Big Things

Coop and I have been home for a few weeks and during that time we have had many opportunities to talk about the trip. For some reason people become quite curious when you tell them that you spent 2 weeks exploring the state of North Dakota. It is not an idea that has ever entered into most people’s minds and two questions I get frequently are “why?” and “what’s there?” In many ways the last destination of our trip, except for Scheels, (Side note here - Scheels is a completely over the top sporting goods and outdoor store that really has no direct comparison. If you cannot find it at Scheels you probably cannot find it. People make really long trips for the Scheels experience. Our stop was so that Coop and I could get hats. Much like other states with two big state schools you are either born into or must pick an allegiance. Coop went with the Bison (North Dakota State, in Fargo), which I found odd because of his lack of comfort when the bison got too close in the Badlands. I went with the more established and sophisticated Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota, in Grand Forks. We’ll keep you posted on how the new family rivalry develops.), serves as the perfect example for both why we went to North Dakota, and what’s there.
North Dakota has a lot of big things. For a state with such a small population, only Wyoming and Vermont have fewer people, one could make the argument that it has more of the largest things then it deserves. A partial list includes the world’s largest Buffalo (Jamestown), the world’s largest Holstein Cow (New Salem) - apparently the world’s largest cow distinction is broken down by breed and each breed has it world’s largest. Despite minutes and minutes of research I was unable to determine if Salem Sue was the largest of the largest or simply the largest of her breed. - the world’s largest Catfish (Wahpeton), the worlds largest Walleye (Garrison - ironically Garrison, Minnesota also claims the world’s largest Walleye), and the world’s largest Sandhill Crane (Steele, which we drove right by and did not see). It is also home to the largest swingline shovel (a coal mine outside of Bismarck) and the Balken shield might hold the largest known reserves of natural gas and oil. It was not surprise as we sought out the tallest man-made structure in North America, and 2nd tallest in the world, that we found the two tallest structures in North America.

There are two ways to find the tallest structure in North America, which incidentally is a TV mast owned by KVLY a local Fargo station and tops out at 2063 feet. The first is to have rock solid directions and the other is to simply find said structure on the horizon and continue driving while making sure it continues to grow in size. We elected the latter in order to conclude our trip with the same ethos that we began. Pick a direction, have no real plan, let serendipity take over.

Our destination was Blanchard, North Dakota. We headed south on I-29 from Grand Forks with eyes trained on the horizon. Approximately 70 miles into the trip we spy a black stick on the southwest horizon. The tallest tower does not look like much on the horizon but I guess the fact that you can see it from 20 or 30 miles away is pretty impressive. As we exited at exit 109 we noticed that there were actually 2 towers on the horizon that appeared to be pretty close together. Having no real idea what we were looking for we went to the one that appeared closer. It did not seem to be as tall as the other one but since we were on a tower tour Coop and I decided to check it out. After 15 minutes of driving it did not appear that we were going to get closer so we decided to stop and check it out. At the time we did not know that we were looking at the tallest structure in North America, we simply thought it was another pretty tall tower. After a few ooh’s and ahh’s we pressed on to the other tower which we believed was the tallest.

We drove towards Galesburg, 90 degree turn after 90 degree turn until we found ourselves driving down a dirt road towards the tower. As we drove closer the entire structure splayed out in front of us. One more right and we were heading through the soy fields to the base of the tower. The tower is supported by a spider web of guide wires yet with all of the clouds speeding by looked as if it could topple over at any moment. We found out later that the tower had indeed fallen over twice. It was hit by a marine helicopter in the 60’s and fell victim to an ice storm, the same storm that flooded and destroyed Grand Forks, in 1997. When you look straight up the tower you get a sense of vertigo and have a difficult time maintaining balance. To say it is tall really leaves the description short. This was actually the smaller of the two towers at a mere 2060 feet. At the time we simply thought we were mistaken as to the height not realizing that we gave up a little too quickly in our search for number 1. To say the support wires are complex yet another serious understatement. The entire tower experience borders on indescribable but the picture in my mind and the experience will stick with us for a long while.

This being our last stop we had no plan for what was next other then heading to Fargo to get hats and then off to Minneapolis for an early flight home the next morning. Again, serendipity took over. As I was packing up my camera Coop looked down the road and said “Dad, is that guy riding a unicycle?”. I paused from what I was doing (To be honest I felt somewhat uncomfortable with the whole tower visit as we were trespassing on someone’s property and had not sought permission to travel through the property; additionally I was shooting a lot of video and in this day and age if someone had questioned us we might have had some explaining to do. I think I had momentarily forgotten how warm and welcoming everyone had been on our trip and fell victim to some irrational fears.) looked up the road and also saw the guy on the unicycle. It was one more absurd moment that we could not have written but made the trip all the better. How cool is that to run into a farmer on a unicycle while we are sneaking in a visit to yet another amazing piece of the North Dakota landscape.

