Go West, Mr. President, Into the Wild

President Obama Trades in White House for Family Vacation to Nation's National Parks

(CBS/AP)  President Barack Obama is hardly the consummate Western outdoorsman.

The Marlboro Man he's not.

He's spent his adult life in big cities - New York, Chicago and, now, Washington. Basketball, golf, and bodysurfing are how this jock rolls. Indoor daily gym workouts of cardio exercise and weight training are the norm. Hunting, climbing, rafting - not so much.

Yet there he was on a summer weekend, enthusiastically soaking in America's vast wilderness. He toured Yellowstone National Park, checking out Old Faithful, and then set his sights on the Grand Canyon, where he was expected to hike on Sunday. He cast a fly while fishing in a Montana river.

"Oh, that's pretty good. Cool! Look at that. That's a geyser there," Mr. Obama said Saturday as the first family watched the world's most famous geyser erupt. Earlier, the Obama entourage traipsed across wooden walkways in the steamy Black Sand Basin, a brilliant-hued hydrothermal spot in the park dotted with hot springs, geysers, mudpots and fumaroles.

With the wonders of his country at his disposal, Mr. Obama did things that might seem a little out of his comfort zone. It's safe to say that this Hawaiian-born president has spent more time on beaches and in cities than he has in the mountains of the West.

But this is also a guy who clearly has a zest for recreation and a curiosity about the diverse nation he governs. He seems game for trying just about any sport or activity. He seems intent on broadening his kids' interests and, perhaps, his own.

He also may be bringing attention to the country's national parks, historian Doublas Brinkley said on "Face the Nation" Sunday, letting the "American people to know that some of their tax dollars are going to keep these great parks up and running."

So it was of little wonder then that he brought his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha, as well as other relatives, including half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and her young family, on a trip that was part family vacation, part policy promotion.

He held town hall style events to plug his efforts to overhaul health care. In Belgrade, Mont., he opened with this comment: "Here in Montana you've got bears and moose and elk. In Washington, you have mostly bull. So this is a nice change of pace!"

Mr. Obama chuckled at the line. But he clearly was at his happiest when he shed his typical dark business-suit for casual wear and some quality time with his family.

He was in jovial spirits from the moment he bounded up the Air Force One stairs at the start of his trip, mock-racing his youngest daughter to the top. In sneakers and a light jacket, he appeared to relish his role as a father as he treated the girls to ice cream at a Yellowstone general store and showed them sites he saw on first trip to the mainland when at age 11, his mother, grandmother and half-sister visited national parks, including Yosemite and Yellowstone.

As he tended to presidential duties this weekend, his wife and daughters spent 90 minutes whitewater rafting in rain and, at times, hail in Montana and went peach-picking in Colorado, bringing some back for travelers on Air Force One.

"He wants very much to see and share the outdoors and some of the beautiful places in the country with his daughters," press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "He's always tremendously enjoyed being outside with his family."

Since taking office in January, the first family has spent as much time as possible Camp David, the presidential retreat near Thurmont, Md. Mr. Obama has reminisced about riding bikes along the lakeshore in Chicago with his children before the presidential campaign made such private moments impossible.

For decades, politicians, and particularly Democrats, have staged events - think Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in duck-hunting camouflage in 2004 - to show the public they're on the side of outdoorsmen, who tend to be more conservative because of support for gun rights and wariness of the federal government's reach.

Mr. Obama refrained from such moments during the campaign. He was known to shun attempts by his advisers to make him to do things that appeared overtly political and were intended to win over specific constituencies such as hunters and anglers.

Things didn't turn out so well, for example, when he bowled in blue-collar Pennsylvania only to be dogged by his dismal score.

Reporters and photographers were shielded from some of Mr. Obama's weekend recreational activities, including his fly fishing experience that advisers called a private event.

In the East Gallatin River near a private residence, Mr. Obama spent about two hours in pouring rain and unseasonably chilly temperatures, making good on a campaign promise to learn how to fly fish when he returned to Montana. Locals called it perfect catch-and-release weather.

How'd he do?

Fishing guide Dan Vermillion, who runs the Sweetwater Fly Shop in Livingston, Mont., reported that Mr. Obama hooked half a dozen fish but he didn't land any.

But Gibbs, who accompanied Mr. Obama, was less diplomatic: "Not as well as he wanted. He was a bit frustrated."

[RogerPoe]

As (another)father it needs mentioning that in spite of the tremendous responsibilities that President Obama is shouldering, that, commendably, he is still grounded enough to provide for his family's various needs.

