Day 18, Saturday June 25, 2022, Traveled to Williston ND

 Day 18, Saturday June 25, 2022, Traveled to Williston ND

Very windy on the road with the wind blowing at 30-35 mph. We took our time getting the campsite torn down, and still by 9:30 were ready to hit the road. The wind was still strong, and both Ruth and I felt "seasick" when we got to the campground in Williston. Our average mileage/gas on the first 1/2 of the leg (60 miles) ...was 6.5 mph on the gasoline.  I wouldn't want to do a whole trip against that headwind.  We still have some 200 miles to go westward before we turn south, and  hopefully that will be less windy.

As far as the eye can see.

More crops

A sectionof the road they were working on (Its 4 lane and we kept switch the two lanes for 24 miles)

 

 

 

 

The 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

terrain most of the way is a beautiful green carpet across the Prairie, with miles and miles of land that has been tilled and is growing wheat, alfalfa, some corn, and of course many beans. In some places we could see to the horizon some 20-30 miles away and it would be all crops growing. They have said that this is one of the best growing seasons they have had with all the moisture that has fallen. Of course with winds like today that moisture evaporates in a hurry.

It was quite amazing that even though we stopped only once, we did not stop at any ponds although their were birds in many of them, our total count for the day was 21 birds truly "on the fly". Ruth is gettng better at spotting them in flight and I certainly did not do much looking today, as the road was important to watch with the heavy wind. Those are all birds we can recognize from the truck at 55 mph.

One of the oil collecting pads.

More o fthe same

Each pad has its own well and holding tanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although there are the same number of granaries and silos per square mile than previously in ND,  which   indicates the agriculture activity, there was a "New Kid on the Block". ..The oil pads!  These are the places where the relatively new Bakken Oil Field has allowed investors to dig for oil and they have done well here.  I think even on US 2 there were 15 or 20 of them.  (Pads)There were 55 wells dug and active before the pandemic and now that is down to 40.   Usually there are 3-6 oil wells pumping on these pads,( See photo) For those of you who read my posts in 2018, I commented on them then. There are many supply yards along the way with pipes,  shielding well heads, etc, to keep those wells going.  We did see some "Man Camps"and more on that tomorrow.

Did you know?--- North Dakota is the largest producer of oil in the country second only to TX?

Did you know?-- That North Dakota has the largest number of National Wildlife Refuges of any state in the USA. Answer...53 of them.

The Grossman trestle bridge in Minot. It is 1790 feet 

long and 718 feet high

It is still used today, even the Amtrac travels it.

 

Gasoline was a bit higher here at $4.79.  That is,however, lower than in the eastern USA.

We arrived earlier than usual and Sandy greeted us as he asked us to call 1/2 hour before arrival. They play it pretty loose out here and may not be at the office all day.  They do check on the campers tsee if all is well.We were in site #1 so we can see a sunset if there is one.   It is a good campground with lots of room between trailers. About 45 feet wide and  room for a car at one end after our two vehicles. There are very few trees , except around the outside edges. Sandy's husband was born in Manistee MI, and is an ardent Fisherman as he learned the trade on Lake Michigan and on the Wolverine state streams and rivers.

Our site at Williston ND

Looking toward the road and office.

 

We set up the trailer  and relaxed  before even thinking about supper, but needed some groceries. There is an Albertson's just a mile down the road. (We are outside of town about 2 miles.)   So we journeyed there to test the store's computer/cash register that gave us trouble ,but the helper said "It's a stubborn machine anyway". On the way out Ruth spied a Pizza Hut across the street from the grocery store, so we were hooked for dinner.

We returned the 2 miles to that Pizza Hut and picked up a " take out" and enjoyed that in the trailer as the wind started to die down.

Tomorrow we will head for the Teddy Roosevelt National Park. It is just an hours drive from here and should yield not only birds but good photos.  Being Sunday it will be busy , but we have not seen any crowds since the "SS Badger "coming across the Big Lake.

Hope to catch you tomorrow.--Jim