Finally, the big night was here, the first ever Mardi Gras ball at Betty’s. The “CREW OF GOOD TIMES” as we were named.

We all arrived at the hall at 6pm and lots of pictures were taken of everyone’s fancy dress. The women all wore ball gowns and the men wore dress jackets with various t-shirts and ties. There were some very creative men’s wear. The ladies had gone in earlier in the day and made up food trays from supplies that Betty had bought from our ball fee.

Everyone provided their own drinks and there was a band playing local music, including swamp rock. I think most of us had never heard most of the music before, but still, there was a lot of dancing going on. Woody was a big hit with the lady’s and he danced with a lot of them. He did sustain an injury to his neck late in the evening  and had to have emergency surgery this morning. He is recovering and should pull thru with no serious  after effects.

Here is a picture of Linda and I ready to head out to the ball.

I have added a link to the pictures on line as I am having problems downloading pictures from Picasa to the blog. So enjoy the pictures.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111116542009334943953/albums/5985905304152682481?banner=pwa

Have a great day

Love to all of ya

Jim and Linda