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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“Stringy, greasy, long hair covered ski goggle-like glasses with lenses as thick as coke bottles.” |
From Devils Lake area we headed south to Jamestown.
Once arriving in Jamestown we headed directly for Pioneer Village and the Buffalo Museum home to White Cloud, the only albino buffalo in the world. Also located in the park and overlooking the major interstate is a statue of what is reported to be the World's Largest Buffalo. I will tell its BIG! White Cloud just turned 10 and as Bev, the greeter at Pioneer Village, told us every year is a very big deal for White Cloud. The town has a parade and the buffalo museum gives cake and ice cream to all the visitors, free! We missed the gala by 2 days but thanks to Bev, I got all the details of the special day. The buffalo statue was the work of a local Jamestown businessman who in P.T. Barnum fashion knew there was a sucker born every minute and he thought this Huge Buffalo would be temptation enough for weary travelers and their families to get them to exit off the highway and spend some of those hard-earned vacation dollars. Over time he added the Pioneer Village and museum as an “all in one” kind of destination. Along side the buffalo statue is the buffalo pasture where you can see a herd of “live” buffalo. After being surrounded by them and almost stampeded by the angry bull in Medora, this zoo like feel to buffalo sightings was a bit anti-climatic for me. I was looking for White Cloud of course the whole time and did not catch a glimpse. Disappointed we strolled through pioneer village where we met Bev. Pioneer village is a street of authentic building that have been moved from a 20 mile radius from the Jamestown area and brought together to form this western community street. The jail, bank, school house, and dentist office are all reminiscent of the time period while takers can also take horse and buggy rides along the way. When we walked into the Saloon, sitting at the poker table along with a mannequin sat Bev, the greeter. After getting over all the mannequins throughout the building set up in a somewhat spooky, “Silence of the Lambs” kind of thing, the town was quite charming and worth the walkthrough. Scarier than the street though was the actually buffalo museum gift shop. If there is anything in the world that has been made with a buffalo on it, made from buffalo, or comes from the fur, teeth, or meat of buffalo, it was in this shop. Post cards, magnets, and key chains didn’t have a prayer in this place. These trinkets topped anything we had ever seen. Wind chimes, basketballs made from buffalo leather, coat hangers, wine charms and cocktail napkins topped my list of buffalo decorative must haves. The young girl at the counter let us know that we would probably not see White Cloud. She rarely comes out of the valley and doesn’t like to come up to where the people can see her. That was really disappointing considering we had come all the way to Jamestown to see White Cloud and it would have really been too bad to have missed her. Not feeling the need to spend any money on buffalo gifts we left the gift store and as we rounded the corner, there was White Cloud standing up on the salt lick stand about 50 yards from the observation fence. Bev was on her way to find us when we crossed her path again. She said we should consider ourselves lucky because it is rare to have a White Cloud sighting at all. It turns out White Cloud is a social outcast of some sort. She doesn’t associate with the rest of the herd but ironically has already bore 4 calves of her own, all dark brown in color. The calves leave the herd to milk and then leave her again to join the herd. After Pioneer Village we decided to check out the county fair that was going on at the fairgrounds in Jamestown.
