(said in my best Oprah voice)

That little tiny sign on the door there? It says, “Do Not Enter”.

Welcome to Williston: Do Not Enter.

I am choosing to not take that as a personal message.

The airport in Williston is adorable. You fly in and come out of the plane on some little stairs right onto the tarmac. I imagine I would find it less adorable if it were 30 below but that was not the case and I will deal with that when I have to. For now, it is October, and the sun is shining.

Ok, ok, I admit it. I did a little photo editing, the sky was not actually that bright. But in my heart it was. It was bright and inviting, an omen of the good that is to come from this place for us.

That’s Lil’ Red, trying to figure out what is happening. HA! Little does he know.

My first impressions as I flew in: the view out my window looked exactly as I had imagined. Flat land, mixes of beige/brown/gold/green, some hills, lots of equipment, some roads….. I’ve been calling this place Mars, because North Dakota might as well be Mars says my sister, but it is not really Mars. The people resemble me, I recognize the infrastructure (kind of hehe), the land is changing in shades of gold from summer to winter. That I’ve seen. It does feel like a different country I think, though.

Not another planet, definitely not just another state, lets just go with another country for now.

More pictures for your viewing pleasure: