We have reactivated our blog and are starting anew.
We are currently serving as oil field gate guards in Encinal, TX, never heard of it neither has anyone else. You turn off I-35 (about 35 miles north of Laredo, TX) and immediately go onto the dirt (mud) road Alamo Rd for 5 miles to the middle of cactus, cattle, and rattlesnakes. Check out this map on google the blue dot is us. This is our home for the month of April. One of us has to be on duty 24/7. Since Encinal only has a Love’s truck stop and Family Dollar there is no place to go. The trip to either takes 25 minutes one way because of the mud/dirt road. We can find milk and eggs, diesel and Chester’s Chicken – but that is about it.
As implied we guard the gate here logging everyone in and out. After dark the gate is closed (or when the cattle get loose), but open during the day. Peggy works Noon to 9:30 PM sitting outside with the iPad tablet in hand, snake stick in the other waiting for traffic. She has her book, music, and phone with the US Border Patrol on speed dial!

Peggy’s hut rocking chairs, music, internet, fan, snake stick, shade, electricity, mat.
Jim works 10 PM til 8 AM. We share the other hours so one of us can do simple work projects. We have a generator for power, water tank, and black water dump tank
- Genny and water tank, we also have four LED lights (Note Peggy’s plant)
Our gate is not large or locked but simply a control point. Everyone has to stop and chat. We keep out those who don’t belong; and keep a log of trucks and people who are inside the gate. The log is internet live to Guard 1 management and the company doing the well. We actually have two operations going on here. The main is a large wet gas drilling operation about 3/4 mile from the gate, the other is a small work pad (1 1/2 acres) right behind us where they are building steel pipe and pulling it under the fence to the next property to be buried. This is a secondary operation but on a good day they weld and pull a few hundred feet of pipe.

There is a fence at the square hole and the land on the other side in another ranch.
Night photo with the gate open. We have a second generator with a large light pole and four really bright sodium vapor lights to give us light 24/7 at the gate. Lots of unique critters and flora.
Cactus starting to bloom
Left Texas Bird of Paradise; Right Peggy’s buddy Road Runner (eats snakes)
Wild flowers which God made only for us to see.
More to follow in the next few days, we will also give a wrap-up of our projects with RVICS.ORG during January, February, and March