We spent the first day at the renowned Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. What fun exploring desert landscape under a huge dome, meeting the animals, birds, and plants associated with that climate, mingling with butterflies and birds in the butterfly house, watching butterflies emerge from their chrysalises, straining to see the nocturnal critters in the underground creatures of the night exhibit, standing in awe of incredibly beautiful animals such as the giraffe, and giggling at the humorous ones such as the rhinoceros and the monkeys!

We also spent some time letterboxing, which took us to a cemetery, the beautiful Council Bluffs Public Library, and a Lewis and Clark monument that regrettably is so “out of the way” that we never would have seen it, if not for “boxing.”

The second day, we started out with breakfast at Sunset Park, and met two gentlemen who stopped to talk. The first was a young dad with his two children, who wanted them to see a Coleman stove “in action.” The second was Greg, a Viet Nam vet who for a few years has been playing horseshoes there. We had realized when we arrived at the park that these folks take horseshoes seriously, when we saw the world-class horseshoe set-up, including bleachers! Greg explained that indeed, horseshoes is a serious sport, and that his opponent that day was a champion! He also said that the skill is similar to bowling, and that good bowlers can easily transfer that skill to horseshoes. Greg is also retired from the Union Pacific Railroad, having worked on the VIP cars for many years. He regularly transported President Bush, Senior out to the ranch and back. His obvious pride in his work made us even more anxious to see the old Union Station in Omaha! Art is posting a little more about that.