A nice visit to Nebraska!

We've traveled to all the states now, so of course we've been through Nebraska...but, somehow we missed going through Lincoln, and that's where the State Capitol is!  Since I have a "thing" about seeing all our State's Capitols, we needed to venture into Lincoln this trip!  ;-)

...and I'm so glad we did!  What a beautiful State Capitol is is too!  Matt, our guide gave a great tour.  He loves the Capitol, and it really showed.  He was extremely knowledgeable and really took the time to explain all the wonderful details from floor to ceiling.  The architects were from New York, but had a local history professor assist them so that they incorporated finite details to everything.  Almost all of it was done in mosaic and done as a story so it flowed from one room to another.  It took 10 years and was done as a "pay as you go" so no debt was made.  Nice.  Nebraska also is the only state that has a Unicameral legislative (single branch).  Back in 1937 one of their Senators fought for it and convinced the people that it would save them tax money, etc. so they voted it in.  The 49 Senators are part-time and only earn $12,000 per year for 2 years and can only be re-elected once again.  I'd say Nebraska could teach Washington a thing or two!

Additionally they had beautiful art pieces throughout the Capitol, Venetian glass murals, paintings depicting Nebraska life, past, present & future.  On the 14th floor observation area, they had murals dedicated to public service in the Memorial Chamber.

One last beauty, as we left, was this hand carved door.  It was to the Senate Room that is no longer used (as a Senate) since they are Unicameral.  It took the artist 10 years to complete.  Even the lock to the door (the flower) was thought out.  Even after all these years, that door is impeccable.  I have to say, this Capitol is one of the finest we've visited so far.

We camped in the small town of York, and just down the road from us was a delightful place, called Wessels Living History Farm.  Jack's been absolutely fascinated with those very large agricultural watering systems that we've been seeing as we drive by these miles and miles of farms.  We figured we could learn about them there...so off we went!

Wessels is a 1920's prosperous farm, complete with a functioning corn field, barn, small church and school house.  Mr. Wessel willed it to the city so that children would learn what it was to farm during the turn of the century.  They hold classes there, teaching children how to plant, churn butter, make flour, etc.  Very cool.  We had a great chat with one of the docents and Jack got all his answers about the Reinke Agriculture Watering System!  Nebraska has a vast aquifer just under the land that they only have to dig down about 160' or so, and link these systems up to go along their crops for almost a mile.  They can use electric, gas, battery or water power.

They had a sign there that was quite enlightening:  In 2011, Nebraska was:

1st in Red meat production
2nd in Pinto bean production
3rd in Corn production
4th All dried bean production
5th Soybean production
6th Winter wheat production
7th All hay production
10th Table egg layers 9,455,000

Nebraska utilizes 45.5 million acres, or 93% of the states total land area.  99% of Nebraska farms and ranches are Family Owned.

Wow.  I thought that said a lot.  I can tell you that driving through the state, it showed!  I think that since 2011, though, they flipped their numbers with Red meat and Corn, because we sure saw a LOT of corn and almost no cows!!!

Well, we are off to South Dakota from here, so, back on the road we go...Marie


If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Cheyenne!

We've toured a great part of Wyoming, but not the lower portion of the state, so decided that we would "finish off the state" and start in Cheyenne for a few days (while waiting on our mail) then head across the state towards Utah.  That way we will see Laramie, Rock Springs, the Flaming Gorge, Evanston and then out we go towards Salt Lake City!  That's the plan...but who knows, we often "turn left" as our friends well know!  ;-)

But first, we are exploring Cheyenne!  Being the capitol of Wyoming, that was the first thing I wanted to go see...well, shucks, it's under a multi-year renovation and all closed up!  ;-(   Looks like it's going to be really nice when it's all done next year....oh well...at least the outside dome was uncovered...

So, if you can't spend time exploring the inside of the capitol, you go visit the inside of the Historic Governors' Mansion!  This is the first residence provided for 19 governors and their families from 1905-1976.

The mansion was intended to be a home of the people and was never enclosed by a fence or had on site security.  The mansion underwent an extensive restoration in 2004 and is decorated with furniture and collections from the previous residents.

As we entered, someone was playing the piano in the Drawing Room.  Fun!  You are given a map, and allowed to wander on your own, which is so nice, and different than so many other historic homes.  Afterward I had a delightful chat with the ranger on duty, not only about the home, but about the area in general and places to see along our route.  Such nice people here!

Afterward we decided to take the Trolley Tour and get a 90 minute guided tour of the whole town.  It starts at their historic Cheyenne Depot which used to be the Union Pacific Depot back in 1887 which is built in a "Richardsonian Romanesque" style.  It's really quite something to see...quite beautiful inside and out.

This was our first "sighting" of the Boots...these are all over the city.  They are 8' tall and each painted by a different artist & theme....like other cities have horses, or cows, etc.  Here's a couple...

