Winter Quarters Visitor Center and Pioneer Cemetery

While we were in Omaha, we also visited the Winter Quarters visitor center.  There's a lot of information at the center!  We learned all about pioneers crossing Iowa after they were forced by mob violence to leave Nauvoo, Illinios, preparations for their continued trek to Utah, and what made them unique when compared to other emigrant groups.  They were organized.  Rather then remain bunched together, they made about 200 settlements in the Winter Quarters vicinity to decrease their impact on the area.  They planted crops, established ferries, and did all they could to make it easier for the groups that followed them. The Mormon Trail Center gave a great overview into many facets of their lives, including transportation methods of wagon, handcart, ships, and railroads.

Across the street is the Winter Quarters pioneer cemetery and Winter Quarters Temple.  Most of the people buried in the cemetery were babies and children.  I have a relative buried there.  It's a place that encourages introspection and quiet reverence.  I am grateful for the sacrifices that were made by so many who have gone before.

Nearest City: Florence, NE
Location: 3215 State Street, Omaha, NE
Time Needed: 90 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info:Mormon Trail Center Website

The World-famous Omaha Zoo

In late August we took a trip to Omaha.  We wanted to go to the Omaha Zoo since we've heard lots of amazing things about it.  We got there when it opened, and left when it closed.  It's an all-day affair right now, but they're working on their Africa exhibit, which will definitely make it easy to spend two days there if you want to see it all.   I'll only blog about the highpoints of our visit.

We stopped by the desert dome first.  The kids loved the javalinas.  "Just like the ones we saw in Arizona when we lived there!"  

 The gorilla was pretty impressive.  The kids liked the baby orangutan as well.

 The aquarium was the best part of the visit though.  The kids could have watched the fish all day.

We also really enjoyed seeing the penguins swim back and forth.  They would dive under the water, swim really fast, then launch themselves above the water.

The worst part of the zoo was the two idiot kids (and idiot parents and crowd who were standing around watching) who had hopped the fence at the lion enclosure and were taunting the male lion.  He wasn't happy with them.  I yelled at the kids and told them to get back on the right side of the fence.  I had to yell at them twice.  Like I said, some people are idiots.

Nearest City: Omaha, NE
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: all day long
Difficulty: easy-moderate (long day and hills)
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: Henry Doorly Zoo Website

Weekend Trip to Indian Cave State Park

In early/mid April we took a weekend camping trip to Indian Cave State Park in Nebraska.  Why Indian Cave?  Why not!  I enjoyed the trip, but was slightly underwhelmed by it.  First off, there is no cave.  Secondly, I didn't see any Indians either.  But, there were some petroglyphs, so that made the visit worthwhile.  The alcove is located on the south end of the park, just off of the Missouri River.  We parked our car, wandered down to the river, then crossed the road and climbed the boardwalk to the alcove.  Most of the pictures you see will make you believe that you hike down to see the petroglyphs.  Not so!  You start at the bottom, then hike up. 

Here's one of the petroglyphs.  There are several that are readily visible, although they are surrounded by graffiti that's been inscribed more recently.  I could pick out 8-10 pretty easily, although a sign said there were 15 petroglyphs in the alcove.  One of the pictographs is a half fish/half man but it isn't visible from the boardwalk.  I would have liked to see it, but I can understand why they don't point it out just the same.  Most of the petroglyphs, like the one pictured above, were of buffalo. 

We also visited the ghost town of St. Deroin there in the park.  There are several buildings, but since we visited in the off season, there were only two we could walk around at- the old schoolhouse, and a store.  They give broom making demonstrations at the store in the warmer months, but since we visited too early in the year, we just peeked in the windows. 

Some of the roads were pretty interesting.  I jokingly referred to this one as a Nebraska slot canyon.  It was incised so deeply into the hillside that the surrounding oak trees could have fallen over and still left room to drive underneath.  The park is 5 square miles along the Missouri River and has some beautiful views and a vast network of trails. 

One of the better viewpoints looked eastward into Missouri and over the river.  When Lewis and Clark were through here the river was 1 1/2 miles further east than it is today.  We enjoyed reading the signs and talked about how Lewis and Clark passed going both up the river and down the river.  The kids asked why it took so long for them to go up the river, but so short when they went down the river, so I had them walk from one side of a platform to the other with me pushing them in opposition, then walk back with me pushing them faster and faster.  I then compared it to the river pushing against you when you go up it, but pushing you faster when you go with it. 

