Very enjoyable day!
Bob Ritterbush, a highschool friend of Max from Great Falls (see prior postings regarding this thoughtful gentleman), picked me up at the motel and took me to breakfast. He is a very interesting guy: a structural engineer and architect with a wide variety of interests, including the history of North Dakota. (His interest in history may have been inspired by his daughter, a professor at Kansas State who is an archeologist specializing in the prehistory and ethnohistory of the Great Plains -- or was it Bob's wide range of interests that inspired his daughter's?) I certainly enjoyed chatting with Bob over a long breakfast. My only disappointment is that I forgot to take a photo of him. (picture added!)
When I packed up and left in the late morning, I stopped by the State Capitol building, at the urging of both Max and Bob. I guess some people (Bill G.?) don't like the looks of this building, because it is one of only four state capitol buildings that doesn't have a dome (the other three are Florida, Louisiana, and Nebraska). The original building burned in 1930, and this new one was built as an 18 story skyscraper, housing all the state offices and dominating the Bismarck skyline. Its grounds include the ND Heritage Center, an botanical garden, and parks...a very idyllic setting. The Heritage Center was very nice, but the most interesting thing was the tour of the Capitol Building, which is decorated in the Art Deco style and has a beutiful interior featuring especially attractive wood paneling from around the world--I was really glad to take the time to see this.
While at the State Capitol I decided to make a "courtesy call" to the State Insurance Department. I had never done any consulting work for the ND Insurance Department, but had worked for lots of other insurance departments over the years and so I thought a brief visit would not be out of order. This was the first time I ever stopped in an insurance department dressed in bicycling clothes (!), but the folks I met were very casual and friendly. The Commissioner was out, but Mike Andring (FCAS), their property/casualty actuary, was in, and I very much enjoyed meeting and talking with Mike. He is also a bicyclist, and if I had known him ahead of time I probably would have tried to talk him into joining me for a day or two on the road. (Note: ND's population is only about 660,000, and I was actually very surprised to find out that they had an FCAS on staff. Mike told me he has been there since the early 1990's, and had been the only FCAS in ND until recently, when a consulting actuary relocated to Bismarck.)
I left Bismarck in the late afternoon and had an uneventful ride down to the campground where I spent the night. There were four hospitable couples from Bismarck camped near me, in their RV's, and I very much appreciated it when they invited me to join them for food, cold beers(!), and conversation. And coffee in the morning! They claimed to be there for the fishing, but I think that they were mainly there just to relax and socialize over the weekend. Thanks, guys, for being so friendly!
Note: photos are of (a) the Capitol Building; (b) sunset over the Missouri River; and (c) the four couples from Bismarck.
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