August 8, 2012

View of the day-Doesn't look like we will be getting into the canola for the next couple of days...still kinda green.

Oh, we had such high hopes of getting started in the canola.  We went into Bismarck for lunch, then went out to the field, but after servicing the combine and moving over to do a test...well...it wasn't going to happen.

We went back to the camper and got cleaned up, then Marilyn went into Bismarck to pick up some tickets at the radio station before it closed...and do a little shopping while Al stayed back at the camper. The tickets were for a sunset cruise on the Lewis and Clark Riverboat.

We went to the Golden Corral for supper before heading over to the riverboat and while we were standing in line waiting to load, we ran into a Lyle and Jackie Ogren, a couple we knew from back home.  They were taking the sunset cruise too, so we got caught up while we waited.

After the boat loaded and was pulling away from the shore, we heard sirens and an ambulance and fire truck passed by the parking lot.  We could see further down the shore line that there were flashing lights on the road behind the trees and several people on the shore, just below the train bridge, but no one had any idea what was going on.

The cruise continued down the Missouri and it was such a beautiful night...perfect temperature, no bugs and just a warm breeze as we stood on the open deck of the boat. There were about 40 people on the open upper deck and no one really opted to go to the glassed in lower deck, because it was just to gorgeous out.

After cruising up a few miles, the boat turned around and started heading back.  We could still see flashing lights all along the shore line and now there were boats with flashing lights circling under the bridge in the water.  As the boat was getting close to where the flashing lights were, it stopped just off shore where we had to wait until we were allowed to pass by the search area.  After about 20 minutes or so, they sent over an escort boat to guide us through the zone so we could get back to the dock.  We actually saw some divers bobbing around in the water.

This was what we heard from the local news...
Searchers are looking for a man who either jumped or fell off a railroad bridge over the Missouri River Wednesday evening. Witnesses say friends had dared the man to go onto the bridge and around 8:00, they saw him climb to the top of the bridge and drop into the water. Divers have been checking the river since then. But they haven`t found him yet. A dive team from Jamestown is on the way to the river to help with the efforts.

"Well basically, I saw a guy probably , I don`t know, three pillars or so over at the top. He was intoxicated and basically he jumped and landed on his back, " said Tony Olson, a witness.

It`s not clear how long divers would stay in the water before resuming search efforts in the morning.

We got back to the dock, got unloaded from the boat and fortunately, were able to leave the scene by going out the opposite direction from all the action.  We stopped for a drink at McDonald's before making our way back to the camper for the night.

What a great evening...except for the obvious...