Wok N Roll with us...Bob and Teri Along with Atlas and Kalani: Bismarck, North Dakota October 5, 2018

Our stop in Bismarck, North Dakota did go as planned but once again we really got lucky. Thursday night we arrived, headed out for a bite to eat and when we returned to our campsite we found our check engine light on in the truck (after the Ford dealer was closed, of course). Well, we are supposed to cross the Canadian border with our tour group on Monday. We went to bed Thursday night believing that we could have driven 2500 miles, endured the snow to end up missing meeting up with the tour group. So at 7 am we were up calling Ford dealers to see if they could help us out. The first one we called said they had no appointments until Tuesday. But as I started off saying, we got lucky as the second dealer we called took us in. Our truck is only 3 years old and it turns out that there is a DEF (emission fluid) heater (for when you are in really cold weather) that of course never even got tested with us living in FL. Glad we bought an extended warranty. Anyway, while it cut into the things we planned to go see in Bismarck, ND we had no complaints, not even the water being turned off at our campsite due to the cold. And while we missed visiting the museum, we were glad that we still made it to the Capitol, our main reason for routing through Bismarck.

The Capitol building in North Dakota is one of the simpler yet more modern Capitol buildings we have been to. The art deco Capitol building, designed by Edgar Miller, was built in 1933. He used a prairie theme with farmers and miners throughout the building. The prior Capitol building burned quickly in 1930 from a fire started from janitorial rags that ignited. With only one water tower, the library was the only thing saved.

This Capitol is a skyscraper design and is the tallest building in North Dakota. There are only three other Capitol buildings with this design- Florida, Louisiana, and Nebraska.

Unlike other Capitol buildings, legislators do not have offices in the building but rather they use their desks in the House and Senate chambers. Both the House and the Senate only meet on odd years and for no more than 80 days. They have no term limits. The longest-serving legislator was Brynhild Haugland at 50 years. The various alcoves shown in the Legislative Hall provides quiet places to talk (since there are no offices).

There are five Supreme Court Justices. The North Dakota Supreme Court hears more cases than the U.S. Supreme court. This is because any case that can be brought to a North Dakota Court can be appealed to the Supreme Court. The court hears ALL appeals, unlike most states.

The elevator controls in the building are modern. There are no controls inside the elevator. Instead, individuals use a keypad located outside of the elevator to enter the floor they wish to go to, then each individual is assigned an elevator name based upon the most efficient stops for all those waiting on all floors. Interesting and efficient.

Last, an interesting fact, on February 17, 2007, the record for the most people making snow angels was set on the capitol ground. Snow Angels

Tomorrow we head to Rugby, North Dakota. Once we cross the border on Monday we will do our best to update when we can, however, we are not sure what sort of internet coverage we will have as we travel through some of the more remote areas in Canada.