November 13, 2023 Still Meandering in Texas Among the Cotton and Oil

We woke to a beautiful day and headed south,

Past farms:

And cotton:

  

  

  

  

  

  

And then we saw oil fields for over 100 miles:

They were everywhere:

Drilling even more:

The towns have just exploded with oil production and increasing population.  It reminds me of North Dakota many years ago.

So I had to do some research…

“The Yates Oil Field is a giant oil field in the Permian Basin of west Texas. Primarily in extreme southeastern Pecos County, it also stretches under the Pecos River and partially into Crockett County. Iraan, on the Pecos River and directly adjacent to the field, is the nearest town. The field has produced more than one billion barrels of oil, making it one of the largest in the United States, and in 1998 it remains productive, though at a diminished rate. Since fracking has exploded in the Permian Basin, the Yates field has seen very heavy activity in the past three years. Estimated recoverable reserves are still approximately one billion barrels, which represents approximately 50% of the original oil in place (OOIP).

The Texas oil and natural gas industry, which leads the U.S. in production, reached new record production highs in June and July 2023, surpassing all-time highs set 30 and 40 years ago, in an analysis published in August.

Year-to-date through July 2023, Texas production accounted for 43.3% of all oil production and 27.4% of all natural gas marketed production in the U.S. By September, these numbers increased, accounting for 43.4% of all oil produced in the U.S. Texas’ natural gas production accounts for 27.5% of overall U.S. production.”

Links for more info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yates_Oil_Field

https://texas2036.org/posts/texas-oil-and-gas-production-hits-records/

https://www.thecentersquare.com/texas/article_d5caf110-6cfb-11ee-bfbd-d3818b5b56fe.html

https://oilmanmagazine.com/the-future-of-the-texas-oil-and-gas-industry-predictions-and-trends-for-2023-and-beyond/

WOW!  Between cotton, cattle, gas and oil, Texas is the place to be for a good job!

We landed at a Escapee Campground in Pecos.  We were there in 2008 and what a change.  They have two sections now – for overnight or part timers and for long timers (those who are working with the oil or other jobs).  It is not a destination park but a nice overnight place.

Pecos was this little town (sort of run down) in 2008.  With the explosion of jobs, it has truly expanded to meet the population demands..  What a change.

The weather turned cold and rainy so we just relaxed!

Tomorrow we continue west so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled:  220 Miles

Texas:  Milwaukee Avenue; US-62; US-385; Truck Loop 1910; US-385; Truck Loop 338; I-20; Raul Florez Blvd; Country Club Drive; Frontage Road; Moore Road

November 10th, 2023 America Windmill Museum in Lubbock Part 3 of 3

Our tour continues…

We walked down another hallway and saw this site – another WOW!

This section of the museum had a little of everything.

The Miniature House Display – notice the detail: 

Check out the cat in the one above and below:

There were about 50 of these homes designed and built by Alta and James Reed.  So many of them had books, a cat, and a dog.  The detail was amazing.

The center section contained wind turbines.

Andy pushed the green button and it rotated – it was also huge.

 

 

 

The “G” scale train set.. Another WOW!

There were two folks working on the layout and we spent some time talking about the trains and the setup. 

So much detail and they are not finished.  All of the detail is different histories of Lubbock and is true to scale.

 

I was fascinated with the train going around the building on the upper track and then coming down to the lower track.

And yes, we did spend quite a bit of time just looking at the trains and detail. There was a much smaller setup in the one corner but it was not running.  The train scale was much smaller too.

Outside, this is Vestas V47 wind turbine.  In the museum, we watched a video on the placement of it. 

“This 660 kW turbine stands on a 50-meter tower and provides (on a yearly average) all of the power required by the museum facility. Excess energy is sold to the local power grid.”

If you look behind the turbine, you can see many of the windmills on the property.  All have been restored.  Some are still working and others are on display.

On special tours, you can climb the 17 flights of stairs to the top.   (Nope, not us.)

This is the Flowerdew Hundred Post Mill.

“The first windmill to be built in North America was constructed in 1621 for Sir George Yeardley on his plantation, Flowerdew Hundred, in Virginia. The original windmill was destroyed in a storm, but remains were found in later excavations.

In 1978 a new, commemorative windmill was built at Flowerdew Hundred incorporating features that illustrate the development of English windmill technology through the 18th century. In the summer of 2010 this commemorative mill was moved from Virginia to its current home in Lubbock, Texas and is one of the very few working Post-Mills in the Western Hemisphere.”

Yes it is still working, unfortunately not today and we could not get a tour.  (Will have to remember that for next time.)

See the wheels at the bottom at the bottom of stairs:

“On the earlier post mills, the sails were faced into the wind by the miler pushing on the lower end of a long tiller known as the tail pole.  In 1746, the fan tail was patented. It turned the mill automatically into the wind.  The fan tail is designed to revolve whenever the wind changes direction.  By means of a series of gears and shafts, power is transmitted to two wheels mounted on a carriage at the bottom of the steps.”

I was extremely impressed with the museum.  As one blogger noted- I would give it a 6 out of 1-5.  Yes, put it on your bucket list.

We passed these buildings on our way to the museum so on the way back, I had to stop and take pictures.

 

Apparently these are part of cotton gins.  If anyone can tell me what their purpose is, let me know.

As I am taking pictures, these little guys caught my eye.  There was quite a few nests but I could not get close.  Aren’t they cute?

We hope to go to Prairie Dog Town in a day or two.

We finished the night at the Elks – great dinner and great time with our neighbors, Robin and Rich.

Stay tuned for our next adventure in Lubbock.  (I am so glad we stopped here!)