{"id":3232,"date":"2015-11-02T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/?p=3232"},"modified":"2015-11-02T08:00:34","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T15:00:34","slug":"day-144-fracking-and-scandinavia-in-north-dakota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/?p=3232","title":{"rendered":"Day 144: Fracking and Scandinavia in North Dakota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We entered our 47th state, North Dakota, first thing in the morning. It was absolutely freezing at a lovely 18F\/-8C when we got in the car in Montana, though it got up to a balmy 36F\/2C by the middle of the day. The entry sign had actually been shot at several times, for instance, notice the mark between the A and the K in Dakota, plus several other marks:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-10.06.16-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3219\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-10.06.16-1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"2015-10-29 10.06.16-1\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-10.06.16-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-10.06.16-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-10.06.16-1-230x230.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-10.06.16-1.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> We went into the town of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Williston,_North_Dakota\" target=\"_blank\">Williston<\/a>, which had been an oil town in the 80s and with the advent of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hydraulic_fracturing\" target=\"_blank\">fracking<\/a>, seemed to be back in a big way. We went into a coffee shop and everyone was very friendly. We were able to speak to 4 different people, a woman from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/?p=3181\">Montana<\/a>, another woman from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/?p=2855\" target=\"_blank\">California<\/a> and two guys from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/?p=3115\" target=\"_blank\">Spokane<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>They told us that even being a small town, it was very diverse because people from all over the country and even the world had come there because of the oil boom. That said, they also said that there was 10 to 1 male to female ratio. They said the weather was quite extreme in that it could get down to -60F\/-51C. They said a plus for the climate was that it is quite dry, although that it is also quite dusty for the same reasons.<\/p>\n<p>As we drove across North Western North Dakota, we saw dozens of fracking sites. There was nothing else there really. Williston was the last town for miles. We were lucky to find\u00a0a service station to buy lunch, it was so empty.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3225\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.38.39.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3225\" class=\"wp-image-3225 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.38.39-e1446215735428-300x135.jpg\" alt=\"2015-10-29 13.38.39\" width=\"300\" height=\"135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.38.39-e1446215735428-300x135.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.38.39-e1446215735428-1024x462.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.38.39-e1446215735428-670x300.jpg 670w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.38.39-e1446215735428-1018x460.jpg 1018w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3225\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Light Fall of Snow and Fracking<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We decided to stop at one of the sites as we figured we&#8217;d probably never be near one again:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.41.35.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3222 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.41.35-e1446215755983-239x300.jpg\" alt=\"2015-10-29 13.41.35\" width=\"239\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.41.35-e1446215755983-239x300.jpg 239w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.41.35-e1446215755983-300x377.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-13.41.35-e1446215755983.jpg 726w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 239px) 100vw, 239px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We were able to speak to someone who worked there who happened to stop by. This was actually incredibly unlikely as he said he has to check 60 different sites every day.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the video:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_98586\"  width=\"700\" height=\"394\"  data-origwidth=\"700\" data-origheight=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NAhIcJPhodw?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After the oil fields, we went to something completely different, which was a Scandinavian heritage park in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Minot,_North_Dakota\">Minot<\/a>. It had a Norwegian\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stave_church\" target=\"_blank\">stavkirke<\/a>, which is a medieval style Christian building:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.50.16-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3223\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.50.16-1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"2015-10-29 14.50.16-1\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.50.16-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.50.16-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.50.16-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.49.53.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3221\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.49.53-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"2015-10-29 14.49.53\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.49.53-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.49.53-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.49.53.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> A Swedish\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dalecarlian_horse\" target=\"_blank\">Dala horse<\/a>:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.51.04.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3224 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.51.04-e1446216130539-178x300.jpg\" alt=\"2015-10-29 14.51.04\" width=\"178\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.51.04-e1446216130539-178x300.jpg 178w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.51.04-e1446216130539-609x1024.jpg 609w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.51.04-e1446216130539-300x504.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.51.04-e1446216130539.jpg 873w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 178px) 100vw, 178px\" \/><\/a> A Danish windmill:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.46.52.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3216 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.46.52-e1446216146186-227x300.jpg\" alt=\"2015-10-29 14.46.52\" width=\"227\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.46.52-e1446216146186-227x300.jpg 227w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.46.52-e1446216146186-776x1024.jpg 776w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.46.52-e1446216146186-300x396.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-14.46.52-e1446216146186.jpg 897w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px\" \/><\/a> And for some reason, a stuffed buffalo:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-15.25.59.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3218 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-15.25.59-e1446216182522-300x262.jpg\" alt=\"2015-10-29 15.25.59\" width=\"300\" height=\"262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-15.25.59-e1446216182522-300x262.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/2015-10-29-15.25.59-e1446216182522-1024x893.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We spoke to someone who lived there. We asked him why fuel wasn&#8217;t super cheap with it coming up just down the road. He told us they weren&#8217;t allowed to build refineries and all the raw product was taken to Texas first. He also told us that the weather in North Dakota was very extreme.<\/p>\n<p>We ended the night in Bismark, one of the few biggish cities in North Dakota.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We entered our 47th state, North Dakota, first thing in the morning. It was absolutely freezing at a lovely 18F\/-8C when we got in the car in Montana, though it got up to a balmy 36F\/2C by the middle of&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[290,287,286,285,4,288],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bismarck","category-fracking","category-minot","category-north-dakota","category-video","category-williston"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3232"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3651,"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions\/3651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hijenx.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}