South Dakota - Day 11 - in and around Pierre

Oahe Downstream Recreation Area, Pierre

Wednesday, 11 August 2021

I saw lots of Flickers in this campground - woodpecker relatives.  They're easy to spot by the large patch of white at the base of their tails and the fact that they tend to land on the trunks of trees, instead of on the branches like other birds.

My stovetop hasn't been working properly for several days and this morning it was beyond a nuisance. I turn on a burner and it lights up just fine with the proper amount of flame, and then gradually the flame diminishes until there almost isn't one.  I can see it diminishing, and it looks like I'm turning the control down to "simmer" or lower, except of course I'm not.  That's made it pretty hard to make coffee in the morning - waiting for a kettle of water to bowl when it thinks it's only being asked to "simmer."  Finally this morning, I poured some of the water into a Pyrex measuring cup and stuck it in the microwave to come to a boil.  Three rounds of that constituted a nuisance, though I did get my coffee in the end.  

I just couldn't figure out what was wrong.  I checked the on-off knob outside and it looked like it was on.  I tried all 3 burners and they were all the same.  I couldn't even get a second burner to light while a first burner was "simmering."  I'd filled up my propane tank at the Badlands KOA and wondered if the person had damaged the system in some way.

The messed-up stove on top of the TV not staying still but swinging around while I'm driving, the frig that beeps at inconvenient times, the "check engine" light that has a mind of its own, and the ballpoint pen that still won't retract - honestly, it was starting to be just too much.  I reminded myself that most people only use their RVs for a few months in a year and that I'm using mine 3 or 4 times as much, and I've been doing it for 3½ years, so it's only to be expected that things would be breaking down.  But it's all still starting to get to me.

Today I wanted to drive into town and see the capitol building.

We drove first through the town of Ft. Pierre, pop. 2,078, established 1817 they say, which is a while ago.  They've rebuilt fort buildings here for tourists.  Then the 3 miles or so on into Pierre, pop. 13,646.

I went first to their recycle dropoff which, according to what I could find online, was available to everybody.  Google's directions told me to drive into a completely nonexistent entrance (not even a road or a gate there), so I had to turn around and go back to find the real entrance.  When I got there a sign said I'd have to pay a fee of $3 because of being a non-resident.  I thought about that a bit and decided I wasn't that desperate.  Don't they make money on recyclables?  Considering how available drop-off locations are in so many other towns - large and small - that I've been to, I couldn't see why Pierre should be charging me.  So I managed with difficulty to turn around and leave.

We hadn't left the campground until 10:40 so, by this time, the critters were thinking about a walk and lunch and I aimed for a riverside park I'd found online.  On the way I passed a propane sales business and saw a man filling up propane tanks, so I stopped on impulse to ask his advice.  Could he help me figure out what my problem with the stove was?  

He instantly noticed the on-off knob was almost completely off.  He said it seemed to be just barely on, and that trickle of gas that was coming through was why the stove would agree to simmer but not anything more.  I felt like an idiot for having looked at it but not having experimented with it.  (Could I really be that stupid?  Answer: obviously yes.)  The knob is labeled ON/OFF, but that label is stuck to the casing below the knob and I've never thought it was clear which way to turn the knob to get the gas on or off.  And this was an example of how I got it confused.  But thank goodness the stove now worked.  I mean, morning coffee is really important to me.  This made me more optimistic that maybe my other RV problems could get solved too.

Steamboat Park (I couldn't find the information but maybe a steamboat used to stop at a landing here on its way up or down river?) was a nice park.  Long, grassy, heavily wooded, with an actual flock of Flickers, which I've never seen before.  They've always seemed somewhat solitary to me, but they sure were chummy here.

Driving through town I found the road heading straight uphill towards a large church with an odd statue.

SS. Peter and Paul Church

It was impossible to take a photo - this is one I downloaded from the internet.  And the only ones I found online were taken from too far away to get a clear view of that statue.  I don't know whether it's supposed to be St. Peter or St. Paul, but the strange expression on its face makes me think it's probably Paul, who I've always thought might have had a screw loose.  But the church, the statue and the location all make it a very impressive sight.

From this point, through at least the next 13 posts, I'll be transferring the text from LibreOffice, which is the program I've got on my computer for writing stuff when I don't have an internet connection.  And for much of my stay in South Dakota, I had such a slow internet connection that I'd never have been able to download photos.  In fact, much of the time, I couldn't even get my blog program to finish downloading, so I couldn't even write anything, let alone insert photos.