Overall we had a great weekend camping trip.  I think my impression of Indian Cave State Park would have been more favorable if more stops were open when we visited.  But, since half of the ghost town was closed, as well as the museum, it doesn't get my ringing endorsement.  Maybe you'll enjoy it more if you visit in summer.  I probably would have. 

Nearest City: Shubert, Nebraska
Location: 65296 720 Rd, Shubert, NE 68437
Time Needed: Varies
Difficulty: Easy-moderate
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: Indian Cave State Park website

Pawnee Buttes a.k.a. "The Wind Tunnel"

Last Thursday, Ashley mentioned that she'd been keeping an eye on the weather and that the weekend looked like it would be a beautiful one to go camping. We checked the weather forecasts again and decided to go for it. Looking over our options, we decided to try Pawnee Buttes, the Colorado icon of the high plains. Camping in the mountains would have been to cold and wet. As we researched about Pawnee Buttes, we noticed that the state high point for Nebraska was only 20 miles away, as well as the state corners where Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado all meet. We decided to go and visit them all!

We left about noon, and drove east- going for the corner and high point first. The roads were long and straight and we were mostly the only ones out there. We got about 1/4 of a mile away from the corner, and noticed the road heading there appeared to be a rut going out into a farmer's field. After hesitating for just a moment, we decided to drive down there anyway. We slowly inched our way along the ruts, and about 5 minutes later, the monument came into view. We got out and took some pictures and laughed at how random it was, then hopped back in the car to drive to the high point.
The Nebraska high point is less than half a mile from the state corner, but to get there, we had to drive a big loop around several fields. It's located on private property, but they have allowed public access. As we drove through the field to the high point, it was obvious that we were the only visitors there that day.
The monument is set on top of a hill that is virtually indistinguishable from the other rolling hills around it. Nonetheless, it is the only one with a monument declaring superiority over the others. We parked the car and climbed the last 100 feet (horizontal, not vertical) to the summit. After posing for more pictures, we hopped back in the car and continued onto our final destination- Pawnee Buttes.We arrived at Pawnee, found a campsite, set up camp, and went for a hike before dinner. After we got back, we prepared dinner, looked at the stars, and went to bed. It was about 6:30, with a light breeze.

About 7:30, the breeze picked up, so I went and took off the rain fly because it was flapping too much. I moved the car to provide a windbreak as well. Anyway, neither helped because I spent the next 6 1/2 hours waking up frequently because of the wind flapping the tent. It sounded like the tent was trying to either take off, or come apart at the seams. A time or two, I knew I could feel a breeze between my toes.
Finally about 2 AM, I had had enough of trying to sleep. This was Pawnee Buttes- not a wind tunnel! We had brought a tent to sleep in, not a kite! What good is trying to sleep when sleep is physically impossible? All the while, Ashley was peacefully slumbering. Obviously she hadn't bought the tent and wasn't worried about it. Anyway, I had had enough. I was awake, and there was no way I was going to get a good night's rest. What's a guy to do at 2 AM when he can't sleep? Fortunately, we came prepared on this trip. I crawled out from under the many blankets, put on two pairs of pants, 3 shirts, a fleece vest, a jacket, my hat, gloves, wool socks, hiking boots, and my headlamp. I gave Ash a kiss on the cheek and said "I'm going for a hike". I gave her the option of coming with me- we could go on a hike, then watch the sunrise. After learning the time, she declined in favor of the warm blankets. She still wasn't perturbed by the tent flapping in the hurricane!

Anyway, I got up and filled up my Camelbak, then set off. Three and a half hours later, I made it back to the tent. I'd hiked down to the buttes, around both of them, and other places that I'm sure I couldn't follow again. There's nothing quite like hiking when you can't sleep! I got back at 5:30, took off several of the clothing items I'd layered with, and fell asleep for an hour. Sweet bliss!

(The picture here has been removed by Ashley.)

I woke up again. This time it was 6:30- twelve hours after the whole trying to sleep business had started. There was a faint red line above the horizon to the east. I nudged Ashley awake. I was going hiking again and this time she was coming with me.

We made it to an overlook about 15 minutes before the sun came up. We watched the sky ripen into brilliant shades of red, orange, pink, yellow, and purple, and then fade again as the sun rose.

The wind was still roaring, but we'd made it through the night. The sunrise was beautiful, and Saturday had come.

Nearest City: Briggsdale, CO or Grover, CO
GPS Coordinates:
Time Needed: overnight
Difficulty: Easy
Kid Friendly: No. Not anybody friendly!
Additional Info: