Baltimore, MD--The last six days have been one long whirlwind journey. For the last week, I couldn't get the Canadian oil sands out of my head. It all started with a simple phone call about the future boom in Canadian sands.

Soon after that I had developed a full-blown obsession. I needed to see this with my own eyes.

The next thing I know, my buddy and I are screaming down the highway. Forty hours is a lot of time to be in a car, but stopping only for gas makes the time go by fast.

Sure, flying would have been quicker. But there's something special about driving across the country.

It's a sense of freedom I would never have gotten trying to put my tray in an upright position, listening to the person next to me drone on relentlessly about some mundane aspect of her life.

Time truly sped up. The three rivers near Pittsburgh flew by in seconds. The entire span of Ohio felt like a heartbeat. And Chicago was a tiny spot in my rearview mirror before I realized we had left Indiana and crossed into Illinois. Minnesota and Wisconsin were mere flashes.

In our tour of North Dakota, we started seeing something interesting. As we passed the vast crop fields, there was an unusual sight. Smack in the middle of the fields were oil rigs. I knew that we were driving over North Dakota's section of the Bakken play. But seeing individual farmers pumping oil and natural gas was new to me.

Before crossing the border into Canada, we made a quick stop at a local saloon in Portal, ND. I couldn't resist asking about the rigs we saw.

The farmers lease the drills and equipment from oil companies, and have been pumping oil and natural gas since the 1950's.

Most of my readers know how far downhill U.S. oil production has gone, and these farmers witness this decline every day. At the peak of production, many of the rigs dotting the landscape could pump out nearly 300 barrels per day.

Today, however, they're lucky to get 60 barrels a day. In fact, the majority of the rigs are now primarily there to pull out natural gas.

But I hadn't come this far to stop and smell the oil. At the border, the customs officer was surprised to see a Maryland license plate. But he was more concerned with our intentions. After all the questioning (which can be very frustrating, I might add), the guard finally lightened up.

"So you're headed to Fort Mac, eh?" That was the tenth time I was asked that question. But he continued without waiting for an answer, "I got a buddy down there now. That place is on the move. Every time I talk to him, he calls it the ‘Land of Opportunity.' Everybody's going crazy for the tar sands up there."

I couldn't argue. It was precisely the reason I was going.

We rolled through Canada in the middle of the night and finally reached our destination after forty-six continuous hours on the road. But the sight of Fort McMurray buzzing with activity gave me a rush of adrenaline.

The sun was just peeking over the mountains to the east. The first thing I noticed was the tremendous amount of construction. The huge mining properties were no more than a few kilometers north.

I couldn't help thinking that this is where the future of oil is. Some of the companies out here are revolutionizing the various extraction processes. This Thursday, I'm going show you the reason this boom won't slow. And if you think I'm excited, wait until you hear about what they have planned for the future.

Until next time,

Keith Kohl