Of course, many of the people I called on weren't home - they were out working. I met some of the wives and neighbors, though.

We were using my laptop's global positioning system (GPS) to locate most of the clients. The computer pretty much fills up needed space in my new company car. Bess usually operates as co-pilot, advising me of the next turn. By day's end, Bess's lap is tired and stiff from holding the laptop all day, but it's been invaluable in giving us directions.

Many of the clients in West Virginia work out of their homes. Most of their homes would not be easily accessible for their drilling machines - some were not easily accessible for my new Pontiac Vibe. Most keep their drilling machines going from job to job.

Six drillers in West Virginia had passed away in the last year or were in ill health. Only a few had sons or relatives that were continuing the business. Two sons of one deceased driller were going to truck-driving school - not for the drilling business, but for driving trucks. Truck driving is much easier and pays a lot more.

On the trip, I was able to watch the almost-lost art of forging and reshaping of a cable-tool bit. Even I had never seen this done. But I was able to ask a lot of questions and take a lot of great photos.

I was able to photograph a lot of nice late-model drilling equipment as well as cable-tool drills in various states of condition. Some of the cable-tool drills looked great and were in daily operation. Others were in various states of repair, and some were just junk. Some were for sale or probably could be bought for a reasonable price.

For one of my visits, I was guided to a home address in a residential area by the GPS. It was to a driller's address listed on the Internet. I asked the lady of the house if a driller lived there. She said, “He does.” I asked, “Could I talk to him?” She said, “Yes, he's sitting right there.” There were two vacant chairs beside her. I looked at the vacant chairs - thinking to myself that maybe the driller's dead! - I asked, “Where?” She said, “In the swing!”

I looked in the swing on the porch and there he sat, smiling. What a relief; for a moment, I thought I might have to have Bess talk to the driller on a higher plane!

In my conversation with the 60-plus-year-old driller, he advised me that he had a not-to-scale working model of a cable tool drill. He also is building (to scale) a model of the old wooden standard cable-tool drill from original blueprints that he has. The completed drill model will be 84 inches tall as the original design was 84 feet high. I encouraged him to complete it.

We enjoyed the trip and plan to return to call on the clients we missed and perhaps hear more new - and old - drilling stories. ND