We saw some wonderful "painted ladies" from the 1800s, the home of Nellie Tayloe Ross (c1920s) First female governor of Wyoming, the US Marshall's window from 1902 where Tom Horn was arrested and then hung for murder (last person ever hung in WY), and a "Big Boy" train locomotive which is pretty rare!

We ended our day with a stop at their brand new Grand Conservatory in their Botanic Gardens.  It had just been open two weeks, so it still has a lot of work left to do, but it's going to be a nice addition to the park.  Next door is a children's area called The Paul Smith Children's Village that was really special.  If I would have had something like this near me when my children were small, we would have been there every day!  All sorts of small-sized furniture, cute tee-pees, secret gardens with a puppet theater, water features to play in, and on and on!  And flowers everywhere!  Wonderful place for adults and kids!  I didn't want to leave!  ;-)

A long day..and it ended nicely with a beautiful sunset...thank you Cheyenne!

...kicking back in Cheyenne,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

All Around Austin...

We've been to Texas a number of times, but never to the "Hill Country" area and not  specifically to Austin, which is one city I'd heard was "a fun one to visit" and "a must see", so this time, I was determined to make the time to get there, so off we went!  Well, as they say, "timing is everything"...and sometimes you just can't help when you get there.  We knew it would be "spring break", but were told that everyone goes to the coast, so it shouldn't be to bad, even tho Austin is a college town.  What we didn't know was that it was hosting the SXSW.  Which is a huge music, film & multimedia arts convergence that comes to town for 12 days.  Hundreds of thousands of young folks pay hundreds of dollars to attend and listen to hundreds of bands, see Indie type films, eat, drink, party, etc all day and night all along several blocks down the main city streets downtown.  Tents are set up and streets are blocked off.  This thing was BIG.

We arrived on it's last two days, not knowing where it was taking place, innocently deciding to see the famous "6th street area" so, headed downtown!  Oh boy!  Was that an experience!  Jack got to drive the gauntlet of detours with what seemed like 100 traffic cops, while I got to listen (?) to what seemed like 50 bands all trying to out-play each other at one time, since they were pretty much side-by-side, all while thousands of young people were doing their best at walking along so crowded together they could barely move (is that called a herd?).   Long lines were everywhere, outside restaurants, bars, the theaters, port-a-potties, etc.  Yet, everyone was dancing and having a great time!  I had Jack drive around a couple of times just so I could take it all in.  Ah, youth...were we ever that young?

We came back on Monday, after the festival was over, just to see if the area survived...it was completely clean, almost all traces gone.  All the stores, restaurants, bars, etc were closed though - exhausted!  You could almost hear them sleeping...a well deserved rest.  We never did make it back there...

So, instead, we enjoyed SoCo, or South Columbia Street!  Much more our style anyway...It's more Bohemian or funky, or as my kids say hippy.  Lots of fun murals, unusual stores, including a Tom's Shoe Store (1 of only 5) some great food places, some live music, and cool art stores.  Every time we visited this street we found something new, something different, something fun! 

When we weren't down on SoCo, we were off "seeing the sights", so first off was the State Capitol!  Quite impressive, I must say, although, hey, it's Texas, right?  Of course it's BIG, and of course the star dome is beautiful, but what was an unexpected surprise was the Rotunda floor.  A composite terrazzo design of the "Seals of the Nations" with the Seal of the Republic of Texas with its Lone Star in the center.  It's absolutely beautiful.  The details throughout the whole building are awesome, from the door hinge's to the various statues. 

Austin also is home to the LBJ Library, and we all know that Johnson was all Texan!  Visiting his library was both interesting and tough for me as it brought back a lot of memories.  Having lived through those years personally, it brought them all back.  Reading a lot of the material, I didn't envy Johnson taking over when he did, it was a tough time, and it no doubt was the reason he died so young.  He was in a no win situation.  Things are bad now, but back in the 1960's we were facing a war that not only where ALL our own family and friends were in; that we really didn't understand, and many didn't believe in, but we were fighting one here as well.  A war against each other - a race war like this generation has never seen.  Awful.  One that killed not only everyday people, but our leaders, both black and white ones.  I don't believe our country has ever been the same since. 

I needed something cheerful after that, so we went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center!  Lovely place, acres full of beautiful Texas Bluebonnets, Paintbrush, Evening Primrose, Spiderwort, Yellow star, Crossvine, trees, ponds, and all kinds of fun walking paths and things to explore.  It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon! 

It was suggested by a 'fellow Texan' that we go see the  Bullock Texas State History Museum, so we added it to our agenda!  It starts out with the discovery of the La Belle (c1684) and the restoration that's  currently taking place.  Then, of course, they talk about Stephen Austin, the Revolution, they move on to cotton, slavery, ranching, the oil boom, movies, and end with the iconic space scene "Houston..the Eagle has landed"(1969).  Cool.

It was finally our time to end our visit to Austin and move on to other parts of "the Hill Country" of Texas while the wildflowers are still blooming and the sun is still shining! 


...on the road in Texas,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/