Image by: Ben Garvin
In the oil patch of western North Dakota, there aren’t many restaurants. So when truck drivers, construction crews and oil hands get hungry, they often turn to food trucks like the Gourmet Grill. Owner Adelle Hackworth calls the road the "highway of hope" because people who drive there want to turn their lives around.
Read the full description.
- Playing
- Highway of Hope
- From
- 2 below zero
In the oil patch of western North Dakota, there aren’t many restaurants. So when truck drivers, construction crews and oil hands get hungry, they often turn to food trucks like the Gourmet Grill. Owner Adelle Hackworth calls the road the "highway of hope" because people who drive there want to turn their lives around.
Also in the Black Gold Boom series
Fight Night in Crude Country
(01:59)
From: 2 below zero
A visit to the Williston Basin Blowout, a night of mixed martial arts fights in Williston, North Dakota. For 30 bucks, attendees witnessed 10 fights. "I like it," one woman ...
They're Like Packs of Wolves
(04:37)
From: 2 below zero
When Nathina St. Pierre moved to Watford City, North Dakota, she received lots of attention from men. “It was flattering at first,” she said. But it never stopped. Everywhere ...
Catch of the Day
(04:22)
From: 2 below zero
Ben Audet is an oilfield hand who prefers bow fishing to video games.
They Call Us 'The Sardines'
(05:56)
From: 2 below zero
To make it in the Bakken boom, North Dakota newcomers need to work hard and make sacrifices. But what exactly are those sacrifices? Black Gold Boom reporter Todd Melby ...
Nowhere To Lay My Head
(03:09)
From: 2 below zero
They arrive in oil country by train, bus and automobile looking for work. Or if they're like Robby Reid, they shove everything they own into a backpack and hitchhike to North ...
Bryan Johnson: Oil Boom Traffic is Worse Than LA Rush Hour
(02:21)
From: 2 below zero
Bryan Johnson lives in Spearfish, South Dakota, and sells fire-retardant clothes to oil workers in Watford City, North Dakota. Before moving to Spearfish, he worked in Los ...
Richard Karpe: You Gotta Be Careful Out There
(02:33)
From: 2 below zero
While other boys were working on paper routes or not at all, Richard Karpe labored on drilling rigs. Today, he supervises a truck operation near Watford City, North Dakota.
Meet Bobcat John. He Sells Knives To Oil Workers.
(02:19)
From: 2 below zero
Bobcat John is a 57-year-old man from Idaho who came to the oil patch with his pickup truck and a trailer full of knives. His mission: Sell knives — all kinds of knives — to ...
Gotta Be An Eight
(01:50)
From: 2 below zero
Jayce Mitchell and Logan Bice moved to North Dakota to clean oil tankers. The pair were practicing their roping skills on a dummy steer, a plastic replica with horns at a ...
Tattoo Your Ride, Not Your Hide
(03:31)
From: 2 below zero
James Goeres sells pickup truck stickers from a mobile home. His motto: "Tattoo Your Ride, Not Your Hide."
Additional Credits
This story is produced by Todd Melby and brought to you by Prairie Public and Localore, a national initiative produced by AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio, Incorporated and with financial support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.





