A Horse?

First off, to the grandma's that read this blog: I don't have any pictures of my kids today. And for that I am sorry.

I am reminded daily that where we live now is so different from where we are from. Many of the differences are a result of the oil drilling and everything that goes along with that. When we signed up for a library card, the staff was so far behind on getting new patron information in the computer the librarian wrote our info down in a notebook. She said a year ago this town was like any other little town in western ND with only a few people and fewer jobs. Now a walk down main street shows store windows plastered with help wanted signs. The influx of people working on and servicing the drilling rigs has not only created jobs in the new oil industry, it has increased the demand for every service the towns around here have to offer.

They say prices at the two small town grocery stores have doubled and in some cases tripled. I believe it. Back home I felt like I was spending too much when milk at the local gas station reached nearly $4. Here it averages $5.80. Shopping at Walmart has jaded my perception of what things cost because their prices are so low but I know that $1.25 for a can of green beans (store brand no less) and $2.60 for Hamburger Helper is a lot. On one trip I grabbed a package of a dozen mini-muffins for a treat without looking at the price. A quick review of the receipt when I got home showed that that little tray of muffins cost me nearly $6!! Pretty sure we will be sticking to baking at home from now on.

Prices have risen on other things too. We were advised to purchase our housing in MN and transport it here instead of trying to find something once we arrived. We bought our camper in MN and based on current prices out here Eric is pretty sure we could sell it tomorrow at a profit. The RV dealer in MN "generously" offered to buy ours back for only a couple thousand dollars less than we purchased it for if we didn't want it any longer at the end of the summer. On the subject of campers, based on my observation I am willing to bet money more people are living in campers, trailer houses and skid shacks than actual houses in this town. That is not even counting the people living in the hotels, which are booked solid. You know how most small towns have a little RV park next to the city park, with maybe a couple hook-ups and a public bathroom? Usually there are up to ten spots in these parks and once in a while there will be someone parked there for a couple days, maybe a weekend. Needless to say, the one here is filled to overflowing. I noticed this sign on the restrooms: Please observe the 20 day camping limit. Hahahahaha I seriously doubt any of those campers had been there for less than 20 days or had any intention of leaving within that time.

And that is just in the designated RV park. About a block away from us there is a restaurant that looks like it has been closed for a long time, the parking lot is now filled with rows of campers. The county fair grounds are a little farther down the road and the area where the carnival sets up is now lined with campers. On the highways leading into town there are several places that used to be open fields but are now makeshift RV parks or trailer courts. Some companies have set up "man camps" where their employees live in company provided campers or trailer houses. If your company does not provide housing for you or you have a family housing is extremely hard to come by. The first week we were here a family that just drove in from Idaho stoped at our camper and asked if they could park their camper on our lot too. We didn't hear from them again and I wonder if they were able to find a place to park. The city passed an ordinance baning new temporary housing in town a couple days before they showed up.

We are very fortunate with the place we have. Eric's boss has a little trailer court and one of the guys Eric works with found a place in the country so would be vacating one of the spaces. We reserved it and started paying rent to keep the spot before we had even found a camper knowing that kind of opportunity would not come along again. The trailer court is on the edge of town with permanent homes on two sides, the trailer court on one side and a park for the kids on the fourth. Our space is the last on a dead end street. I am so glad we didn't end up in a field full of campers and skid shacks with dirt roads and crazy men driving fast in big pickups. Not a good place to let three little kids run around outside. Not to mention I wouldn't feel safe alone all day and the occasional night.

On a much lighter note I have made a couple of other interesting observations around here. Next time you are at the grocery store take careful note of the men in the store. Are any of them alone? If alone, do they have a cart? Are any of these men under the age of 50? The typical male in a grocery store back home is either a) there with family members ie, kids/wife/girlfriend, b) there because his wife/girlfriend/mother sent him to get something or c) only buying what he can carry in his arms. Here at least half of the people in the grocery store at any given time are men doing primary food shopping for them self, with a cart no less. Sometimes there will be two or up to three together. It makes me chuckle. The last time I actually noticed a man alone in a grocery store he was probably over 70 and was wandering around the baking aisle worried that he had chosen the wrong bag of sugar for his wife.

And just in case anyone was worried that this is not a small town any longer let me help remind you that it actually is out in the middle of nowhere. Today on our walk I noticed a pile of what appeared to be horse dung on the sidewalk. Since we were IN TOWN I assumed it was just a clump of dirt and walked by. A couple of minuets later a man on a horse rode by on the grass next to the sidewalk and crossed the street in front of us. Guess that wasn't his first pleasure ride down that sidewalk!