OMAHA'S HENRY DOORLY ZOO

HENRY DOORLY ZOO

If you ever get to Omaha, Nebraska, their number one attraction, in my opinion is the Henry Doorly Zoo and I-Max theater. We saw 3-D Under the Sea while we were here and it was awesome. The zoo is Nebraska's number 1 paid attraction with 25 million visitors over the past 40 years. The zoo is nationally renowned for it's leadership in animal conservation and research. http://www.omahazoo.com/

Established in 1894 as Riverside Park Zoo, it was renamed the Henry Doorly Zoo in 1963 when Margaret Hitchcock Doorly donated $750,000 (4.5 million in 2005 dollars) with the stipulation it be renamed after her late husband, Henry Doorly, chairman of World Publishing Company.



This is a picture of an owl butterfly in the newly constructed Butterfly house.








The penguins put on quite a show in the Scott Aquarium. I could sit and watch their antics for hours.

A very rare sea dragon in the aquarium.

Another exhibit is Kingdoms of the Night, the worlds largest nocturnal exhibit and indoor swamp.

The Desert Dome is the world's largest indoor desert as well as the largest geodesic dome in the world.

The zoo also has the Lied Jungle which is the world's largest indoor rain forest.



A gorilla in the Hubbard Gorilla Valley. There are dome like viewing areas where children can sit and adults can look in at the gorillas. The gorillas seem to get a kick out of suddenly throwing their body against the dome and scaring the children! Then they calmly walk away.

The zoo also has the largest cat complex in North America.

In Durham's Bear Canyon it was fun to watch this polar bear play from an overhead viewing area. He would swim to the left of the pool then roll over on his back. Using is front paw he would push himself using the metal supports on the partition. He did this over and over.

A few statistics on the Henry Doorly Zoo:

As of 2004 the zoo had 130 acres;

More than 17,000 animals and 962 species;

Birds: 276 species, 1626 specimens

Mammals: 184 species, 2025 specimens

Fish: 181 species, 7600 specimens

Reptiles: 176 species, 598 specimens

44 endangered species

7 threatened species.

There was a beautiful sunrise through their sliding glass doors in the kitchen the morning we left Omaha for Colorado, April 10.

I am finding out there are too many "Goodbyes" with our vagabond lifestyle. It is hard to leave good friends like Ed and Bonnie. We had such a wonderful week with them and will treasure their friendship in the years to come. They have given us many wonderful memories and we thank them again and again.

See you soon, wonderful friends but now it's time to move on...

Melbourne, FL to Omaha NE March-April 09

Ceilidh will surely miss "Nana". Here she is getting one last snack. Ceilidh spent many hours sleeping on this chair with Bill's mom. Every morning she would go to Mom's back door and bark to be let in, then spend most of the day with her. I was beginning to wonder whose dog she was!!

Hitched up and ready to pull out. That's Jeanette and Jim with Bill. They came over to say "goodbye" on Sunday along with Cindy and family. We left Melbourne, Monday, March 30. The 4 1/2 months we spent with Bill's mom sure went fast! It was a great winter and we were glad to be able to help out while we were here.

After spending 2 nights at Flying J truck stops in Georgia, we settled in for 2 nights at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Kentucky. We had a beautiful site with great views of the lake. That's Ceilidh looking out the back window.

Barb & Ceilidh by the lake. This was the day before the TORNADO warning when we had to vacate the RV and gather with the other campers in the shower house. Luckily all we got was heavy rain, wind, and small hail. But, it makes you a bit nervous.....

I was so busy taking picture of the Arch in St. Louis that I missed crossing the Mississippi! After passing through St. Louis we crossed the Missouri River 3 times before we got to Omaha.

We had to take the RV over this bridge to get to Bonnie & Ed's son-in-laws place where we parked for a week. I was a little apprehensive but we made it across.







Having a laugh with my longtime friend, Bonnie, who I've known since 1963! We have so much fun together.







Bonnie, Ed and the girls, Shelly and Ceilidh. They got along great together and had fun chasing each other around the house and going for walks. Shelly is half beagle and half pug, a puggle.

