June 10, 2013

Omaha, Nebraska
Camped at Pine Grove Campground in Greenwood, NE

Wow.  Never thought I'd go to Omaha.  But, when I was selling this crazy idea to G, one of the hooks was that we could visit every dojo in the Cuong Nhu style.  He couldn't refuse.  Wonderful Wes Shockley runs the Rising Spirit dojo there.  After checking-in at the RV park, we put on our karate p.j.s and had a great workout with Wes and his crew. Then they took us out for a delightful Chinese dinner.  Thank you everyone for making us feel so welcome. 

 

 

 

The RV park is way out of town, but the ride is easy and there's no traffic!  The park rodent is a cute little chipmunk called a 13-lined ground squirrel.  There's also robins (with a fledgling in the tree right next to the rig), ring-neck doves and killdeer.  Happy.

A chipmunk of a different color.

 

Hard to see, but the little black neck ring is there.

And speaking of animals, Omaha has an unbelievable zoo.  It's the Henry Doorly Zoo, and much of it is inside.  Nice, especially when there's 5' of snow on the ground.  But the enclosures are huge and really well done.  The animals seemed content and we could get really close to them.  Several types of birds and bats had free-run of the place.  It was very exciting and I took lots of pictures.  (I'm really enjoying my Fuji Finepix.)

 For Alex, the highlight was the prairie dog town.  It was out in the open along one of the zoo paths and they were darting and playing all around our feet.  And so many babies!  It was hard to resist picking them up, but we know better of course. 

The zoo also had a lovely aviary--I was in paradise.  We were even accosted by a couple of cool-looking birds on the boardwalk.  I believe they thought we owed them a toll and were very vocal about it.  They would fly up in front of us as we tried to move forward.  Funny, but glad they weren't any bigger.

  Unfortunately, Anna is still feeling bad so didn't go.  Hope the antibiotics kick in soon.

 

 

Though not an exhibit animal, this unusual black squirrel was a treat.

 

 There are many clues that we are no longer in the Southeast.  The landscape, flora and fauna, and this, an ad for a Father's Day celebration:

Nothing says "father" like "testicle".  Don't think I'd see this in the Buckhead Reporter.

Well so long Nebraska.  We're heading for South Dakota next.  Here's a few visual treats we found along the way.

A glass chapel outside Omaha.

 

 

Silver trees.

 

Riverboat casino.

 

Wavy grass.