June 1 and 2, 2019 Saturday and Sunday Days 14 and 15
Saturday
We packed up in the morning and finally met our Airbnb host. Complimented her on her guest quarters and thanked her for the electricity that filled up the battery. So we took off for a return trip to Omaha/Bellevue with 53 miles. Driving westward on I-80 we gain saw the forest of very big windmills in the fame lands along the highway. A rest stop in Iowa had a big exhibit on renewable energy. There was a windmill blade there and it was very large. We had learned that these and the towers are now manufactured in Newton in a former Maytag facility. Iowa is the second largest producer of wind energy in the country. Yet there was no electric charging station at the rest stop.
We arrived in Omaha in the early afternoon. Lewis and Clark passed through this area in 1804. The Kansas Nebraska Act (which repealed the Missouri Compromise and set the country on an inevitable path to a civil war) spurred development and the city was founded in that same year by land speculators from across the river in Council Bluffs, IA. In 1859 it was the eastern terminus of the Pony Express and in 1862 it was designated as the eastern terminus of the trans-continental railroad. Construction by the Union Pacific began in 1863. There is a terrific railroad museum by the Union Pacific in Council Bluffs which tells the story of the westward expansion of the railroads in the US. It became a transportation hub and in the 20 century it had the largest stockyards and slaughter houses in the world. By the 1950s over half the workforce in Omaha was engaged in meat slaughtering, packing and processing.
The city has a stories history of labor and racial strife. As early as the 1890s there were several instances when the state militia or federal troops were called out to protect either striking workers or struck company's replacement workers. In 1891 a black railroad porter was lynched because he allegedly raped a white girl. And in 1919 while in the middle of that summer's Red riots, a mob burnt down the county courthouse to get at and lynch a Black man for allegedly having sex with a white woman. The mayor attempted to stop these proceedings, but he too was lynched, although he was saved for death.
The stockyards are now all gone along with the historic district along the riverfront, demolished at the insistence of ConAgra which wanted the land to build a new campus.
Fontenelle's Post was established in 1823 as a fur trading post in what became Bellevue. That city is now home to Offutt Air Force Base which was created during WWII. The Enola Gay was built at Offutt. It is now the largest employer in the metropolitan area. Fontenelle was a Chief of the Omaha tribe who signed treaties which ceded much of the land that eventually became Omaha to the federal government.
After meeting my son we went to Fontenelle Forest. That is essentially a private park, we got in via a military discount, which has preserved a large forested area along the Missouri River and also treats injured raptors. It keeps and displays the raptors who cannot recover sufficiently to return to the wild. We spent a few hours viewing the raptors and walking the trails through the Forest.
The view across the Missouri River showed much flooded farmland.
We ate dinner at a burger joint, Stellas, and then watched a movie
Sunday
Walked around my son's neighborhood and then went out shopping. First we went looking for an electric lawn mower for my son. He has a large back yard and has been borrowing a neighbor's riding mower. We looked at several models in several warehouse stores, but realized that they would be on sale over the July 4th weekend, so the purchase was delayed (It was subsequently made.) Then we went to a T-Mobile store at my son's insistence to replace my 4.5 year old cellphone. My current one is still working but has very limited storage and the battery has degraded to the point that it does not hold a charge for a full day. Presto, problems solved with a new Google Pixel 3a.
We purchased some salmon and food for dinner and cooked at my son's home.
Saturday
We packed up in the morning and finally met our Airbnb host. Complimented her on her guest quarters and thanked her for the electricity that filled up the battery. So we took off for a return trip to Omaha/Bellevue with 53 miles. Driving westward on I-80 we gain saw the forest of very big windmills in the fame lands along the highway. A rest stop in Iowa had a big exhibit on renewable energy. There was a windmill blade there and it was very large. We had learned that these and the towers are now manufactured in Newton in a former Maytag facility. Iowa is the second largest producer of wind energy in the country. Yet there was no electric charging station at the rest stop.
We arrived in Omaha in the early afternoon. Lewis and Clark passed through this area in 1804. The Kansas Nebraska Act (which repealed the Missouri Compromise and set the country on an inevitable path to a civil war) spurred development and the city was founded in that same year by land speculators from across the river in Council Bluffs, IA. In 1859 it was the eastern terminus of the Pony Express and in 1862 it was designated as the eastern terminus of the trans-continental railroad. Construction by the Union Pacific began in 1863. There is a terrific railroad museum by the Union Pacific in Council Bluffs which tells the story of the westward expansion of the railroads in the US. It became a transportation hub and in the 20 century it had the largest stockyards and slaughter houses in the world. By the 1950s over half the workforce in Omaha was engaged in meat slaughtering, packing and processing.
The city has a stories history of labor and racial strife. As early as the 1890s there were several instances when the state militia or federal troops were called out to protect either striking workers or struck company's replacement workers. In 1891 a black railroad porter was lynched because he allegedly raped a white girl. And in 1919 while in the middle of that summer's Red riots, a mob burnt down the county courthouse to get at and lynch a Black man for allegedly having sex with a white woman. The mayor attempted to stop these proceedings, but he too was lynched, although he was saved for death.
The stockyards are now all gone along with the historic district along the riverfront, demolished at the insistence of ConAgra which wanted the land to build a new campus.
Fontenelle's Post was established in 1823 as a fur trading post in what became Bellevue. That city is now home to Offutt Air Force Base which was created during WWII. The Enola Gay was built at Offutt. It is now the largest employer in the metropolitan area. Fontenelle was a Chief of the Omaha tribe who signed treaties which ceded much of the land that eventually became Omaha to the federal government.
After meeting my son we went to Fontenelle Forest. That is essentially a private park, we got in via a military discount, which has preserved a large forested area along the Missouri River and also treats injured raptors. It keeps and displays the raptors who cannot recover sufficiently to return to the wild. We spent a few hours viewing the raptors and walking the trails through the Forest.
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| View from the Forest across the flooded Missouri River |
We ate dinner at a burger joint, Stellas, and then watched a movie
Sunday
Walked around my son's neighborhood and then went out shopping. First we went looking for an electric lawn mower for my son. He has a large back yard and has been borrowing a neighbor's riding mower. We looked at several models in several warehouse stores, but realized that they would be on sale over the July 4th weekend, so the purchase was delayed (It was subsequently made.) Then we went to a T-Mobile store at my son's insistence to replace my 4.5 year old cellphone. My current one is still working but has very limited storage and the battery has degraded to the point that it does not hold a charge for a full day. Presto, problems solved with a new Google Pixel 3a.
We purchased some salmon and food for dinner and cooked at my son's home.
What kind of phone did you get? Did MJB make a recommendation?
ReplyDeleteGoogle pixal 3a. es he was instrumental in the selection
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