Other fathers (and mothers) would do well to practice the same, and experience how a concerted effort to do so is beneficial for the whole family, and community.

[govmess]

What!!!! tax payers money to bring his half-sister and family to a National Park....wonder why he didn't bring his illegal alien aunt from Boston...and CBS thinks this is s wonderful......"So it was of little wonder then that he brought his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha, as well as other relatives, including half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and her young family, on a trip that was part family vacation, part policy promotion. "
"

[randomlybanned]

Obama is trying to be a man??? That stroll through the woods looks completely unnatural.

[Digital_Jedi]

The great outdoorsman, are you? How does one walk naturally through the woods? Should he have brought his bear suit, or is there a "City Walk" you're not supposed to do in the wilderness that might attract wilderness muggers?

[aChangeOfIdeas]

digital_jedi: you can tell real quick the people who are accustomed to being outdoors and in the woods vs the ones who aren't. Since you didn't know that, I'm guessing you aren't. That's OK, not everyone should go out in the woods unsupervised.

[wtcmedic911]

next he will be out with a shotgun hunting. hopefully better shot then cheny.

[stryker54]

not much but idiots left in Motana. He should fit right in.

[1notrub11]

Even if your comments were accurate (and I have first hand experience that they are not), I would wager most of them can spell better than you can and would not accuse you of being stupid without any facts. Of course, you seem to have proven that yourself.

[stryker54]

People in Montana are too stupid, they will never notice the snake oil salesman. If he wanted to see some more bulls, that is the place to go.

[pete_in_az]

I'm sorry what little corner of evangelical hell are you from? That is where people are too stupid to realize the damage the snake oil salesman from texas did to this country.

[lastact]

Was this article a press release written by the white house? We are facing serious economic and historical challenges in our country. The best you can do is a touchy, feel good, spin promoting article of a person who is not, regardless of what the liberals think - --- G-D.

[slownewsday_5]

"by the_majesty August 16, 2009 2:42 PM EDT
I don't think the people out west will support Obama now that he has put people in place to kill the second amendment."



Even more accurate would be stopping after your first three words.

[chonder2]

Yeah, he's sight seeing and he can actually put sentences together at town halls. What a change!!

[John_Merritt]

Being in the great outdoors kind of puts everything into perspective doesn't it Mr. President. When you can stand next to one tree that has been around for 100's of years and it makes you wonder just how feeble and fragile life is for a human.

Nature is what links us to creation in the best of ways. Imagine if you will being the only one watching your surroundings and trying to imagine what God was thinking as everything unfolded before his eyes. Pretty awesome, huh.

When we can take the time to share that experience with those we love, our children and their friends, you will become someone they will trust with most things in this life. Nature helps us to come full circle in our own mortality, and it is an ever present reminder that if we destroy that which has stood for 1,000's of years, we may never get it back; and generations will long for what we could only capture on film.

Mr. President, I hope your children appreciated the moment as much as you did? If not, you can always go back and try again to regain that lost moment.

[pete_in_az]

I'm glad you feel such a strong spiritual connection to the great outdoors, but don't you dare force your dogma on the rest of us, the president included. I enjoy my outdoors without the piety and dogma you spew.

[AK-47_Justice]

the_majesty
"I don't think the people out west will support Obama now..."
********************************


Shows exactly how little you 'know,' especially from your marginalized, southern, white, evangelical foothold in RED America, since President Obama respects Our Constitution, unlike the busheviks during their reign of terror known as the bushevik dictatorship!

[govmess]

"especially from your marginalized, southern, white, evangelical foothold in RED America, This must be the ignorance and hate that Katie Couric talked about in her talking point. All coming from the Democrats.

[AK-47_Justice]

Great to see President Obama and family enjoying outdoor activities in our great western states, as well as visiting national parks, while still attending town hall meetings during this needed health care reform debate.

[govmess]

This is such a waste of valuable web property....who cares what this man is doing other than fixing the economy...there is so much more that the American people need to be hearing about than his visit to National Parks...attendance at the parks are at an all time high and he has nothing to do with it....I am angered to see him waste tax payers money of these things when he has publicly asked he American people to cut back...he is such a hypocrit.

[the_majesty]

I don't think the people out west will support Obama now that he has put people in place to kill the second amendment.

[johnbrown8888]

The Bushit Justice Department supported Washington DC and their gun ban in Heller, you Repigreturd. Duuhh?