Wed February 2, 2011
Tx A & M SA has sponsored a trip to Romania, trips to Ireland and I understand Argentina are also scheduled.
Well how about a cheapr alternative to another foreign land, yep, the land of the High Sky, the land of black gold, Texas Tea, yep, West Texas! Most folks in Central Texas have never been west of say Fredricksburg, actually believing the earth is flat and they will drive off the edge, but really, there is as the saying goes, a whole 'nother country out there.
What would we see and do, glad you asked.
Now honestly do you know anything about an oil field, Well a stop at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum will improve you knowledge of the this business quite a bit. The museum has a donated oil rig but I suspect we could get a visit to a real operating rig, up close and personal.
The price of oil is up and things are booming again. We would also visit some oil service businesses to learn how that services oil production.
All of the Jim Hall Chapparal race cars, which are still being emulated to this day, are now on display at the museum. These rear engined, cars unitlizing ground huggin techniques like this wing and later fans to suck the air from under the car won lots of races.
I am sure we could arrange a meeting with both the Midland Economic Development
and Odessa Economic Development Boards. You will find West Texas communities quite aggressive in attracting new business.
Check back for more on this idea, I will be adding additional information.
Yes there are things to see and do in West Texas. Midland snagged the Commerative Air Force which was located in the Texas Valley region. Midland outbid Kelly here in San Antonio by simply handing the CAF a check for $5 million. In San Antonio the CAF would have been under the thumb of the the Kelly Command, the CAF is an independent bunch and was not interested in being under any other command.
$5 M was well employed to build a WW II type replica of an airfield right at the Midland Airport. Oddly I could not find a photo of the air terminal but here is a partial shot of the October Annual Arisho. No doubt you have been to other Air Shows but until you have seen this one, well, you haven't seen an air show. It is truly a world wide event.
The big story is how anxious the area is to attract companies that would diversify the area. The other big story is how the boom bust economy of the oil field, driven by the ups and downs of oil prices can create near instant wealth. The real economy is the oil service economy.
So you say you are into clean energy?
Sumiotomo bought into the Stanton, TX Wind Farm. Silly me I assumed there would be plenty of photos of it, believe me this is not it, there is not that much grass in all of West Texas. But there is a size wind farm in Stanton, Texas between Big Spring and Midland, now you know where it is, right?
And then there is the Yellow Rose Ostrich Ranch, another relic of the Ostrich Emu Mania in the post 1980s oil boom bust.
No trip would be complete without a stop at Dos Amigos cantina.
http://dosamigoscantina.com
This started out as a converted horse stable, the new owner encouraged folks that had left over building material to drop it off at the site, and so began the hodge podge collection of buildings that is the quirky atmosphere of just right country music, Tex Mex cooking, and occasional bull rides. I suspect this concept would be a smashing success on the south side of San Antonio, consider this a fact finding trip in the area of leisure interests.
Now honestly have you ever been on the floor of an operating oil rig, drilling for Black Gold? Just as I thought, well get your hard hat and come along, it is an experience you won't forget!
When asked if there was a need for a university in West Texas, one Odessan testified ( I am not making this up) in Austin, Senator, there is enough ignorance for two universities in the Permian Basin. Well jokes aside, UTPB began as Texas A & M SA is beginning, an upper level institution with students coming from community colleges. Today it has about the same enrollment as we do, over 3,000. So a stop there might be interesting, The Chair of the Acct Dept is a friend of mine.
Well I know you are bowled over by all this, Texas two steppin' ostriches, JR Ewing type oil booms, wind farms, and I haven't even hardly mentioned Midland, yet, the biggest, richest small town in Texas.
http://www.visitmidlandtexas.com/
and its blue collar cousin, odessa
Did I mention this is the original genuine Friday Night Lights Town
http://www.odessacvb.com/
And of course there will be the opportunity to see the famous Odessa Big Bunny, wait no, how did she get in here, not THAT kind of Bunny...
I mean the famous Odessa, TX ten foot jackrabbit on the left....
Now in all seriousness, I am sure that the cachet and allure of trans Atlantic trips outweighs what you are thinking about West Texas. But they do speak English, well after a fashion, you won't need a passport, it will be considerably less expensive, and it will be a foreign country in that most of you have never been there. And if you get a great start up business idea, they will be glad to talk with you about it. You will observe a community anxious to attract new business with generous offers of real estate and labor. You might get a new idea for something that would work in San Antonio. You will definitely meet some friendly people though I cannot guarantee friendly ostriches....Mario is right in his post below, it is quite a contrast to cities like Abilene and San Angelo, though I do have a soft spot for the San Angelo.
Anyone else interrested?
Did I mention there is an exact replica of the Shakespeare Globe Theater....
I for one would be interested in making this pilgrimage to West Texas, I used to live in Abilene, which is not too far away from Odessa, or Midland. I visited these towns when my high school would have rival away games at either of these schools: Midland Lee, and Odessa Permian which were our rivals, so we hated the tar out of both these cities. But I was quite impressed how developed these big-sized towns are compared to Abilene, which is about the same size. These cities are a lot more urban than you would think. Midland has a beautiful little downtown and Odessa is not so bad either. The main export from my town was fertilizer, so you can imagine how much more money these two cities got from exporting oil during the 80's and 90's...Given the opportunity, I would love to see how these nice medium-sized cities have developed since I've been there.
Posted by: Mario Sarabia | February 03, 2011 at 07:55 AM