"Yeah, we had a guy come in labeled as CAFE (complains about fucking everything). He complained about doctors screwing up, doing things wrong, and how we'd probably operate on the wrong leg. So, as a joke, we covered his arm in casting after surgery. You shoulda seen his face when he came to."

Josh and I surprised ourselves yesterday morning, awakening at the murderous time of 6:45 along with Joff and the Aussies. It was lucky we did, for not even fifteen minutes later, a man came by with a leafblower to clean out the shelter from last night's fiesta. We weren't sure if he was just doing his job or ensuring we were out early.

Joff, Ken, and Julie went to a local Walmart back in Bismarck while Josh and I hit the open road. We crossed over the gaping Missouri River and went into the town of Mandan; named after an old Native American tribe. We decided breakfast in one of North Dakota's few big cities wasn't a bad idea. At a gas station, attempting to make a decision, our old friends rolled on by. We were together again! Breakfast at Hardee's! 

Ken is an absolute riot. We had a fantastic breakfast with the group: Joff telling the greatest stories, Julianne patiently listening, and keeping Ken in line while he told his jokes. It was wonderful. But, eventually, it was time for Josh and I to depart. As opposed to getting all sentimental again like that morning, we gave each other high fives and counted on seeing each other again soon.

Leaving Mandan and heading toward New Salem, we got onto Interstate 94. Contrary to other states, there aren't any laws against bicycles riding on the thing. Is it safe? Yeah. Does it feel safe? No. The speed limit out here is 75, which I've never seen. However, even on the Interstate, cars are very considerate and stay in the left lane while we meander along on the right shoulder.

We stayed at a free campground in Hebron built for the local Boy Scouts. Like other times, we laid our air mattresses on top of the picnic tables and passed out.

In the morning, we didn't even head out until late afternoon. We gathered ourselves at a local coffee shop and shared conversation with the owner, Andy. The fifty something year old had two children that worked the coffee shop. We talked and talked. He had loads of information to tell.

Today, we got back onto the Interstate and headed for the city of Dickinson. After about 15 miles, I got tired of the fast pace and broke for Old Highway 10; a road that ran parallel but told could be too busy for cyclists. I took Old Highway 10 and Josh took the Interstate. Old Highway 10 was better ;).

Without contacting one another for a few hours, by some stroke of coincidence, we stumbled into the city at the exact same time, our routes crisscrossing.

We heard about the town of Dickinson before we got there. There's a huge oil boom in Western Dakota that has towns and cities sprouting and swelling with multitudes of eager men looking for work. In fact, our bicycle route was changed two years ago because of the influx of workers and traffic.

"It's one of those things that you really just have to see to believe," Andy said to us in the town of Hebron. "They make a good amount of money doing it. If you connect the cities of Minot, Williston, and Dickinson, you have what they call the 'oil triangle'."

And Dickinson was quite the city on arrival. It actually looked like the old prairie towns we'd seen all over North Dakota with a large grain mill on the railroad and a few large farms and pastures. The only difference was all of the corporate stores hastily being built and the amount of trucks moving manically around the roads.

Dickinson is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. In 2010, it had a population of 17,000. Estimates now range anywhere from 20-30 thousand. The hotel costs even for your run of the mill Super 8 is around $150. Apartment pricing is grossly inflated and homelessness/crime has skyrocketed. And for whatever reason (the Aussies would be cringing), we paid a steep price to camp in a dirty and unkempt primitive campground for the night.

The oil boom in the Bakken Shale is benefitting the economy of North Dakota but certainly at its costs. The shale here runs about 20,000 ft. underground for the gas so it apparently hasn't hurt too much drinking water or things of that nature. At least, there isn't much in the health records/reports.

Meanwhile, back at home in New Jersey, we're seeing the Marcellus Shale being tapped. The Marcellus Shale stretches from upstate New York south through Pennsylvania to West Virginia and west to parts of Ohio. It's not as deep as the Bakken Shale but frankly, the environmental, and social results worry me. The East might see a similar boom in the area if the fracking continues.