We paused on our trip down the farmer’s driveway to introduce ourselves and ask him some questions about the tower. He told us the story about the tower falling in 1997 (he bought the farm in 1992), expressed his continued amazement at the magnificent structure in his field, gave us more information about crops in North Dakota then I could ever remember (Including the fact that he was the president of the North Dakota grape grower’s association and knew the owner of the vineyard that we had visited two days earlier) and explained the difficulties of learning how to ride a unicycle. I was struck by how friendly he was. Not a hint of suspicion. I think we could have held him up and asked questions for as long as we wished. When we were getting ready to leave he asked us if we were hungry. I thought that he might be asking us in for lunch. That would have been a kind gesture and a perfect conclusion to the trip but what he offered was even better. He directed us to a restaurant in Galesburg called Rockin’ Rodney’s. Apparently Rodney is somewhat of a legend in this area. He said people came from all around to eat his burgers and steaks and that if we had time we should stop in for lunch. As Coop and I had been in search of the best small town cafe burger, which up to this point had been the Lewis and Clark burger at the Lewis and Clark cafe in Washburn, it was not hard to convince us to stop by for lunch.

Even by North Dakota standards Galesburg is a small town. There are only about four streets,a grain elevator and four commercial buildings. We drove down main street only finding the West Trail Cafe. Thinking we had either missed it or were in the wrong place we stopped at the grain elevator to get directions to Rodney’s place. We were pointed back to West Trail across the street assured that despite the name it was indeed Rockin’ Rodney’s.

Entering the restaurant we were greeted by three people who wanted to know if they could help us. We explained that the farmer, on the unicycle at the tower, had told us of Rodney’s reputation and we would be making a mistake if we did not stop by. I can’t say that it was a chilly reception but it was more like the kind of reception you get when you clearly are not from around here in a place where you do not get too many people who clearly are not from around here. As he does so well and had done many times throughout the trip it was Coop’s presence that broke the ice. He asked for a half and half, the waitress asked him if he meant an Arnold Palmer. Even here they call it an Arnold Palmer. We ordered our drinks and our burgers and waited.

We sat at the table next to what can only be described as the community table. Rodney, the women who worked for him and a local farmer were the only other people in the restaurant. Coop and I talked about our trip, why we had come to ND and how we ended up in Galesburg. What started as an indifferent reception turned into a great conversation about the state, the food, crops and places we should still visit. While we were never invited over to the locals table it did not take long for us to fell like we belonged.

Rodney’s is the kind of place where people come for a meal or a snack when they are taking a break during the day. It is a meeting place and a living newspaper. Anything you need to know about what is going on in the area can be found out here. It is also not a place that sees many outsiders. A number of people came in and sat with the locals while we ate our lunch. The experience was the same with each person who entered. After exchanging pleasantries with the regulars the conversation turned to who Coop and I were. We were not included in this part of the conversation. More appropriately we were made to feel like we were invisible. The conversation went back and forth about who we were, what we were doing here and what they thought of us. We listened to the entire conversation (sitting at the next table we were only 6 or 8 feet away) and when our story had been told and had been accepted as being okay we were then re-included in what was going on. Despite the fact that we had told everyone that this was our last day of our trip we were overwhelmed with places we should visit in this area. Dams, lakes, parks and unique bridges ruled the ever growing list we were given. As great as all of it sounded we were unable to do any of it but it did give us our inspiration for our next trip to North Dakota. By the way, not only did Rodney serve us the best burger we ate in North Dakota, but his burgers rate up there with any that I have ever had.

It was an appropriate end to our trip. A little over the top. A little serendipitous. A little sublime. It was also full of people who through their genuiness and generosity of spirit gave us another fond memory and more reasons to come back.

Here is the inspiration. On our next trip we will begin the journey at Rockin’ Rodney’s. We’ll have burgers and get suggestions as to where we should go next. Part of the suggestion will include the next place where we should eat. We will bounce from cafe to cafe and town to town collecting the next pieces of our itinerary. We were never mislead throughout this trip and wound up with some truly unique experiences. About the only way we could top this adventure is to truly see the state from their eyes through our eyes. We’re not exactly sure when the next one will be, other then soon, but we do know that when we do it it will be another trip to remember.

While the above may seem like a perfectly good conclusion to our story the truth is that there are more stories to be told and a movie to be made. Keep checking back for updates and I will keep updating you onto our progress.

For my soapbox moment I recommend that you take your kids or go with your friends on an adventure. We strayed off the beaten path, often found ourselves misplaced but never truly lost and found an experience that will stick with us for a long time. We discovered relatives (Bob and Susan) and people who graced us with their love of place and a spirit not found in enough places. All you really need is an open mind, some open eyes and a sense of adventure and you can find it too.

Cheers,

JW