I got some gas and had lunch there at Subway inside. As I ate, my gate guard friends came up with an RV park in Crystal City that I remembered my boss had stayed at before and spoke well of. It was the same distance from where I was but it would keep me in the local job area very close to where my next gate would likely be so I decided to go there instead.
Triple R RV Park was much nicer than I expected for an oilfield park. Most are just dirt patches but this one was a real RV resort with grass, trees, clubhouse, gym, nature trail, Laundromat, etc. They understand gate guard life and work with us on payment. They even gave me a little break on the rate when I left there. They aren’t cheap but the rate is what you pay at other real resorts and they take credit cards. They gave me a nice pull-thru site way in the back by the lake, the Nueces River, and the clubhouse. The site had cable TV and Wi-Fi which I appreciated. I had my own cat visitor every day to pet too. I used their treadmill in the gym several times, used their Laundromat, and hiked the nature trail a couple times. I also worked on a bunch of upgrades to my RV that I already had parts for onboard. Triple R is definitely on my list of places to go between gates now.
What I thought would be just a few days, turned into 3 weeks. That hurt. I was offered a gate over in Louisiana but it was too far to go in too short a time. I finally got called to go back to the now dry Valley Wells gate I had left. I went over and got setup but didn’t fully setup just in case. Work was to begin the next morning. Instead, my support guy came by and told me it was closed again. Seriously, I was there for only one night!
As I sat hitched up trying to decide where to go now, one of my other bosses called and asked me to help him out by relieving a hurt guard. It was only going to be for a few days for 12 hrs. a day but he suggested I take my trailer anyway. When he started talking about how deep the water there was and how to get through it, I knew something was not right. I drove about 50 miles to the area until I came to the road completely flooded out for a mile or more. Not being the trusting sort, I stopped, put my rubber boots on, grabbed my hiking stick, and waded in. It became clear fast that my boss was wrong! No way was my trailer going through that. I called him and suggested taking my trailer back to town, drop it in an RV park, then try to get in with just my truck and sleep in it. He agreed so back I went. The only park I could find in town was very small and full. I drove up the highway toward others I knew but found them either closed due to the slowdown in the oilfield or too shady (as in characters) to stay. I spent all day trying to find somewhere to go. I finally found a decent park late in the day that was run by the father of one of the guys I know from work. Dad was very nice and accommodating. Brush Country RV Park in Carrizo Springs is now on my list also. They have even better cable TV and movies to borrow.
Now exhausted and having missed lunch, I stopped at a Subway again and went back to the flooded road. I waited and watched others come through before I even attempted it. I made it through but it was scary. I lost my front custom license plate in it dang it! I got to the gate and immediately went on duty for the night. The couple that I was relieving let me stay in their RV while working and fed me. I got lucky that the traffic had died way down while I was there so it was pretty easy to handle. I slept in my truck when off-duty. I learned that a guard I had worked with before was on that same ranch working at another gate so I went to see him when I woke up. I worked for two nights before being released again. Before leaving, I ran up to my friend’s gate and we aired up all the tires on two support trailers sitting there and changed one tire to help out our company and support guys. I always carry an air compressor, floor jack, and DC impact wrench. Driving back out through the flood was even scarier than the first time.
Back at my RV, I stayed for one more night to figure out what to do next. I ran into town to get new license plates to replace the one the flood got. I needed to go to a super cheap RV park since money was getting low so I hitched up the next day and took off for one I know in Hondo near the Escapees. It’s only $150 a month instead of a week like all the others. Nothing much to it but okay. I messaged my boss to let him know where I would be. Just past Crystal City, he called. He had a gate for me in the area and wanted me to go back to Triple R RV Park for a couple days until the gate opened and the company would pay for it. I turned around and back to Triple R I went. The cat was glad to see me. LOL.
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