Lake Oahe

We spent several days in Presho, SD waiting for the rain and wind to quit.  We finally made it to our next stop north of Pierre at a campground on Lake Oahe out of Gettysburg, SD.  It was a very nice campground with a nice view of the lake and it was reasonable.  Its too bad we couldn't have waited out the bad weather here.  Although we would have probably had a frozen water hose if we had been there during the bad weather.  Lake Oahe extends all the way along the Missouri River from Pierre up into North Dakota almost to Lake Sakakawea. 
This area has great walleye fishing and it is out in the middle of nowhere.  There are a few resorts along this part of the lake but not much else.  Its amazing that such good fishing waters aren't busier and more populated with cabins.  We had walleye dinners at the local restaurant -- it was good but I now fresh walleye will be even better.

We made it to Indian Hills campground out of Garrison, ND the next day and are now getting settled in -- the dust and grime washed off everything and getting ready to start work.  We hope to be out fishing sometime in the next week!

Air Museum in Liberal, KS

We have been on the road since May 4th.  We made it to Amarillo, well almost made it, when the truck started acting up.  We thought it was from the heat -- it was 100 degrees-- but nothing showed that it was overheating.  We limped to our campground and took the truck in to the local Ford dealer the next morning.  It needed a new fuel pump.  Thankfully this very expensive repair was also covered by our warranty.  We were feeling jinxed about trying to get out of Texas.   Our next stop was Liberal, KS.

We found this Air Museum in Liberal that was crammed full of planes.  The planes are packed in so tight its a wonder how they got them all in there.  They have military and civilian planes.  They try to do a whole history of flight.  There was even a small version of a hot air balloon.   They also have a lot of  model planes that people have donated.  Since this is Kansas and Cessna is based in Kansas there were a lot of Cessnas on display.  We were impressed with this small town air museum.   It was a great place to check out.  I think because it was in Kansas -- they also had a display of airplane quilt blocks.  I don't think you would see that kind of thing anywhere else! 

We left the 90 degree heat in southern Kansas and are now waiting out wind and rain in the tiny South Dakota town of Presho.  We should be to our job in North Dakota by Wednesday!

Midland RV Park Garden Project

We did a bunch of special projects while working at Midland RV Park.  The one I'm most proud of is redoing the flower garden.  It had the roses and agave but nothing else but weeds.  They had a landscape planner come out and decide on the design and plants.  The garden was originally covered in mulch.  The owner decided rock would be better so Jim and I removed yards and yards of mulch.   I also had to dig out dozens of baby agave plants that wanted to take over the whole garden.  The garden center crew came out and put the landscape fabric down and planted the new plants.  Some lantana, yucca, sage, specimen grass and two large plants I've never heard of before.  Everything had to like full sun and tolerate being very dry.  The manager put in a sprinkler system so the plants do get water.  The owner had purchased the egg shaped fountain sometime last year.  Jim and I got to shovel 9 yards of river rock into the garden and I made sure all of the sprinkler pipe and electrical cord was covered up with rock so it was nicely hidden.  Finishing touches were a seed block and a hummingbird feeder.  The birds love it and most people in the park are very impressed.

We painted the big fence, and sign knick knacks out front so the park looks more welcoming.  We painted buildings and cement patios and walkways.  Jim trenched through rock and pavement to bury wires.  He dug holes in rock to plant trees and shrubs.   I reupholstered a golf cart and a bunch of dinette chairs for the cabins.  The managers and the owners of the park were ecstatically happy with our work.  The owners told us people in the park thought either the rent was going to go up or the owners were going to sell the park because we got it so spruced up.   We left with praises ringing in our ears and invitations to come back and work anytime.  We are both praying that the campground in North Dakota won't want anything painted!

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.