More work crews

We didn't have an internet connection at the oil well, so I'm adding all of our posts now, beginning with the one for February 23rd. I added some photos to some of these entries after I got them posted, so be sure to check them out.  I'll add another post in the next week or so to cover the time since we left the oil well.
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Monday, April 2, began a new phase at the oil well.  Trucks began coming in to set up for ‘work-over’.  When the original drilling rig was pulled out, they put several cement plugs in the hole.  The work-over rig drills and cleans out the hole, including the plugs that had been added.  Next they insert electrically fired TNT charges, about 8,000 feet long, into the bottom portion of the hole.  The TNT explosion then perforates the casing and the concrete. 

Work-over rig coming in our gate

Ron logging in one of the truck drivers

More trucks coming in for work-over

This team works all night, too, so our sleep is interrupted once again.  We were told that work-over takes 2-4 days to complete, but the work continued until Thursday, April 5^th.  We were happy to be able to sleep at night once again.

Line of trucks leaving when work-over was complete

 We can vouch for the drought in Texas being over!  We’ve had a lot of rain since we’ve been here and that always means  MUD!  Lots of MUD!  We put down mats and a beach towel to protect the carpet.  A storm with high winds is especially frightening in an RV.  After rocking with the high winds in a storm a week or so ago, we were relieved that the predicted storms for yesterday went north of us.  Sadly, the storms resulted in devastating tornadoes in Dallas and northeast Texas.  We’re so thankful that we were bypassed by the storm system.  We have nowhere to go for shelter from a tornado.

Click on this picture to see the lovely muddy road I had to drive on to get to town.  When it dries it's rutted and as hard as concrete, with a layer of dust that flies when trucks go over it.  On some days, visibility is so bad from the dust that you have to pull over to wait for it to clear.

We’re concerned that mud may prevent us from pulling out when it comes time for us to leave.  As soon as the ground is dry we’re going to move the trailer back from the gate so it will be easier to hitch up and pull forward to leave.

We were treated to dinner three times on the week-end!  Friday the caterer brought food in for the crew at Trinidad 100, which is now located across the road from us, and they brought food to us, too!  It was similar to the meal they served us before.  We had fried chicken, shrimp, fish, fried mushrooms, baked beans and macaroni and cheese.

Our rancher and his family spent Easter weekend his lodge across the road. He and his wife had dinner delivered to us Saturday night.  She made homemade chicken enchiladas (best we’ve ever had), skillet corn bread, black beans, and homemade salsa.  Yummy!

We can’t leave our gate, so Easter Sunday was much like any other day.  We had to settle for watching Easter Mass on TV.  We were surprised again when the rancher’s wife sent over our Easter dinner!  We had salad, prime rib, mashed potatoes, squash, and dinner rolls.  We could easily get used to service like this!  

The ground was dried out enough in the afternoon that we were able to move our fifth wheel back from the gate.  We’re now in a better position to pull out on Monday.

Another work crew moved in on the 9^th.  This time it was to insert coil tubing down into a previously drilled well (the A1H site).  We were told that this procedure was sometimes done instead of work-over.  They worked day and night until they finished on the 12^th around 11:00 pm.  With no warning to us, vehicles were moving out all night long and into the next day. Ron didn’t get any sleep at all.  I eventually went to sleep so I would be ready to take over the next morning and let him go to bed.  

Luckily, Nancy and I chose to do our grocery trip to Pleasanton on Saturday, because  we were back in business again on Sunday.  Workers and equipment began arriving at 5:45 a.m.   I tended our gate while Ron filled in for the couple who are gate guards across the road.  They paid him $75 to take over their gate while they went to Pleasanton together to buy groceries.

We have had an enormous number of little white butterflies for the last three or four weeks…more than we have ever seen!  The number increased exponentially on Sunday.  Several of the incoming drivers commented that it looked like it was snowing.  The air was full of butterflies everywhere we looked.  It really did look like snowflakes!  Traffic was so slow at our neighbor’s gate on Sunday that Ron actually tried to count the number of butterflies he saw coming through the 20 foot gate. In 30 seconds he counted 120…..which in 4 hours would be 57,600!  They were all heading south.   It was like this from sun up to sun down!

The wiring crew worked two days (no nights!) and everyone was gone by Monday evening.  It was quiet again, with only a few vehicles coming in to pick up generators, tanks, and other equipment.

We had a 4 day break until a work-over crew arrived for the A1H site on Saturday.  We were puzzled, because someone had told us that the coil tubing and wiring was done instead of work-over.  I guess all we really know is that the oil drilling is a complicated process.  They only worked days, so we got to sleep at night!  They finished work on Saturday and the last of their equipment was moved out on Sunday.  We are scheduled to leave here tomorrow!!!  We hope our replacement arrives here early!!