After checking in to the Super Eight on highway 84?? We headed to the fair. Now, being from New Jersey I have been to farm fairs, county fairs, and grange fairs before but I will tell you I have never seen such a party in all my days with a four dollar admission ticket at the gate. This was a party of firsts for me. As we rounded the first corner of the fair, we could hear the band performing in a fenced off area. As we walked toward it I realized that the fenced off area was a beer garden. I was in awe of all the people who were hanging out at the fair just drinking all their Bud Lite beers and listening to this band who was amazingly entertaining, funny, and talented. I ordered a Miller Lite and drank from the 16 oz can my first beer at a county fair. I believe that if they had this kind of set up when I was a kid back home, my dad would’ve taken us to more fairs. All the kids were riding rides and reeking havoc outside the fence while the adults hid behind the “We check ID” and had a kind of fun on their own outside of the Scrambler and the Graviton. The people we saw could be a book of its own. Hairstyles, hats, and wardrobes of all kinds were fashioned by the men of Stutsman County. Women also spanned the fashion bridge. From stocky farm hands to Harley chicks both hard and hot to tons of girls in their twenties who clearly showed up at this fair to sniff out a future husband. We moved onto to another first for me at the Corn Dog Stand. I have never had the pleasure of tasting this deep fried concoction before and now it is officially confirmed, everything deep-fried served on a stick just tastes good. We walked the fair for a long time taking in the “sights”. The rides and concessions had nothing on the likes of the community who attended the event and just like one of the teenagers who passed us quoted so eloquently “I love the fair!” In the 4-H tent we looked at all the prize animals including a bunch of very large pigs. While we were looking at them, a sweet girl came up to us and let us know that these were her pigs. I was captivated at how at ease she was with these beasts that I was afraid to be within 5 feet of. She told us that she was showing the two females we were looking at and that her sister was showing the two males in the next stall. I found out she was 11 and in addition to the pigs she also had 2 steer, not cows, steer. I figured if this little girl can have steer, I needed to get over the anxiety about the pigs I was having. I knelt down with her and asked told her that I was amazed at how close and comfortable she was with her pigs. She told me that they were very gentle and would not hurt me. With the confidence of an 11 year old behind me I reached out to pet the pig’s snout. The rough skin was callousy and rough but harmless.
After leaving the fair we headed to dinner at the town truck stop. Bev recommended the spot to us saying that we would love the homemade mashed potatoes. When we arrived we were told to sit where ever we wanted by a portly gentleman who would be our waiter. I had never eaten at a real truck stop before so I was surprised to see that there was not one woman working there. No one to call me sugar and take my order with a pen she kept in her hair. Our waiter, in fact, would be someone I would think that truckers would be annoyed with. His rainbow pin didn’t send any surprises to us as he swaggered away to gather our drinks. He claimed through his labored breathing that the stress of the job was going to drive him to drink. I imagine he has back up when there are more than the 3 tables and 1 lone trucker at the counter he had to attend to on this night. Joe’s dad used to be a trucker and I think in his next life he will be one himself. Boy how things change. I can only imagine what his dad would have to say about the place. After we ordered our buffalo burgers, side of mashed potatoes and side of chili our waiter took our order over to the short order cook. The short order cook was something that resembled the likeness of a short order cook Saturday Night Live would create to parody or exaggerate the profession but he really was to the extreme. Stringy, greasy, long hair covered ski goggle-like glasses with lenses as thick as coke bottles. In between pulling up his sweatpants he would flip our burgers and spoon out the chili and mashed potatoes. Fortunately we did not order fries because they might not have been any left after he finished grazing on the fry basket every few seconds. Joe gives the rating of “OK” even for a truck stop. The buffalo burgers were a bit scrawny and god bless Bev, she thinks these instant mashed potatoes are homemade. The funny thing about the truck stop was the celebrity photo at the cashier stand. The truck stop had in fact been visited by Larry the Cable Guy back in January of this year. Joe and I are anticipating his next stand up routine, we are sure that the crew there will provide enough material for a few more years of success for the blue collar comedian.
That night we enjoyed an amazing full moon that hovered low to the horizon and was surrounded by a glow of yellows and oranges that usually belong only on the most beautiful sunsets. The moon is such a mysterious thing floating around in our sky. Every night it takes on a personality of its own depending on where it’s hiding among the stars and few passing clouds. What colors it will glow and how much of itself it will reveal to us down here on Earth should be treasured anticipation out here in big sky country We were lucky to have captured this magnificent masquerade of the moon on this full moon night. Off to the north, however, we could see the most amazing storm brewing in the sky. The horizon would flash with color filling patches of black up for only seconds at a time. We wondered where it was coming from only to learn that the storm had actually been quite devastating as it passed through the town of Cole Harbor, a town we had just drove through that very day on our way from Devils Lake to Jamestown. Travel trailers had been tossed like a cat swatting at a ball and the nickel-sized hail did damage to the cars, businesses, and farm land that is already in such danger out here due to the heat and lack of rain.
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Joe & Frannie says:
What a great Blog Joe, I am so impressed with your journal and awesome pictures!