The Trip

Very similar to our 1962 GMC pickup

I have to back up here to tell a short story about how we got to Odessa in the first place.  I sure wish I had a picture of the actual pickup that we arrived in.  It was early 1980 and we were living in Riverside, California. We had one vehicle --- a 1962 GMC pickup.  It was so ugly!  It was a very similar color of green to the above picture---although it was a primer finish.  Us kids hated that truck!  When, after a few months in Riverside, my parents decided to leave California, we loaded up the six of us into this truck and headed east.  Whatever could not fit for the trip, either got left behind or got put into storage.  As you can see, this is a single cab truck.  The cab was reserved for my parents and the dog.  That left a limited amount of space in the bed of the truck for my parents to pack us four kids in.  We also had to share that space with a Lincoln welder and assorted pots, pans, blankets, clothing and other necessities.  Thinking back, I am reminded of the tent situation I wrote about earlier and how crazy it all seems now, but back then, we just did what we had to do.  And we had to get on the road.  So that's how we made that trip.  We were actually on our way to Louisiana and about halfway there my dad called a friend and learned that Odessa was booming.  So Odessa is where we ended up.  We drove from Riverside, California to Odessa, Texas (1037 miles according to Google) with us four kids packed into the back of that truck.  I guess the fact that it was early spring and we traveled mainly at night helped it to be bearable, but I still shake my head when I think of that journey.  What's even more amazing is that I remember arriving in Odessa and looking around and no one even gave us a second glance.  People were arriving there in droves and they were getting there in every way and shape possible, so we probably had it good compared to many others......

The Tent (continued from "The Boom" posted on 6/25)

photo from www.wforums.com

In May of 1980 my family, which consisted of my step-dad, my mom, me (age 16), my sisters (age 11 & 12) and my brother (age 10) and our half chow/half German Shepherd had moved to Odessa, Texas where the oilfield was booming.  We had one day to find somewhere to live because our only transportation was my step-dad's pickup, which carried his Lincoln welder which supported the family.  In other words, he had to take that truck to work every day, so we had to find a place and find it fast before he had to start at work.  After unsuccessfully checking for apartments, houses, trailers and hotel rooms within a decent distance from his job, we heard that the new arrivals, like us, were being sent the way of campgrounds in the area.  We didn't have a trailer, but we did have a tent, very similar to the above picture. 

Honestly, now I think I would go bonkers, but back then I don't remember it really being so much of a big deal.  In May it was hot, but not outrageously so, and the KOA that we ended up at had a pool, an air-conditioned game room and a snack bar and we just looked at it as an extended camping trip.  Just the year before , we'd traipsed across the country for a year in a travel trailer, following the work, so we were used to minimal accomodations.  During the day we swam, played at the arcade, hung out at the snack bar and just basically did what kids did back in the pre-gaming system days.  We had the place pretty much to ourselves during the day since school was still in session for the "regular" kids.  I did travel some during the week to Artesia, New Mexico to finish up my junior year in high school, while living with family friends, so that gave me the break that my younger siblings did not have. 

Within a few weeks a very small trailer became available in the trailer park right across the highway from where my step-dad worked and my mom jumped at the chance to get out of the tent.  Actually the trailer was a step down in our opinion because we lost use of the pool and game room, but we were living in a trailer park where there were other kids and we met and made friends there very quickly.  Many of them were in the same shape as us, with dads working across the highway and having just moved from out of state, not knowing anyone.  Many were without transportation as well, but after the paychecks started coming regularly, that all changed.  Oh, how it changed------ (to be continued)

The Boom

                                                    photo from www.hubpages.com

I saw a headline last week about a couple who was living in a storage unit in Texas.  I just had a feeling it was happening in West Texas and when I clicked on the story I found that I was right.  It was in my adopted hometown of Odessa --- 350 miles east of where I live today.  The couple had been evicted from where they were living and had put their stuff and themselves into a 10'x20' storage unit similar to the one in the above picture.  They had been living there three months.  Texas summers are brutal and 100 degree days had already started by the time this story was being aired.  Together the couple gets about $900 a month in social security and disability, and that would normally get you somewhere to live better than a storage unit, but times are different in Odessa these days. 

