GRAFTON, N.D. -- It's a safe bet that Karen Arnold has the only tomato plants in Walsh County that have borne fruit in May.
When Karen and husband Gary loaded up their gigantic fifth-wheel camper for the trip here from their home in Bald Knob, Ark., the cargo included the tomato plants. The tomatoes, head lettuce and peppers are growing in the pots that sit in their Lestikow Park campsites.
It's important to bring something from home, Karen said, when you're home so seldom. The Arnolds are "pipeliners" who are away from their home 8-9 months of the year.
"We go where the work is, laying pipe," she said.
She's a lifer, as is her sister Tonya Johnson. They are neighbors on the campground as well as in Bald Knob.
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Their father was a pipeliner who took them across the country when school wasn't in session. Now, both of their husbands are working on the Keystone Pipeline that will run vertically through eastern North Dakota. Tonya will begin work as a welder's helper when that part of the operation begins.
Karen will stay at the campground to watch her two grandsons from son Barrett, a third-generation pipeliner. She'll also watch Tonya's daughter, 9-year-old Somyr Strickland, when she starts work. The youngsters recently arrived after completing the school year and will return in the fall before the pipeline job is completed.
'I want to live here'
They embrace the lifestyle. "You get to see lots of pretty country," Karen said. "Wherever we go, the people are sweet to us. You simply enjoy where you're at and what you see."
Tonya, husband Mark Johnson and Somyr had a freezer full of catfish caught at the Drayton Dam on a Sunday, the only day off for pipeliners whose workdays last 10 to 15 hours. They were thrilled to see catfish so much bigger than they catch back home.
Somyr's excitement came from more than catching 50 pounds of catfish, including a personal-record 10-pounder. "I thought North Dakota would just be boring grassy plains," she said. "But it's so much more. I love it. I want to live here."
Outside their fifth-wheels are dishes to pick up television reception. Inside is a lot of room. They're so big that it cost 50 cents a mile for gas to lug them the 1,075 miles from Bald Knob.
"I prefer this to a motel room," Karen said. "I have my own bed, my own kitchen and my own bathroom. Plus, it's our own dirt, not someone else's dirt."
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They have been chilled by the cold-and-windy May. But Arnold was prepared, having been in Grand Forks years ago for another pipeline project.
"With the high gas prices, I probably won't get to Grand Forks more than once a week," Karen said.
That likely will be Sunday. The family ties and the long hours mean that the stereotype of wild construction workers doesn't apply to many pipeliners, the sisters said.
"Most are too tired (for partying) by the time they get home," Karen said. "We'll cook out, watch some TV and socialize -- that's about it. At my husband's age, he needs to get his rest."
Reach Bakken at (701) 780-1125; (800) 477-6572, ext. 125; or send e-mail to rbakken@gfherald.com .
