I spent a night in the middle of the Bakken oil field – or more accurately, in the Walmart parking lot in Williston North Dakota – which really is in the middle of the oilfield. To remind you, Williston is/was the boom town that more than doubled in size in a few months when energy companies started exploiting the oil shale deposits. Oil was to be found everywhere. Prices went through the roof. Oil workers were sleeping anywhere they could find a bed. Investors built thousands of apartments.
Continue readingMonthly Archives: August 2022
Right Here in River City
When I was in high school I was enamored by broadway shows – Carrousel, Oklahoma, Sound of Music, but in redneck southern Illinois I never got to see one. But topping them all was the Music Man, and I got a copy of the movie soundtrack when I was a college freshman. I played it over and over, fell in love with Marian and even knew the “Trouble” monologue. I have not thought about it in years.
Continue reading2022 Summer Trip Summary
I returned home August 11 without any significant incidents.
The weather was fantastic for the entire trip, with only a couple days of rain, and only a few more with clouds. I did not require any air conditioning, either driving or stopping until I got to Iowa, where I found 2 days of rain, hot & humid, without a breath of breeze. Then the blue skies and cooler temperatures returned.
Here are some statistics on the trip, obtained from the truck’s trip computer and my fuel log.
Continue readingIn Winterset, Pilgrim
Except for a couple of things, I am not particularly impressed with Winterset. I chose to spend the night here because it has an attractive city campground. It is the county seat of Madison county – the one with the bridges. They are trying to monetize this and the birthplace of John Wayne; neither of which are that interesting to me. What was interesting was the Madison County Court House and surrounding historic district.
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