second day of adventure
0 Comments Published by Mt. Marcy on Saturday, October 13, 2012 at 11:09 AM.
After meeting with the Bismarck folks, we headed west. We stopped to stretch our legs in the Badlands of ND, near Medora.
We stopped again in the oil boom town of Dickinson, ND. Traffic on the highway got heavier and we had to wait in a line to fill up our gas tank. There were lots of trucks and even a ratty old Halliburton bus from Houston. There were numerous Texas and Oklahoma license plates. I was told that Williston, is much busier and that Dickinson is less crazy because it had time to prepare for the boom. I was also told that there were recently a round of layoffs in the oil fields because technology advances enable much of the work to be done electronically offsite, without the need of human power in the field.
We made it to Billings, MT last night and stayed at a hotel called the Dude Rancher. We ate at a Thai restaurant and then visited a local brewery (the Montana Brewing Co.). We were exhausted by the time we got to the hotel and were all, including Jane, happy to sleep in a roomier, warmer place.
This morning we breakfasted at a charming cafe in a residential neighborhood. I did not have high expectations for Billings, but it has a vibrant downtown and beautiful older neighborhoods. The food coop that Caylan is meeting with now, Good Earth Market, is fantastic and it must be one of the larger stores as it has five check out lanes.
Our next stop is this afternoon in Lewistown, MT (2.5 hours away). We are hoping to stay in Missoula tonight.
We stopped again in the oil boom town of Dickinson, ND. Traffic on the highway got heavier and we had to wait in a line to fill up our gas tank. There were lots of trucks and even a ratty old Halliburton bus from Houston. There were numerous Texas and Oklahoma license plates. I was told that Williston, is much busier and that Dickinson is less crazy because it had time to prepare for the boom. I was also told that there were recently a round of layoffs in the oil fields because technology advances enable much of the work to be done electronically offsite, without the need of human power in the field.
We made it to Billings, MT last night and stayed at a hotel called the Dude Rancher. We ate at a Thai restaurant and then visited a local brewery (the Montana Brewing Co.). We were exhausted by the time we got to the hotel and were all, including Jane, happy to sleep in a roomier, warmer place.
This morning we breakfasted at a charming cafe in a residential neighborhood. I did not have high expectations for Billings, but it has a vibrant downtown and beautiful older neighborhoods. The food coop that Caylan is meeting with now, Good Earth Market, is fantastic and it must be one of the larger stores as it has five check out lanes.
Our next stop is this afternoon in Lewistown, MT (2.5 hours away). We are hoping to stay in Missoula tonight.
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