Lunch at the Bohemian Cafe, my favorite Omaha eating place! They give you so much to eat that we get the lunch menu and still take half of it home. They have the best Hungarian goulash I have ever tasted, dumplings, sweet and sour cabbage, yum!






Bonnie and Ed's son-in-law, John, owns a boarding stable and also has horses of his own. He was kind enough to saddle up his own horse, Buck, and let me ride. Buck is a beautiful buckskin Quarter Horse. Even though he hadn't been ridden since last fall, he was wonderful to ride. He has the most amazingly smooth trot.






I rode in the outdoor arena since it was such a nice day. John also has the largest indoor arena in Eastern Nebraska. It is 100' x 220'. He has a beautiful boarding stable with 20 stalls and room for about 12 more. It is all insulated and heated.

Bonnie and Ed with a couple of the horses in their outdoor pen.

WICKHAM PARK, MELBOURNE, FL' 09

This is Wickham Park in Melbourne, Florida. We spent a lot of time walking the dog and riding our bikes through the park. Wickham Park is a public county park located at 2500 Parkway Drive and contains diverse recreational facilities.

This is the view as you come through the gate. if we ride our bikes it is about 2 miles from Bill's moms. By the time we ride through the park and campground and back "home" we cover 7-8 miles.

Bill and Ceilidh taking a break. The park has an off leash dog park, horseshoe pits, disc golf course, campground, equestrian center, archery range, exercise trail, nature trails, ball fields, playground, walking and jogging roadways, event pavilion, picnic pavilions, and swimming lakes.

The off leash dog park has several enclosed areas where dogs can run and play.

One of several lakes in the park. This particular lake is part of the disc golf course. A lot of discs end up in the lake and periodically you see someone wading in to retrieve their disc.

One of the lakes with the campground in the background. This lake is FULL of turtles. One day I counted 22 turtle heads in the water.

Barb and Ceilidh in front of the turtle lake.

Evidently the ducks can't read the "No Swimming" sign!

The day before we left Melbourne (March 29) we took one last ride to the park. I had several crusts of old bread and some stale cornbread to get rid of, so why not feed the turtles?? There were only a couple of turtles when we started feeding. By the time we were done there were about 18 heads bobbing in the water.

Of course this squirrel was hungry too and really liked my cornbread.

Just before you complete the circle around the park you pass the equestrian center. They were setting up chutes for a rodeo the day this picture was taken.

FT. CHRISTMAS, FL BLUEGRASS FEST MARCH '09

Fort Christmas, Florida has been used as a gathering place since the late 1880s. The original 10 acres of the park were officially donated to Orange county by M.M.Smith on June 6, 1930. A pavilion was built by the WPA during the 1930s. Since that time the park has expanded to 25 acres.

Mom and Bill enjoying french fries and pork bar-be-cue at the Bluegrass Fest on March 21, 2009. As you can see it was a beautiful, sunny day.

One of several bluegrass bands performing on the stage under a canopy of oak trees dripping with Spanish moss.

Bill standing at the entrance to Ft. Christmas. On Dec. 25, 1837 a force of 2000 US Army and the Alabama Volunteers arrived near this spot to construct a supply depot which was aptly named Ft. Christmas. The USA was in the midst of the Second Seminole Indian War, with the battle of Okeechobee also taking place on Christmas Day. As the war progressed, military action moved southward. As a result supply ships had to reroute through Jupiter Inlet. It was no longer timely for ships to utilize the St. John's River. For this reason, Ft. Christmas was abandoned in March of 1838,

This is a picture of the inside of the fort. Notice the Spanish moss hanging from the trees. In 1776, as a bicentennial project, Orange County Parks and Recreation Dept. along with the Army Corp of Engineers began construction of a full-size replica of Ft. Christmas. The new replica was completed in Dec. of 1977, one mile south of its original location, exactly 140 years later. (Do the math, the original fort was used for 3 months. It took over a year to build the replica.)

In 1990, the Ft. Christmas Historical Society developed a master plan to create a living history settlement at Fort Christmas Historical Park. The society has become instrumental in the preservation of rural heritage, the "Cracker" legacy of east Orange County.





