Waiting for a fix in Pierre, South Dakota

We woke up parked beside a Freightliner truck repair shop this morning, and were pleased that the general manager had already arranged for a mechanic to analyze our problem. He spent a few minutes under the motor home, and reported that our water pump had gone out. When Mark asked how he could determine that so quickly, he pointed out the slanted shaft on the pump that had caused the serpentine belt to come off and shut everything down yesterday. So it looks like one little part has caused all our problems! We can't say enough good things about Eddie's Truck Service (who just changed their name to Floyd's Truck Service) in Fort Pierre, South Dakota. They had the water pump we needed in stock, and they scheduled to make our repairs first thing the next morning. In the meantime, the general manager spent over an hour on the phone with our extended warranty company, getting most of the charges approved. Again, God is taking care of us!

We really don't have any reason to stay at the repair shop all day, so we decided to go on with the touring stops we had planned here in Pierre. Now that this is our new home town, we had to have lessons on the correct pronunciation of our little city. Instead of saying it like some fancy French name, the locals pronounce it like the word "peer." 

Our first stop was to the Oahe Dam Visitor Center. We are on the Missouri River, and this is one of the dams built to control the flooding that plagued this area for years. Before the valley filled with water after the dam was built, this old mission church was moved to higher ground beside the visitor center.

Besides controlling floodwaters, this dam also allows for a hydro-electric power plant that provides electricity. From the visitor center we could see the seven intake tubes were water from Lake Oahe flows out of the lake and into the hydro-electric turbines about three quarters of a mile away.

Following the ranger's truck, we drove our car to the massive hydro-electric plant for the tour. No pictures inside, but it was a great learning experience that allowed us to walk right down beside the massive turbines and feel the rumble.

Along with the water, fish will make the trip from the lake through those turbines. After spinning through the gates, they are released back down the Missouri River at the exit of the plant.

Pelicans know that those dizzy fish are easier targets after that journey through the power plant. So they wait for them on the other side.

So our wildlife picture of the day is of the odd-looking pelican with the dark toupee. He also has that knot on his upper beak, part of the breeding finery.

It has been rainy this morning, so we're glad that our planned activities are inside. Our next stop is the state capitol building in Pierre. We found that Pierre is the second smallest state capital city in the United States. They're doing some refurbishing to the upper floors that are covered with blue scaffolding.

When we called about seeing the capitol, we found that volunteers come in to give tours whenever visitors schedule one. So we had our own private tour led by Diann. She took us through the grand atrium with its marble staircase and stained glass foyer ceiling.

This dome and foyer should look familiar to us. Diann explained that the committee to build a new capitol building toured several other state capitols back in the early 1900s. They liked Montana's building so much that they purchased a copy of the floor plans for $15, and used it to build the South Dakota capitol. We've visited that twin capitol in Helena, Montana!

Our tour took us to the grand senate chambers with its tall ceilings and fancy lighting. Originally gas lighting, it was updated to electricity years ago.

But we must say that our favorite capitol stories had to do with the tile floors that cover all the hallways throughout the building.

Diann explained that they brought in 66 Italian tile layers to make all those floors. Each artisan was given a single uniquely blue tile to place anywhere he chose. Over the years they have found most of those blue tiles. From that point on, Denisa couldn't focus on what the tour guide was pointing out. She was focused on finding all the blue tiles!

As if that wasn't enough to distract her, then Diann pointed out that some of the floors were cracking. So a company had been hired to fix the cracks. At each fix, they laid a heart-shaped tile as a guarantee. If a crack happened close to a new heart, the company would return to re-fix it for free. Now Denisa is also searching for hearts among the millions of tiny tiles.

Denisa could have wandered around the capitol building all day looking for hearts and blue tiles, but Diann politely escorted us to the door at the end of the tour. She pointed out the outdoor area, including the veteran's memorial beside Capitol Lake.

During the tour, she also told us the story of the fatal plane crash in 1993 that killed South Dakota's governor and seven other state leaders. A memorial to these eight men is on the capitol grounds, and it is named "The Fighting Stallions." She encouraged us to walk down to see it as well.

As we circled the memorial, we read the stories of the eight men that died that day in the state-owned jet crash. We stopped longer at the memorial for Roland Dolly because he was married to a friend of ours who also graduated from high school in Beaver, Oklahoma. The words on the memorial were written by her father, who was also our family physician when we were growing up. Some times when we are far from Oklahoma, we still find glimpses of home.

It's been a pretty normal day of touring for us, especially considering the fact that we were towed into town last night. We're hoping that the motor home will be fixed and ready for more travel tomorrow!