Last day!

Saturday, April 07, 2012
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Our last full day during the road trip portion of our spring break trip. Also our last chance for a Cracker Barrel breakfast, so we found the nearest Cracker Barrel followed by a Starbucks and then headed north from Kansas City.

First stop, Leavenworth, Kansas . In the 1800s, Leavenworth was the largest city in Kansas. It was home to Fred Harvey, Buffalo Bill, and many more. Today it has a historic district, a college and a federal prison. Leavenworth is also filled with both Lewis & Clark and OregonTrail history. After touring town and checking out the Harvey House we headed across the Missouri river and headed for St. Joseph. Along the way there are green rolling hills with cows and farms.

St. Joseph is and old town with a lot of pioneer history as well. The Pony Express started it's delivery run to California from St. Joseph. The route was about 1900 miles and was broken up into 5 districts. The riders would ride an 8-10 hour stretch before handing their letters the next rider. This meant a letter could go from St. Joseph to California in 5 days or less compared with 10 days or more by stage coach. From St. Joseph the mail could travel by train to the eastern cities. The Pony Express only operated for 18 months before a telegraph line replaced it, and soon followed by transcontinental railroads . St. Joseph is also were Jesse James was shot and killed. They have the house his house on display with the bullet hole of the lethal shot. 

Back on the road, headed for Iowa and then Nebraska. The terrain changed quickly to flat farm land. Mostly corn stubble from last years harvest. The wind was also blowing strong. We enter Iowa, just a few very small towns with not much to eat. Finally we find a truck stop with a Subway. After lunch we drive on into Council Bluffs, Iowa and then across the Missouri river to Omaha, Nebraska.  

We checked into our hotel and then head out to hit a few highlights of Omaha before our final packing before our flights home tomorrow.

We toured the Durham museum which tells the history of Omaha. Trains, farming, and an international expo in the late 1800s. After the museum we walked across the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge. A very cool suspension bridge that crosses the Missouri river, connecting Nebraska and Iowa . Right next to the bridge is a landing site of Lewis & Clark. There is a National Park Service center dedicated to the Lewis & Clark expedition. Unfortunately it is only one Monday - Friday so we could not check it out. Omaha has a zoo that is considered one of the best in the US, but we did not have time to see everything. Omaha is home to several Fortune 500 companies (Union Pacific, ConAgra, Bershire-Hathaway) as well as Creighton University. We returned our minivan and took the hotel shuttle to the old town district for dinner and browsing. We met a family from Minnesota who was also on spring break. They have been to many of the same cities that we have and visited the same museums and historical sites. So it turns out we are not the only crazy family out there.

Back at our hotel the kids went swimming while I did the final packing. Getting all the souvenirs safely packed amongst the dirty laundry. Early to bed for an early morning flight home.

1,426 miles driven, 6 states, numerous museums, memorials, and historic sites.

Time to plan next years Spring Break trip...

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2025-02-12

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