A change of underwear and a credit card

Start:  King's Inn, Culbertson, Montana
End:  Tioga City Park Campground, Tioga, North Dakota

Mileage:
Weather:  Overcast skies but no rain, slight wind from the north

States Conquered:  Washington, Idaho, MONTANA!  (Yeah!)
States Being Conquered:  North Dakota
States to be Conquered:  Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine

Particulars:  Prepare yourself men! I'm leaving!  Yes, I have found myself in a position of needing to be three places at once:  Cedar City, Salt Lake and North Dakota.  I could add a fourth, but I've already told my clients, in a nice way, NOT NOW!  So as all women do, I'll find a manageable balance and the men will have to be on their own for a few days.  Hey, when they first started planning this trip, Lowell kept saying all he needs is a "change of underwear and a credit card."  Well, now it's time to test that statement!

Interesting People Along the Way:  Finding a place to stay in Tioga was interesting to say the least. We're in oil country and the motels from Williston to Minot are chock full, so we camped at the City Park with the roughnecks and roustabouts. Good thing we had the trailer.

The innkeeper at the King's Inn in Culbertson kept warning us to call ahead, but we didn't know for sure where we would end up for the day. I guess we should have listened. When I arrived in Williston and met the men at the coffee shop, we started making phone calls and realized that a motel was most likely not an option. When I arrived in Tioga, we noticed several children playing at the school playground, so Hannah had some playtime with kids her age. When that need had been satiated, we began our search for a campsite. Driving around town I noticed that several of the residential driveways in town contained an RV that was actively being used. The RV parks were NOT for people travelling through, but for oil industry employees. At one point the thought crossed my mind that perhaps we would have to load up the bikes and drive to Minot to find someplace to stay.

There were a few short stay spots at the City Park, next to the "permanent" spots for RV's. No problems with the neighbors as most of the workers are on duty for up to 100 hours per week. Little time to make trouble when you're dead tired. At the laundromat, Lowell chatted with an obvious oil industry worker who reported that his wife and children were back in Michigan and he lived out of his truck. As we prepared to call it a night, I visited the restroom and chatted with a woman who has her commercial driver's license and drives truck for the oil industry. Before her current assignment she worked as an LPN and when she got tired of seeing her neighbor's paycheck compared to hers, she decided to join her in the fields. I couldn't resist asking the average wage and learned that she works about 70 hours a week, five days on, three days off (she does have three children at home) and salary can range from $70,000 at a minimum to $140,000 per year. Not too shabby, but I'm sure it's HARD WORK often in severe weather.

So, if you're looking for a job, the North Dakota oil fields are an option. Astronomical growth is projected for the next 10 years and the oil should last through the next 40 years. If all goes as planned, thousands of new wells will be put into production this year.