For mile after mile, through Ethridge, Shelby, Joplin, Chester and Rudyard, on through Havre and Chinook, past Fort Belknap Reservation and Dodson, we finally pulled into Malta, Montana after 335 miles of rolling grasslands, cattle ranches, and cornfields.
There are RV parks scattered along the highway, but we scored a night in Trafton Park, a city owned park just a block off of the highway that had water available, but no other amenities other than grass parking spaces and picnic tables. The best up side? The fee was $3.00 a night! So after putting a quick 3 bucks in the slot, we took a long walk along the Milk River
toward the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum. Unfortunately, by late on a Saturday evening, the museum was closed, so we continued walking through town.
Malta has the feel of a small town just hanging on to life. Like so many towns over the years, the railroad is its lifeblood. BNSF has a large maintenance station there, and Amtrak stops there at a 1900's style station. Of course the trains went through every few minutes all night long, but it was almost a comforting sound....lonely, yet so familiar.
On our walk through town, we happened upon a representative pic of town:
The movie theater was showing "The Heat"...one showing at 7:00pm, Friday and Saturday only, the other days of the week the theater is a restaurant. You get the picture.
After a good nights sleep, we hit the road again this morning. The terrain was beautiful, yet more of the same. Mile after mile of rolling hills and grasslands, through Glasgow, Wolf Point and Brockton into North Dakota through Williston, Ray (home of the Ray "Jays"),and Stanley. Just west of Minot we did some car shopping:
But, as we had already spent the kids inheritance, we had to pass on some really good deals....
From about 100 miles west of Williston, ND, to about 120 miles east of town, the evidence of the North Dakota Oil Boom is everywhere. Scattered around the countryside are "jumping jacks", pumping oil out of the ground. There are huge "trailer parks", where workers bunk down. It's like the gold rush all over again...trucks hauling all manner of materials and chemicals roaring up and down the highway, pickups covered in mud and carrying 4 to 6 workers rushing along dirt/mud roads in every direction. The town of Williston has become headquarters for any type of heavy equipment dealer and service business you could imagine. Cat, Peterbilt, Cummins, Freightliner and such all have huge facilities there. The roads are torn up for miles on either side of town, either from the traffic, or due to the growing pains the town is undergoing, and the max practical speed is about 35 mph due to the amount of traffic. It's the wild, wild west out here. Donna snapped a pic of one of the areas leased to workers as we flew by (there was not a single place to stop for a good pic):
After an eventful day, we pulled off into the Roughrider RV Park, which has just expanded to support the long-term clientele that is demanding space. The "expansion" consists of a 2 acre gravel parking lot with pedestals for utilities. Pretty rustic. We are in the older part of the park along with more semi-permanent residents. In fact, I believe that we are one of 3 transients in the park this evening. Not that that's a bad thing, but it makes for a different atmosphere. There are two men next door nursing a bottle of whiskey and each others ego, while across the "street" a passel of kids is crying and fighting. Normal, I guess.
We had entertained thoughts of staying here and exploring, but we'll probably keep moving tomorrow. There's always something new over the horizon...
Oh, and the second 335? We traveled exactly 335 miles today. The same as yesterday. How 'bout them apples?
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