Workampers

Today we drove from Rockport to Junction TX, via San Antonio.  An hour south of San Antonio the interstate passes through what is known as the Eagle Ford Shale field, a shale oil play.  It is hopping.  For one stretch, several drill rigs were visible, drilling new wells.  These would be horizontal wells using fracking to release the oil from the shale.

For the record, this is NOT a drill rig, it is a pumpjack:

THIS is a drill rig, albeit a simple one:

A couple of the drill sites had their entry gates at the frontage road next to I-37.  At those gates we saw "workamper" RVers.  Workamping is the practice of living in an RV, moving around from job to job to make enough money to sustain full-time RV living.  The employers provide free campsites to attract the workers.  One common workamping gig is to work at an Amazon.com distribution center for the Christmas rush.  The workampers we saw today are known as gate guards.  They get a free spot with utilities at the gate of an oil well site, and get paid to be the security guard checking people and deliveries in and out of the site.  Some people say they find it enjoyable, but it's dusty, remote, and when it's not busy, it's boring.  More power to them!

Here they are.  Very nice rig in the first one!:

Tonight we are sitting at the Junction TX KOA.  We have sketchy cable TV for the Super Bowl, and super sketchy wifi service.  We had planned to spend tomorrow here to get caught up on stuff, but instead Terry is over at the HQ trying to get laundry done tonight so we can bail out in the morning.

Let's hope the wifi doesn't toss this back in my lap.  And pressing Publish...