This is a tree prepared for turpentining. Part of the bark is cut away and a series of "Vs" are cut into the tree. This would injure the tree and cause the gum to "bleed" out of the wood. A metal gutter was placed in the cut so the gum would drip down into a hanging clay cup called a Herty cup, collecting the turpentine.

This one room house with attached kitchen was home to a family with 10 children. When the boys reached the age of 12 or 13 they went to the barn to sleep. Notice the netting over the bed.
Originally beds were lined next to each other on this wall of the house.

This is the fireplace located opposite the bed area. It is constructed of mud and wood (stone being very scarce). Of course in time the wood dried out and would catch on fire. The fireplace was built so that when it caught fire it was simply pushed out of the wall and would burn outside and not catch the house on fire. They would simply build another fireplace to replace it.

A picture of a living room in one of the later houses. This house was lived in until the 1950s.

As you can see, some of the residents were rather well off and had many "fine" things.

Kitchen area. Earlier I mentioned the "Crackers" The term "Florida Cracker" refers to the original colonial era American pioneer settlers of the state of Florida. The first Florida Crackers arrived in 1773 when Spain traded Florida to Great Britain.

Bedroom furniture including a cradle.

The term "Florida Cracker" is now used as a proud self-description. Since the huge influx of new residents into Florida from the northern parts of the United States and Latin America, in the late 20th and early 21st century, Florida Cracker is used by some Floridians informally to indicate that their family has lived there for many generations and/or they were born and raised in the state of Florida. It is considered a source of pride to be descended from frontier people who did not just live but "flourished in a time before air conditioning, mosquito repellent and screens."

The ranch house kitchen.

BILL'S BIRTHDAY

MARCH 12, 2009


Bill recently celebrated his birthday with his mother for the first time since 1975! Mom said this was the first time she could wish him "Happy Birthday" in person in 34 years. After going out to dinner at Red Lobster, we came "home" and enjoyed a delicious angel food cake with creamy pineapple frosting. Yum Yum!!

WATCHING THE "DISCOVERY" LAUNCH

While in Florida we have been fortunate to watch the Endeavor return to KSC on the back of a 747 and now to watch the Discovery launch.

Just a thought as we sit waiting for the launch. Just a few days ago the resident astronauts of the Space Station had to "nudge" the station over a bit to avoid being hit by a 1/3 inch (yes one-third inch) piece of metal that is orbiting the earth at 18,000 mph. (That's equivalent of being hit with a 400 # refrigerator at 60mph.)

This piece of debris is from the Soviet military satellite "Kosmos 1275" which broke up somewhat mysteriously shortly after its 1981 launch. There are 310 pieces of debris from Kosmos slowly falling into lower orbits and NASA seems to know where they all are at any given time, not to mention all the other debris they keep track of. Maybe NASA should be in charge of Homeland Security or Immigration since those departments don't seem to know where anyone is!

Flight STS 119 Discovery is the 125th space shuttle flight, the 28th flight to the International Space Station, 36th flight for Discovery, and the 1st flight in 2009.

Lift off. It was 7;43 pm so it was not quite dark yet, but it still made a brilliant take off.

Still gaining altitude. There were lots of "ohs" and "aahs" from the crowd on the beach.

Commander Lee Archambault leads the Discovery crew of seven on this mission.

Heading out over the Atlantic.

The crew of STS 119 will deliver the S 6 truss equipment and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the ISS.

The S 6 truss completes the backbone of the station and provides 1/4 of the total power needed to support a crew of six. The truss weights 31,000 pounds and, after completion, the truss will be 335 feet long.

There will be space walks on days 5,7,9, and 11 of the mission, each lasting about 6.5 hours.

Also on board was a Urine Processing Assembly to remove impurities from urine which they haven't been able to get to work properly. Maybe that's a good thing, I know I'd have a hard time drinking purified urine!!

What a beautiful tail Discovery left in the evening sunset as she headed for outer space!

What we've been doing....

Our latest project was painting Mom's house!

See, we really haven't been on "vacation" all this time.

Mom outside the front door.

Front door complete with new lights and little chair for flowers.