More Oil Well History

 

The top photo is an example of a very old oil well drilling rig.  The oil well drilling rig in the bottom picture is a modern one.  Not really a lot of difference between them -- the very first ones from as far back as one hundred years ago were made of wood.  Now they are all metal but the basic design and function has not changed.   Oil was first discovered here in Midland and now they have discovered even more oil deeper in the ground here so the new oil boom is going strong.

There is no unemployment in Midland so if you can't get a job here you either aren't looking or can't pass the pee test.  Even Walmart is paying $15 an hour.  The bad part of the deal is there is not enough housing so what there is -- is very expensive -- an average apartment is over $1700 a month.   People that are living here in the RV park have come from all over the country to work in the oil business.  They might start out at a local business but as soon as they get an oil job the local business is out another employee.  Even the local post office can't keep anyone -- and they used to be considered a top job. 

We are headed to an RV park in western North Dakota that is within a hundred miles of Williston, ND where the other big oil boom is happening.  People will start to think we are looking for oil industry work -- NO WAY!  The guys we see that work in it -- have almost no life.  Work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep--- that's all they have time for but they are raking in the money.  We heard the average salary for people in this park is $6000 a month  - one couple is putting away $10,000 a month (after expenses) so they can pay cash for a house.   

Odessa Meteor Crater

Being so close to Odessa we had to go check out the meteor crater.  Its a national monument with a free museum.  The museum was very interesting with everything you ever wanted to know about meteors and once they either enter our atmosphere or hit the ground (not sure which) they are meteorites.  Lots of information on the most important meteorites around the world.  Lots of them are found in the deserts of Africa -- black pieces of rock stand out in all that sand.  There was even info on the meteor that struck in Russia last year --- so they keep their information very current.  You learn what kinds of minerals are in most of these rocks.  Most are just stony but some have pretty black or green crystals.  They had a few small meteorites for sale and for a small piece of rock they are at least forty dollars.  I guess they are valuable because people want to own a piece of something that came from outer space.

The crater itself is not impressive -- just a depression in the ground.  It is one of the oldest meteor craters in the country so it has eroded and filled in over time.  I would not go out of my way to see it.  Your much better off going to meteor crater in Arizona off of I-40 by Winslow. 

We are two weeks away from heading north.  Can't wait to start fishing again! 

Mineral Gallery

There is still more to show from the Permian Basin Oil Museum.  There is another whole wing that is a mineral gallery.  It is the Edward Judson Memorial Mineral Collection.  The collection was magnificent.  The different minerals took up a very large room.  Every mineral was at least a foot wide and a foot across for the small ones.  Many specimens were even larger.  The lumpy specimen in the picture is selenite but called gypsum rose.  It was found in Texas.  The large crystal was a specimen from Mexico.  Many of the minerals on display were from Mexico.  Most of the displays were of the most beautiful examples of different minerals found around the globe.  Its hard to believe that all of these marvelous specimens were owned by one man.  There had to be close to a million dollars worth of mineral specimens in this gallery.

We are continuing to work hard at the campground.  Jim has been doing more painting.  This time the cement sidewalks and entrance areas.  I've started working in the garden.  The garden has huge agave plants that are trying to take over so I'm pulling out all of the babies.  You almost need and axe to chop the roots out.  The ground is like cement -- I don't know how plants grow in this soil.  At least they are paying the local garden center to come out and put in new plantings -- they get to dig the holes for the plants.  The owners of the park are also paying to put in new decorative rock -- small pieces of granite --very beautiful. 

The Chaparral Wing

The Permian Basin Oil Museum has several other wings with exhibits that don't necessarily have anything to do with oil but are part of Midlands history.  The Chaparral wing has about 8 millions dollars worth of Chaparral race cars.  Jim Hall was one of the founders of Chaparral cars and won many races back in the 60's in these cars.  The first ones made were the Chaparral 2 series and those are the ones on display.

It actually rained here for about 3 minutes.  It was great because it washes the dust out of the air for a little while.  We finally finished painting the outside of a log house and the office.  Now Jim gets to paint the cement sidewalk areas around the both.  I have started reupholstering the seats and backrests on one of the golf carts.  Of course when I took the old fabric off the seat the board beneath it was all rotted.  Jim had to cut a new one and move all of the hinges and handles which were rusted on -- oh what fun we had.