North Dakota in a day

Friday June 23rd
When we drove onto the plains of North Dakota, we saw a landscape dominated by crops and cattle.  At our first gasoline stop at a small station, I saw 2 men and 1 little boy with big cowboy hats talking about the local rodeo.  A bit down the road, we stopped at a vintage car show.  So far, we were liking the view of ND that we saw from US-2 West. 

 

Then we got to the Williston oil basin area.  There were oil pumps, and flaming methane, and storage tanks, earth movers digging and moving the dirt around.  BIG equipment and trucks.  Barracks housing and travel trailers everywhere to house the workers.  But there are no towns in the area.  The plot thickens.  We arrived at the campground that, from what I saw on their website, looked the best of those in the area.  And it probably was.  The problem was that the rv park, as well as every random parking lot in the area, was being used to house the oil workers.  So "our" campground had campers lined up like a parking lot where, if you sneezed, the guy in the next trailer would say bless you.  And it was Saturday night and these were men who'd been working hard all week -- uh, no.  We decided not to stay. 



So down the road a bit we thought, hey, let's just get a room tonight.  Remember all those workers?  Yea, the Holiday Express was charging $295 + tax for a room.  No.  So we hit the road, eventually stopping in Montana at a weight station/rest area for the night.  We had the company of several big trucks, a couple of vans, and another camper -- oh, and the highway noise and the railroad tracks.  We were up early.

North Dakota, I'm sure you're a lovely state.  We just weren't able to experience it this trip.  Maybe next time.