After a weekend of weather other than planned around 3pm the sun was out in every direction but north and Hilary grabbed our suits, towels and watermelon jumped into her purple 1998 sedan. The adventure started less than a mile from our house where we stooped to put oil in her car. Neither of us are very car savvy and could not get the oil cap off, within 3 minuets we had a handsome cowboy at our aid. He made quick work of the oil cap and with a few stolen glances by all of us, we had oil in her car and were on our way.
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Passing through some intense construction along Hwy 94. The westbound side was compleatly closed for around 12 miles and the entire road is being removed and rebuilt, thus the eastbound side has become one lane with the traditional passing lane becoming the westbound lane. Not too bad on a Sunday but I cannot imagine having to pass along this during a high traffic time.
We found ourselves at Schnell Recreation Area, which on the map looked to have a lake near by, however we drove around the camping area and found no such lake, but it is well maintained campsites if you are looking to camp for a night or two.
Continuing on we plunged into the North Dakota back roads venturing further and further from the interstate system. The gravel keeping our pace leisurely, the utter absence of traffic and the sparse farm buildings calmed our minds and spirits. Beauty in abundance we let the hills guide us, pastures of brilliant greens, thousands of birds, adorable calf's, cuddly sheep and even a fox were our companions as we slowly sought first a lake, than civilization and finally ice cream.
Picturesque farms keep our companionship till we found a paved Hwy 8. Worried about the closed overpasses along Interstate 94 we headed north to see where this drive would take us. Reaching 200 we knew that everything had changed, trucks, power lines and greed took over the landscape and we rushed towards Killdeer, passing through Hayliday, Dunn Center, past Lake Ilo and into the edge of the Bakken storm.
Our quest for civilization had brought into the cuffs of mordor, where getting ahead is possible in a nation that is failing however the price is your community, history, environment and soul. Drawn in by this striking reality and the illustrious potential of ice cream we entered the once quaint town of Killdeer. Ice cream was found and highly satisfying in a sea of clay caked, exhausted laboring men.
Our serenity from the traditional North Dakota quickly dispelled into a conflicted inner panic about our existence in this patch, the inherent desires that the cash flow creates and the self hate that develops with the liquid gold.
Finishing our creamy treats we headed south on hwy 22 home to Dickinson. The cows remained delightful and the dragged landscape of the Killdeer area brought us glimpses of potential till the heavy traffic, long days and burring pumps escorted us back to our apartment.
Refreshed, confused and longing we concluded our Sunday adventure, glad for the opportunity and experience.
First stop was the end of alive at 5, second the esquire club with their high quality collection of bras on the ceiling, 3rd the ROCK where we snagged a guys two songs on the juke box and headed on our way. Walking back to the T-Rex plaza we dipped into a door way and got our sparklers on again. A few blocks latter we lit off some fire works at a church, than a private home and finally a back court yard of a retirement center. Dashing across 22 for a final time we parted ways and went home.
