WE'RE OFF! 2011

Williston, ND 8/23, 24

Pictures speak louder then words of the campground, so I'll say no more.  OTHER THEN -  note the dump station located IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLAYGROUND!!!



The garbage bin



So I guess we got a hint of what happens to a town when gold, either mineral or oil is found!  Mayhem.  We left the remains of the fields of gold mines in Alaska and Canada after gold was discovered.  Man oh man. 

The streets of Williston, ND are covered with dust and dirt, the city looks rough and tough and very much a rugged place and very ragged around the edges.  Barry decided to take us to a safe restaurant that he knew...Appleby's.  Not very good, actually really poor.  A group of fellows were leaving.  One of the guys, very young looking (maybe 20-21) was wearing a piece of t-shirt.  The sides and sleeves of this shirt were deliberately cut totally off.  All the shirt covered was his chest and back!  My point was though, his entire left arm and hand was covered with burn scars.  The scars abruptly stopped at his shoulder.  It was sad, but obviously he was comfortable with it - almost too comfortable. 

Barry was afraid to try another restaurant, so I couldn't tell if it was a fluke. From there it was off to Wal Mart.  It was strange too.  Really wide aisles, very basic food, and lots of empty shelves.  Looked like a store that was about to go out of business; however, we were there on a Tuesday.  Wednesday is the day the trucks come in to reload the shelves, so I suspect they were just selling out of a lot of stuff.  With all the heavy duty atmosphere, I was still able to find edename!  I thought that was so funny! 

As I rolled the basket around Wal Mart I saw very occidental looking men shopping.  Well!  I thought I had finally seen my first North Dakota Native American (they call themselves Indians out here, somebody really should explain to those Indians how insensitive they are with themselves).  Anyway, as I got closer to the men, I was shocked to find they weren't Native Americans, they were Mexicans! I guess they came up from Texas with all the other oilers.  I am now sooooo ethnically challenged.  In Alaska there are "Indigenous" tribes, in Canada the same tribes are called "First Nation" and then you get to the States and, depending on who you're talking to, the same tribes become "Native Americans" or "Indians."

The length and width of the 18 wheelers' loads were staggering.  Every fifth truck had a lead truck signaling that a wide load was following.  Hauling all sorts of supplies - huge coils of black plastic  - heavy equipment - loads and loads of stone.  Mixed amongst that were trucks hauling huge bales of hay - the big round bales, so big that they too were wide loads and the sides of the bales were extended out onto the road! 


I gave all the dogs a bath just before we left - tried to clear the air inside the RV!  I hadn't bathed Maggie for a couple of months, and I was shocked at how thin she was and how much muscle mass she's lost.  All her weight was coming from this monster of a belly.  We decided we needed to take her to a vet on an emergency basis.  Trouble was we thought we should get out of Williston as soon as we could, so the vet call may have to wait until we to Goodfield.  I didn't want to take her to an unknown vet.

To top it off, before we could escape town, I was stung by a very nasty ugly bee. 

Following are some of my thoughts as we drove through Williston:

Dirty

Dusty

Nothing but large, large, construction trucks

Oil well digging implements,

Hundreds of single wides used as temp offices

Barracks for workers parked in harvested wheat fields - (hundred of singlewides end to end) as well as RVs side by side hundreds of rows after rows

Wal-Mart stocked with a new department: specifically for oilers - flame retardant: JUMPSUITS; SHIRTS; PADDED PANTS/JACKETS  - everything they need

Crop Dusters buzzing right over the truck

Oil wells being dug in the wheat fields

Roughnecks all over town

Trucks speeding down the highways with prefab and singlewide homes

More cars/trucks with Texas plates then ND

Mobile mechanic trucks

Abandoned equipment, tanks, trucks

Beehive of industry

Lots of wheat and hay farms, no cattle industry

Billboards along the highway searching for experienced workers of all kinds

Bees, bees and more bees big hives sitting out in the grain fields

Pile drivers

Cell towers everywhere

Good hiways

from the MABarry - over and out!