Last week - Day 759 (Yr 3, Day 26 )

Bismarck, ND

Sorry I'm writing about last week when it's almost the start of a new week!  I can't really blame work, as it's been a very slow week so far.  Perhaps it's because we did a little tour last week with a few photos, which I've been too lazy to download and sort.  But here goes....

All of last week was "same old, same old," -- work.  Weather was wonderful, in the high 70s to mid 80s with a nice breeze and no humidity.  Can't say the same for this week, as yesterday hit 100* with high humidity and a heat index of 107!

The highlight of last week was going to the State Capitol.  They give tours on Sundays, so we decided to attempt that.  It was a nice day, so we took our urb-es to ride around the grounds.  The tours start every hour and we got there a little late (or way too early), so we rode to the other side of the campus to the Heritage Center, where we visited the dinosaur gallery for about 1/2 hr, and then returned to the Capitol building.

It's a nice building as state capitols go.  When you enter the premises, they have a Theodore Roosevelt Awards Hall of Fame.  To get this award, one must have made a contribution to the community.  Pictures of all the recipients through the years line the main corridor.  Sorry, no photos of that, but here are a few other photos:

The main corridor (long hallway).  We were standing in the middle, so you have the same view looking in the other direction.



State seal:

 

Engravings on all the elevators depicting past, present & future (and our tour guide in the elevator):

   

House of Reps chamber:



Senate Chamber.  The lighting on the ceiling is supposed to represent the moon and stars:

 















Supreme Court:



After visiting the legislative and judicial areas, we headed up to the observation deck on the 18th floor.  There are 21 stories in the building, making it the tallest building in North Dakota! (compare that to NYC, Boston, Chicago, San Fran, etc).  Here are some photos taken from the observation deck:


Photos lined the walls:

  

View of the main entrance to the Capitol:



In the winter of 2007, almost 9000 people lied down to create snow angels:



More views of the Bismarck/Mandan area from up above:

State library

2nd tallest bldg in Bismarck - a cathedral

All of this used to be farmland

More of the Capitol grounds

One parking lot.  That white thing is our truck!