I have always imagined what the old west would be like. The crazy rush and energy of all these people heading into unknown territory to stake their claim and strike it rich. After traveling through Willistion ND, I think I have seen the clearest picture possible in modern time. Willistion is the capitol of the new American oil rush. In williston you cannot get a hotel room. Ever. Prices are high on everything. Rougnecks in brand new trucks are sleeping in parking lots. Man camps dart the edges of the town, where men are housed, and fed between shift at the rig, or in the truck. There is a raw energy about the town. Excitement even. You can tell something is happening there, something that I have never witnessed anywhere else. You can smell the money, and almost picture the lake of oil you are standing on top of. The roads leading into and out of town were the worst I have ridden on in my life. Oil trucks passing me at 80mph, less than an arms length away from me. I am too scared to reach formy water bottle for fear of getting wiped across the road by a truck hauling two tankers full of oil, driven by a 19 year old that makes 75k per year and has been up for two days straight on caffeine and other more illicit stimulants. Upon passing thorugh towns I welcome the quite open space of the planes and grasslands.
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