A Journey by Train, Part 2

 Is has been several weeks now since we returned from our journey across the country by train.  How different everything looks from the windows of a train compared to our usual summer road trips.  Here we have seen the back side of most of the towns and farms we have passed through and it has been very interesting to see the countryside through a different lens.

It was late in the day when we boarded the train for our return journey home.  The sun was already setting and so we only had time to get ourselves settled in, eat dinner and say goodby to the frigid farmlands of Wisconsin and Minnesota before curling up to sleep for the night.

We woke up in the morning to find ourselves in North Dakota and we looked out with interest, as it had been night time when we traveled through here before.  It didn't take too long to discover that there really isn't all that much to see in North Dakota, just miles and miles (and hours and hours) of ranch land interspersed with small towns and more of the cold snowy landscape.

  

 

 

 

A few times we were able to step off the train to stretch our legs for a few minutes in a small town station.

 

Occasionally we would have to share the tracks with a passing freight train .

As the day went on,we found ourselves gazing out at the signs of the big oil boom that is taking place in North Dakota. This is the place where our country hopes to achieve "Energy Independence" and we looked out at the evidence all along the way. There were miles of new tanker cars lined up along the tracks and cows grazing with oil pumps.  We even saw an oil refinery.  The boom has grown so quickly there isn't enough housing, as we could see by the clusters of RVs all parked together in small communities.

 

 

 But for the most part this land remains pretty empty and as we headed into Montana, the land settled back into a place of quiet open sky and grazing cattle.

So this is where our second day ended.  Soon darkness would fall again again and we would find ourselves settled in to sleep away the night as we traveled through the Rocky Mountains (photos in an earlier blog) and back home to the northwest, leaving the cold and snow behind.  We arrive home early in the morning to the gentle warmth of an early spring, ready to face the new day.  Adieu and may God's blessings fall on you as you travel your own life's journeys.