Dan's Diary: Fargo To Billings
CBS News producer Daniel Baruch is behind the wheel of one of two Early Show Winnebagos traveling the country in June and July as part of the "Great American Vacation" giveaway road trip. Read his Web exclusive road diary.
I've logged a few thousand miles since we last spoke, America. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, figuring out my next move. I've got lots to tell you about, so let's chat for a while.
I left Minnesota and the Mall of America shadowing my counterpart, Jack, who was on his way to Fargo. My next stop though was conveniently right around the corner in Billings, Mont. — some 850 miles away. This was obviously not going to be a one-day ride.
When bedtime called, the Fargo Holiday Inn answered. It was one of many resting points for this admittedly lengthy leg. For those of you who might be under the impression that Fargo has about as much to offer as your average fast-food $1 menu, you'd be mistaken. I certainly had a few misconceptions dispelled. Not everyone finished their sentences with "aye" and "donchya-know." It's also not a one-horse town; the greater metropolitan area has about a third of a million residents. Out in this neck of the woods, that's practically Tokyo.
View my photosMy stay in Fargo was brief, but I had the joy of visiting the Roger Maris Museum which was amazingly well-stocked with authentic memorabilia. One display had about a dozen actual home-run bats and home-run balls from Maris' heroic 1961 season. It was surreal for a diehard fan of America's Pastime like myself. During my visit I really began to appreciate how "real" an athlete and a person Maris was. He seriously had it tough.
I bailed on Fargo for Bismarck, N.D. — and I mean bailed, because for the first time in my travels it was pouring. A deluge of cats and dogs, cows and bison. You get the picture. The Winnebago shrugged off the soaking and my arrival in the state capital was a sunny one. Once in Bismarck, I visited nearby Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, the home of Gen. George Armstrong Custer. At the fort, I was greeted by a young soldier and his lady, both of whom were thoroughly convinced the year was 1875. They pointed me in the direction of some original soldiers' barracks and the actual house Custer called home for 2½ years; I hoped they'd live to see the 20th century. I also had a peek at Mandan Indian earthlodges deeper in the State Park. Although the dwellings I saw were facsimiles, they were rebuilt on the exact spots of the originals by the Indians who occupied this site from about 1575-1781.
Learn more about Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn.The young adults who gave the tours were one part historians and one part comedy troupe. Either they were legitimately hysterical or my lonesome road has made me easily amused. They gave me a good laugh and an even better joke for the road. Word was there was a mythically monstrous cow outside of town. How giant? Try 50 feet long and 12,000 pounds. On that tip I followed the sun to New Salem, N.D., where I met Salem Sue, "The World's Largest Holstein Cow." I kid you not. The photo I took does more justice than my words.
View my photosA few more miles down the highway I came across breathtaking Theodore Roosevelt National Park, home to the badlands and Painted Canyon. I've never breathed air so fresh in my life.
Here's some background. One-hundred-twenty-three years ago and just a little younger than I am today, a 24-year-old Theodore Roosevelt arrived in North Dakota. Although his intentions were to hunt, and hunt he did, his passion with the badlands soon became more deeply rooted in its natural wonder and wildness. Eventually, his love for these lands turned to sorrow as he watched the great herds vanish and the sensitive ecosystem deteriorate thanks to human intrusion and overgrazing by livestock.
View my photosRoosevelt's realization of nature as a resource was far ahead of his time, and the badlands helped shape his reverence for the natural world. As president, he signed into law five national parks, designated 18 national monuments, helped create the U.S. Forest Service, established 150 national forests totaling more than 150 million acres and founded the first federal bird reservations and game preserves which later became wildlife refuges. Phew! Roosevelt was a champion of conservation during a time of wanton exploitation of nature. The park named for him was established as an everlasting homage to his wisdom and foresight. That's certainly a legacy to be proud of.
Back on the highway to Billings, the gargantuan Mall of America finally faded from my rearview mirror. The first and easily most impressive Kampground of America awaited me, and the excitement of another "Great American Vacation" giveaway was mounting.This week, Billings was the site of the massive 23rd Annual H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group Rally, and nearly every room in every hotel and every site at every campground was booked. The city and my chest were filled with the penetrating harmonies of blatting mufflers and rumbling exhausts. It was music to my torso.
Things were a bit quieter at the next giveaway locale, KOA Billings. That peace and quiet ended when crew call came at 2 a.m., my Winnebago the center of attention since the Kampsite was the location for our giveaway. Even then, a few curious KOA patrons were gathering. By 4 a.m., a small crowd had assembled and by 6 a.m., a full-blown assemblage of KOA employees, Kampers, Billings residents and H.O.G. attendees swarmed my Kampsite. There was to be a short demonstration by local gourmet cookie makers Jan and Judy Boogman of the Caramel Cookie Waffle Co., after which the lucky vacation recipient would be revealed.
Little did the Boogmans suspect in the midst of their demonstration that while brother Han was laboring away, Dave Price, the newest member of the Harley brother/sisterhood (you should have seen the initiation), would reveal they were, in fact, going on a "Great American Vacation."
with the unsuspecting couple minutes after learning they received a "Great American Vacation"The couple's daughter, Saskia, ever aware of her parents' non-stop work ethic, nominated them for good reason. The Boogmans' one-week a year vacation was more like maintenance time for the bakery where, for the other 51 weeks, they produce their delicious Stroopwafels. Their reward? Two free weeks in a majestic Winnebago, free accommodations at any KOA in North America and $1,000 in spending money. Their vacation sounds a whole lot like my past month on the road. It's OK to be a little jealous.
, one of the best ways to take in all the natural beauty of Big Sky Country is to participate in a sport Montana is renowned for — fly fishing.My appreciation for the opportunity to explore America grew exponentially later that day. After the giveaway, we split Billings and headed south and west to Yellowstone National Park.
I don't think I've ever been to a more beautiful place on earth. I've been to tropical rain forests, Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, up and down both coasts, the Southwest, Europe, the Middle East — but nothing anywhere has compared to the intoxicating, fairy tale-like beauty of Yellowstone.
The ride to Yellowstone teased and taunted me with distant views of snow-capped mountains. Keeping my eyes on the road became a desperate struggle once we arrived. Just a few miles into the park the rolling grasslands burst skyward with pine spires piercing a sea of saturated blue. Dozens of shades of deep earthy greens covered jagged, broken switchbacks that rose above an ever changing Yellowstone River. Gnarled and twisted waterfalls, roiling whitewater, vast mountain forests as dense as moss, boiling aquamarine-hued hot springs and seething mud pits billowing damp sulfur-scented steam, perpetually agitated geysers smoldering in momentary hibernation, placid lakes reflecting ridges of snowy peaks framed by endless fields of wildflowers. ... I was slack-jawed the entire day.
Yellowstone's Old Faithful geyser lives up to its name.We saw deer-elk, we saw Bison, we saw Old Faithful and I saw that heaven is in fact on Earth. Places this pure, places this untouched by the hand of man truly deserve to remain so for the rest of time.
I'm getting a little heady just writing about my past few experiences, so I think I'll save my adventures in Seattle and Portland for next time.
The fireworks are starting and I'm ready to "ooh" and "ah". From Fort Vancouver's Fourth of July celebration in Vancouver, Wash., happy Independence Day America!
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