The reason I mention it is that Libre's font and spacing are different than on this blog.  I can't get the size of the font right, and even though it insists it's single spacing, it shows up as double spacing.  But the alternative is to retype 13 posts, and that's just too crazy, even for a nitpicker like me.  So it'll have to look weird.  Just a warning.

South Dakota State Capitol

Closer view of the dome

The state capitol was built here between 1905 and 1910 for an odd reason: by the early 1900s, North Dakota had already held 3 elections in attempts to move the capital from Pierre to one of the other cities. All 3 times, voters had said let’s stick with Pierre. Finally, the state government decided to build a nice, big, permanent building to put a stop to all this move-the-capital nonsense, and this building is the result.

It’s 161’ tall, 190’ wide, and 292’ long. The copper dome covers a rotunda that’s 96’ high.

I saw several unusual statues near the capitol grounds.

Fighting Stallions Memorial

Online information tells me this statue is a memorial to a 1993 plane crash and its 8 victims, including the then-governor and 4 state employees; it’s intended to represent South Dakota’s struggle to overcome adversity, its desire for achievement, and its courage to believe in the future. And I find all that almost impossible to believe. What on earth do all those admirable qualities have to do with the plane crash victims, and what do 2 stallions fighting for their status in the herd have to do with either? But that’s what they say.

I also saw a statue that looked like it might be for the Civil War, which surprised me, South Dakota not having taken a notable part in that conflict. I couldn’t take a photo myself and couldn’t find one to download, but there’s a photo on this website https://listen.sdpb.org/post/sd-civil-war-monument-rededication-pierre along with another oddball story about what this statue represents. These folks in South Dakota have unusual ideas about their statues.

The whole time I was in town I kept thinking of Singing in the Rain, the old Gene Kelly movie. His rendition of the title song is one of the happiest moments on film, but his co-star Jean Hagen steals the show. Her character, the dumb blond with the voice that can scratch glass (apparently the opposite of her natural voice), is perfect. (One of her best lines is, “What do they think I am, dumb or something? Why I make more than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!”)

What I keep hearing in my head is a scene from when they’re first trying to turn a silent movie into a talkie, but can’t quite get the microphones in the right place. Over and over I hear her saying, “Oh, Pierre, you shouldn’t have come” while her shoes clomp on the floor and her beads make rattling noises. I know these folks here pronounce the name of their town as “peer,” but I still hear “pee-air” when I see that name, and then I hear this piece of dialog.

On the road

I left town using a different route, via a hydroelectric plant at the dam on the Missouri River upstream from my campground (which is why it's named "Oahe Downstream" campground). On the way, I ran across a surprise in the form of a historical marker.

I needed to stop to fix something in the cabin that was making noises, and the pull-off for the marker was the first place I came to. It was big enough that I decided to let the dogs stretch their legs to, and then I read the marker.

side 1

side 2

I had to take these odd angles because of the sun, but I think you can read it. It’s been not quite 100 years since that 1927 flight of Lindbergh’s; that was after WWI but 10 years before WWII. The world has certainly changed rapidly in that time.

At the dam I found a visitor center with a very pleasant woman who was happy to answer my questions. Much of what she told me is on this sign that was nearby:

As the sign says, this dam is connected to a power grid that sends electricity to 5 states.

She also told me there’s an alarm that blares when the dam is about to release some water, to warn boaters downstream to take precautions. She said she often has people stopping by the visitor center to complain about how loud the alarm is. I commiserated and mentioned how often people in campgrounds complain about noise from nearby railroads. She said Pres. Abraham Lincoln has been quoted as saying, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Which is a good point of view, I think.

I was also interested in the information about Lewis & Clark, and the map showing their route.

total route: Voyage of Discovery

western half of journey

eastern half of journey

In the campground

Back in the campground I saw more Flickers, and the bird book says they’re here year-round, which explains why I’m seeing so many, I guess. I also saw a Red-headed Woodpecker, which breeds here. Nice.

By the way, Oahe is pronounced with every letter: oh-ah-hey.

My TV once again stopped working in the middle of a video. I could hear the sound, but there’s no picture at all. I think the damage from when it swung into the cabinet was more extensive than I thought. It came back on again after I stopped and restarted it, but I’m seeing trouble in my future. It was bad enough trying to wedge it into place this morning so it wouldn’t swing around when I drove around a corner. A pillow underneath the TV helped keep it fixed, but that’s only a temporary solution. I need to get that swiveling arm fixed somehow.