We
decided to spend Memorial weekend at a Kansas state fishing lake, in
Atchison Kansas. Kansas fishing lakes are wonderful places, usually
set in beautiful country, and usually deserted. But not this one-the setting was beautiful, but the lake and the people camping there were not. As
we don't have much good to say about the place, we won't say much. It
was a really
scummy
lake, covered with algae and full of water snakes-we paddled on it
the last day we were there, and you could see their heads sticking up
everywhere. We also saw two large black snakes, one swimming right towards the shore where we were camped, but couldn't tell if
they were rat snakes or cottonmouths. The place was full to the gills
with people, mainly 25 to 35 year olds, with families, fishing, all
while bellowing at their kids, wives and each other, & dropping the
F-bomb every third word-some of the crudest people we've ever
experienced in 30 years of campgrounds. Initially, we were stuck right in the middle of them, but Sunday got to move across the lake into quieter surroundings. Soooo glad to see it in the “rear
view”. We got there Friday, and couldn't leave 'till Tuesday, as we
had to pick up mail in Hiawatha.
The second site
Some local critters
Taken on a ride around the block-some incredible stone buildings in the Kansas toolies!
As
you can see on the map, it was a crazy drive that day, chasing mail
and hitting detours, so we decided to go to Omaha non-stop, staying
in a town park in Bellevue, just south of there. Great spot to work
out of, with the Omaha zoo and “Johnny's Cafe” right up the road.
It too is on the river, and we ended up in one of the few sites that
had shade, under some huge cottonwoods. The park, Haworth Park, had
about 100 sites-it's big-and was once all shaded with them, but a
flood in 2011, put it under 10' of water for 5 months, and most of
the big trees were destroyed. They spent $600,000 to rebuild it, and
are still working on it.
The
Omaha zoo has always been a stop for us if we're traveling through
Nebraska, first going there about 29 years ago, when Kirky read an
article about a rainforest exhibit they had created. I call it an
exhibit, but it's really an entire building devoted to 3 rainforest
types-African, Asian, and Amazon. You walk through the different
jungles, at different levels (even underwater, with windows looking
in at the marine life swimming around). Animals that are not
threatening are loose, or just behind a fence or a moat, others are
behind screens you can barely make out, to look as though they are
loose. It's an amazing place to take in!
They
went on the create a desert building a few years later that is
equally amazing, and most recently built an aquarium building, that
you walk underwater
through a glass tunnel, with sea creatures swimming all around you.
We spent an entire day there, mainly in those three buildings, but
did manage a quick hike around to the outdoor exhibits as well-the
rhino's were really interesting, and we got some good video there.
A great video of walking through the tunnel is on the link below:
(Right click and select "open link in new tab" if you don't want to leave the site)
(Right click and select "open link in new tab" if you don't want to leave the site)
http://youtu.be/QkS4tv35oeQ
Two videos of very endangered Rhinos can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/gQDogtGQGWU
http://youtu.be/vHbi2mSwK8k
Two videos of very endangered Rhinos can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/gQDogtGQGWU
http://youtu.be/vHbi2mSwK8k
Johnny's
Cafe is a 90 year old steakhouse in Omaha, straight out of the 50's, and is
great fun. This was our second time there, and we'll be back, if we
come this way again!
We
left Omaha on the 30th (Friday) and got as far as Blair
NE, spending the night at a tiny town park. next
to a pair of VERY busy railroad tracks, maybe 75' away. There must of
been a crossing just past the CG, as they laid into the whistle hard
and long, every time they passed the place (which was about every 20
minutes!)-levitates you right off the sheets in the middle of the
night! To make matters even worse, the trains were really long,
probably a quarter to a half mile each, and the tracks were up on an
embankment @ 30' above us, along the length of the CG-if one
derailed, the CG would be obliterated!
Got
a few projects done there, and moved on the next morning, before we
ended up underneath a train.
That
day (Sunday) we drove out to a remote, tiny recreation area called
Pelican Point, about 8 miles off the highway northeast of Tekamah NE, half of the drive on gravel. It got it's name from The Corps, as about 3 miles down stream from here, they encountered the river covered solid in white feathers, and couldn't for the life of them, figure out what was going on! They rounded a bend and came upon a sandbar with thousands of white pelicans in molt. We had seen them up to about mid-Mississippi, but didn't know they get this far north.
It is, of course, on the Missouri, and we were the only ones there camping, but a number of boaters came & went throughout the afternoon. By days end, everyone had left. It was a very peaceful night!
It is, of course, on the Missouri, and we were the only ones there camping, but a number of boaters came & went throughout the afternoon. By days end, everyone had left. It was a very peaceful night!
Chef No Tell and his outdoor kitchen
View up the Missouri
Taking the girls on a long walk off a short pier
On
the way there, we
stopped to check out Fort Atkinson, a state park near the town Fort
Calhoun, Nebraska. It was the only spot on the entire route that L &
C suggested would make a good site for a fort, so one was built
some years later. It was pretty amazing-the state & the town
(Fort Calhoun) spent 22 years recreating
the fort, which is huge in size. The park has grassy walkways, that
you follow around
to different buildings and a set of life sized bronzes, depicting a
meeting of the Corps with the Oto-Missouria Indians, including one of
Captain Clark's dog, Seaman. As you can see, Gus the Brave was in
full attack mode, protecting Mrs. B!
Well, post Fort Atkinson's days, I suppose...
On the way out of Tekamah the next morning, we spied this beautiful mural of the Corps of Discovery on the side of a building:
On Rt 75 headed to Decatur-note the anvil cloud at the top right-we sure did!!!
Camped in Beck Memorial Park, Decatur NE
Across from our campsite