Welcome To The Patch

The wind wasn't blowing very much in Ft Worth this morning, so we decided to get outta town.  Our route took us west and south on I20, through the rolling hills west of Ft Worth,

Some fifty miles west of FW, the landscape began to flatten out into the famous West Texas.

Miles and miles of cotton, windmills, and…..flatness.

Through Weatherford, Cisco, Abilene and Sweetwater. Through Roscoe, Sand Springs, Big Springs and Stanton to the center of the Texas oil industry, Midland, Texas.

We're firmly set in the middle of the parking lot at one of the two local Walmart stores. Along with at least 700 cars and pickups, a half dozen big rig trucks, more dust than I've seen in years, and a scrawny guy walking around shining automobile rims for any and all.  What a wonderful stop.  We're within sight of I20, and earshot as well, but out the other window is downtown Midland.  We're thinking about taking a short drive into town tonight, but it's so crazy here that we may not.

They call this area the Oil Patch, because the Texas Oil Boom is still in full swing in these parts, with oil well and drilling companies and support businesses everywhere. Company housing in the form of square miles of mobile homes and/or trailers and Motorhomes are everywhere.  Most of the housing looks to have been here since the first oil discoveries years ago, but it's still being used!

We're in need of fuel before the next leg of our trip, and the Murphys station here at Walmart has diesel for $3.38 a gallon. The major truck stops out on the highway are running between $3.76 to $3.89, so we're hoping to squeeze Nessie in later this evening when the traffic eases a bit (if it does). If not, the diesel app says there's a truck stop down the road a piece. Tomorrow we're going "off the grid" for awhile, so we may not be able to post.  Wish us luck!