The oilfield is booming.

That means that when your lease is up in what was your $500 a month efficiency apartment, you had better be ready to fork over twice that much a month, or more, in order to renew it.  Otherwise there are a dozen oilfield workers ready to pay that higher price standing in line.  I read these stories and remember back 30+ years ago to when my family first drove into town.  I know price-gouging is a reality.

My family of 6 (at 16 I was the oldest of 4 kids) rolled into Odessa in May of 1980 after my step-dad heard about the unlimited work for welders.  He had his own rig and soon learned he could write his own ticket.  Within a day of arriving, he signed on at OIME, a local business out on the highway between Midland and Odessa---a 20 mile stretch of oilfield-related businesses, pumpjacks and the people who worked them.  He found the job before we found a place to live and the housing search proved to be a lot more difficult.  We finally settled at the KOA about 5 miles from his job.  We were going to camp out -- in a tent.  Yay.  Stay tuned -------

Truth

The first time I saw this picture I chuckled.  Someone had posted it on Facebook, and I immediately remembered my son doing this and wondered if the saying on the picture was true.  I texted the picture to my son and he texted back one word, "Truth".  He probably has no idea how happy he made me that day.  I finally found a picture of him at about age 11 in a similar position----

This is one awesome kid.  Truth.

Old Friends (and Tim McGraw)

Allyson-Sondra-Dee Dee at the Kenny Chesney - Tim McGraw concert 2012

The three women you see above were all police cadets at the age of 18 and two of the three went on to become police officers.  The girl in the middle, Sondra, left police work before completing the academy in west Texas, moved away and taught herself all about video production.  While Al & I both work for government agencies and have managed to keep in touch over the years, Sondra works for a local CBS affiliate and we had lost touch with her.  Facebook changed all that and when we figured out we lived within an hour of each other we started planning a reunion.  Turns out we all love Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, so this past weekend, after nearly 30 years, we were all three together once again at Cowboy Stadium to see Kenny & Tim.  We'll have to do that again sometime.  Sometime soon.

The REAL reason we got together.  Oh. my.



My Beautiful Bamboo Purse

Photo from Kaboodle.com

Did anyone else have one of these?  I secretly and not-so-secretly coveted this bamboo purse with a passion when I was 13 years old.  I absolutely had to have one.  I think this must have been another California thing since an informal poll of a few of my Texas friends revealed that they had never laid eyes on one of these beauties. Oh how I loved this purse.  I would spend a substantial amount of time every few days weaving a scarf or bandana in and out of the openings in this purse, knotting them just right through the little half-moon openings on each side.  This served as a liner and was to make sure that my small treasures did not fall out of the purse.  I say every few days, because depending on what I was wearing I tried to make sure my purse matched.  It took me quite some time to find a picture of the exact purse that I had----I sure thought they were more popular than they have turned out to be!  Just looking at this makes me want another one now, since the original was probably lost in some long ago move.  This has put me in an even more nostalgic mood as I am now off to search the web for pictures of "Ditto" jeans and "Yo Yo" shoes.....does anyone remember those?

Barefoot Sandals

Photo from http://www.rastaempire.com/

When I was a teenager in California, these things were all the rage.  Living within a short ride to the beach and having such perfect weather year round us kids went barefoot every chance we got.  We also liked to try to go barefoot at school.  One of the high schools I went to in the 1970's was very laid back (like most things in California during that time), and the dress code was non-existent.  They did like us to wear shoes though.  One way we got around that was to make our versions of "barefoot sandals" similar to those depicted above.  Some elastic cord and beads and you were in business.  While these are pretty ideal on a beach (if the sand is not too hot!) they really don't serve much of a purpose other than as foot jewelry, as they don't protect your feet from anything.  However, as teenagers, we felt like we were getting away with something if we could make it the whole day wearing these creations at school without getting caught!