After staying the night at the Minot, North Dakota Walmart, we had a pleasant drive all morning. Jill drove for a couple of hours, the highway was nice and smooth four lanes through rolling hills of green farms and oil fields. This is the area we hear about on the news about the boom towns and insufficient housing for the oil workers. It looks like they are working to correct the problem. There are all kinds of accommodations, from decent military like barracks and double wides to what looks like shipping containers - stacked two high with a couple of windows and a door.
The town of Williston, ND is really booming. In 2010, the population was around 10,000. Now, it is estimated at close to 30,000 with building projects everywhere you look. Box stores, motels, housing projects, community centers, and roads. I read that the rent for an apartment here is the highest in the country! Wow.
Once we crossed into Montana, US 2 became a two lane road with narrow shoulders and lots of patches. Not so much oil money here I guess. In Montana, the highway picks up the Lewis and Clark Trail as it follows the Missouri and Milk Rivers. I like to imagine what it was like for those travelers as they explored unknown territory. The museum at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis has an extensive display that chronicles that expedition.
We have to have a current Health Certificate for Ginger before we cross the border into Canada, so I called ahead to make an appointment for tomorrow at a vet clinic in Malta, MT. We stayed in the city campground and paid for a campsite for the first time. $3.00. Not bad.
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