Sunflowers on my shoulders (Sorry John Denver)

Few of the things we found out about North Dakota on our last bike trip.

The state is very wealthy - recession did not hit them. One of two states in the black.

Oil wells, oil wells. For two days we went by one right after the other. It is the Bakkan field that I heard about a few years ago, but has been kept quiet. In the last two years ND has moved to the 3rd largest producer of oil ahead of Alaska. Field is up to 2 miles down. They drill down and then up to 6 horizontal shafts up to a mile long each. Don't have to have as many wells that way. They have 113 drilling rigs now but expanding to 148. After hitting oil they put in a pump and tanks. The rig moves on to the next site. Field covers western half of ND, part of Montana, and into Canada. They also have very large coal deposits in W. ND.

Crop farms are very large compared to MN and Wi where I am from. Thousands of acres are common. They don't refer to them in acres, rather by quarters which I understand to be 160 acres each. Many different types of crops. They are the number one producers of: spring wheat (used to make breads), durum (used to make pastas), sunflowers, canola, flaxseed, barley, pinto beans, and honey. They also produce a lot of lentils, sugar beets, and potatoes.

One tour we had at Berthold was the Delta Energy company. They recycle tires. One of a kind as they have figured out how to recycle 99% of tire using less energy then it takes to process. 2 tons of rubber yields 1 ton of carbon black, 317 gal. of diesel fuel and 4000 cubic feet of natural gas. Secret is the catalyst they use. I asked CEO if that was like the coke formula (very secret). He said it is common products, just how they are mixed. Noted that he did not share what those common products were. Carbon black gets processed down to 1 to 2 microns. Said if thrown in the air it would hang suspended. Newer company so doing 15 tons a day to prove numbers. Now going up to 60 tons a day. Good way to get rid of 300 million tires laying in dumps.

Attended the thrashing grounds in a small town of 300+. In October they have a thrashing show that draws 10,ooo people. Buildings and buildings of old steam engine tractors, thrashing machines, and other farm equipment of that vintage. Never have seen that much of this type of equipment in one place. Not sure where they put all the people for the show.

Couple of night stays were in historical villages where many of the buildings of a by gone era were all brought together. They were open for viewing along with the products they held. We also had many musical groups at night.

We were introduced to a new term for passing another bicyclist. Normal term is "On your left". The Georgia folks said "fixin to pass". We all got a great kick out of that.

Always learn lots of new things on these trips. It's not just biking all day.