Waiting at Whitsett

We arrived at the holding yard in Whitsett, TX on Wednesday afternoon (Feb 15).  They were expecting us, and Lori came out to greet us when we pulled in.  She told us we were first in line to get a gate assignment and directed us to one of four full hook-up sites at the back of the lot.  After setting up we were off to Walmart to stock up on groceries.  We wanted to be prepared in case we were sent to an oil well the next day.

We checked with the office the next morning and found Jamie there doing some paperwork.  He told us it didn’t look like we’d be sent to a gate that day, so we asked if it would be okay for us to go into San Antonio to see our friends.  With permission granted, we were on our way.

Galen and Karen

 It was nice to see Karen and Galen again!  Galen suggested having lunch at Central Market and we were so glad that we did!  Central Market was already our favorite grocery store, but we didn’t realize that it also had a wonderful deli!  It was difficult to make a decision when there were so many choices there to tempt us, but we managed to narrow it down to a few things.  Now we have even more reason to visit Central Market when we’re in San Antonio.  I know it sounds crazy, but do yourself a favor and check out HEB’s Central Market when you are in San Antonio!   It’s comparable to Wegman’s in New York, but on a larger scale.  When we were in NY, I remember our then 12-year old son being so impressed with the store that he was wishing there were Wegman’s post cards so he could send them to his friends.  It’s that kind of store!  And Central Market is even better.

When we left Central Market, Karen and I wanted to go to the The Container Store, one of my favorite stores!  I had been looking for a mid-sized purse that would hold and organize everything that I need to carry with me.  Who would have thought that I would find it at The Container Store?  But I did, and I love it!   We stopped for a frozen yogurt before we went back to their RV park.  It was a great day with good friends and we hope to see them again soon.

We realized Friday that I didn’t have boots to wear when going out to open the gate on rainy and muddy days, so we had to make another trip to Pleasanton.   With that done, we had nothing to do but wait until we got our call.  The call came Sunday morning, but we turned it down because it was just a fill-in job.  It was a fill-in for gate guards that needed to leave their gate for a few days and wanted someone to cover for them.  We were afraid we would miss getting our own job if we were tied down with that one for a few days.  Good decision!  Jamie told us Monday morning (Feb 20) that he had a gate for us at a Chesapeake drilling site near Tilden.  Larry, a Gate Guard employee, would meet us there and take us to our gate.

As the only town in the county, Tilden is the county seat.  It has a court house, post office, filling station/convenience store, a school, a Mexican restaurant, and a small, privately owned grocery store.  It has become a boom town, of sort, since all of the drilling began.  A few small bars and restaurants opened in trailers and temporary buildings.  There is also a motel made up of portable buildings.  A constant stream of trucks, going to and from the drilling sites, roll through the town every day. 

We called Larry to let him know that we arrived in town and he led us out to our gate.  On the utility trailer behind him, he had the generator and 550 gallon water tank we would be using.   It was a long drive out a bumpy and dusty dirt road before we arrived at the place where we would be gate guarding…a little less than 6 miles, but it seemed like it took forever to get there.  Just beyond the gate, we saw a large gravel lot with a new metal building in the center.   Normally, we would be parked by the gate, but there wasn’t a spot prepared for us, so Larry had us park in the lot just passed the building.  While we leveled and opened slides, he set up halogen lights and placed hoses across the road that would ring a bill to alert us when vehicles were approaching.  We were to log every vehicle that passed by that point.  After we were set up, Larry left and returned later, bringing us a portable septic tank on a utility trailer. 

This is where we were first parked.  The building houses the property owner's Oil Field Instrumentation business in the front section.  You can see part of the taller building in the back.  It is used for his other business, Advanced Building Services (ABS)

ABS used these huge shipping containers from ocean-going freighters and made them into portable housing for oil field workers.  They are very nice inside.

Close-up of our first parking spot.  After we moved up by the gate, we got our exercise by walking back and forth from the gate to this tree line (again and again).  We had to keep the gate in our site.  We kept a small tablet with us so we could log anyone who drove passed us as we walked.