And we’re back! After taking a week-long detour over the border to Calgary to get a little admin work sorted out, we are making our way across to Minnesota to pick up our original road trip itinerary. We’ll be making a slight backtrack in October to complete North & South Dakotas, Wyoming and Nebraska which we have missed out on over the past week. But in the meantime, that means we’re getting two bites at the North Dakota cherry. Part One is now as we head from Montana to Minnesota. Part Two will be in October when we come back.
Our first North Dakota stop was the oil boomtown of Williston. In 2010, Williston was a quiet agricultural town and had a population of 14,000. With the discovery of crude oil in western North Dakota, Williston’s population surged over the next few years to nearly 60,000. Driving eastwards out of Williston, we were fascinated by the flaring of natural gas in the fields surrounding us. This natural gas is the byproduct of oil fracking and the fields are dotted all over with bright yellow flames. North Dakota produces the second largest quantity of crude oil after Texas.
Further on, we started passing enormous fields of sunflowers. North Dakota is also a leading producer of sunflowers and while we were at the end of sunflower season, it’s not hard to imagine how glorious these fields must look when ablaze with full bloom. And how big the faces on these flowers are, even without their crown of petals!
North Dakota gave us our first taste of roadside diner pie. And it was just as good as it looks in the movies.
Driving along Highway US 2 E, we continued to witness North Dakota’s rich agricultural heritage as cattle, corn and bales of hay rolled past us. We also drove through Rugby, the geographical centre of North America.
We arrived in Devils Lake, our last stop before heading into Minnesota. Taking a drive around Sullys Hill National Game Preserve, we captured views of the lake, prairie dogs and bison and got eaten by insects the size of dinner plates.
A great introduction to North Dakota and we’re looking forward to coming back in October! ☺️
S&P