Floods, Mud, Oil Wells, Pronghorns and Prairie Dogs

The past couple of days has been a mixed bag of scenes.  Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana have had a massive amount of rain.  We saw farm houses, barns, equipment, fields and roads under water.  In places the road had been washed and had undergone temporary repairs.  I don't think the farmers in this area will not be taking in a crop this year.  Fields that were above water showed no signs of being worked.  Probably due to being saturated and too muddy to get too.

Notice The Driveway.  It Leads To A Submerged Home

It appears there is a new oil boom going on in Western North Dakota.  Starting in an area east of Williston, we saw new wells being drilled, new pumping equipment and associated plumbing being installed.  Thousands of RVs of all shapes and sizes filled acres of muddy fields.  I suppose to house all the roughnecks.  Isn't that what they call oil well workers?

Burning Off Gas On New Well

The highway was very busying with oil related traffic.  Huge tank trucks and pickup trucks seemed to make up most of it.  Each was covered in a thick layer of mud.  Mud is a way of life in this area.  The trucks tracked large amounts of mud from the side roads out onto the highway.  With a light drizzle falling, our MH was soon plastered like everything else on the road.  I have never had the MH so dirty before.  We traveled most of last summer without washing it one time.  I will be out with a bucket and sponge when weather permits.

Lilacs Are In Bloom Here

Eastern Montana was new territory for us.  We love the western end of the state but had not ventured this way.  The eastern half of the state is open rolling grasslands.  You can see miles in all directions.  We could see the snow capped peaks of Glacier National Park from 150 miles away.

We saw many pronghorns grazing in fields along the highway.   Prairie dogs dart up from the shoulders playing a game of chicken with vehicles passing by.  Many seem to lose this game as was told by the many flat prairie dogs on the pavement.  They seem innumerable so I guess this is nature's way of population control.  "Hey, there are too many of you kids in this burrow.  Get out there and play in traffic."

Christian Roots

I have had a relapse of my cold.  I drove all day yesterday in misery.  It was decided to put off our entry into Canada for a few days and hunker down in Shelby, MT for a few days until I am feeling better.  It will only be colder in the mountains.  I need to be over this before I am exposed to anymore colder than normal weather.

Lives Right Outside Our Window

We found a quiet municipal campground on the Shelby outskirts.  We have a few thousand prairie dogs as company.  The grounds have a park like feel with lots of trees and grass.  Several of the sites here have occupants that seem to be local construction workers.   It is a far nicer RV park than the one in town which consisted of muddy parking spaces in a vacant lot for $30 per night.  Here we have water and electric for just $18 per night.  The park is located right below an earthen dam.  That might be a bit disquieting if we have a huge deluge during the night.  But they say the fishing is good in the lake behind it.