31 August 2019
Wildflower - Black-eyed Susan
The Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) next to our yard are in full bloom and putting on a colorful show.
Bullfrog
After returning home from visiting our Grand-Kids and several Midwest airports that weren't on our itinerary, I discovered the weeds in our garden hadn't taken a vacation while we were gone. I found this bullfrog hiding under a cabbage while I was weeding.
30 August 2019
The Adventures of Air Travel
Prior to our trip to visit Chuck & Nikki, I went online to check the different flight options, such as airports, departure times, length of flight, number of stops ... In the past we would fly into Omaha, but since Chuck & Nikki now live 5 miles from the Lincoln,NE airport, here's how the flights went.
Getting to Lincoln NE: Start from Matt's house and drive to Scranton (AVP) airport. Check in, go through TSA security, and wait at gate and hear the announcement that our flight has been canceled. Re-booked for the same flight the next day. Return to Matt's house for the night.
Repeat the previous day's routine. The flight from Scranton (AVP) takes off for Chicago O'Hare (ORD) on time. Before reaching Chicago the pilot announces that bad weather at O'Hare is forcing delays and we don't have enough fuel to wait for landing. Our flight is diverted to Milwaukee (MKE) for fuel and additional instructions.
Land in Milwaukee and de-plane with all carry-on items. Since this delay will cause us to miss our connecting flight to Lincoln (LNK), we call Nikki and she suggests we re-book for Omaha (OMA) which is a 1 hour drive from Lincoln. We book seats on the Omaha flight and are re-boarded for a short flight from Milwaukee to O'Hare.
We arrive at O'Hare gate F28 with 45 minutes to get to gate C4, a 20+ minute walk, dragging our carry-on bags and Reed. Half way to gate C4 Mr. Reed sees a life-sized, 72-foot-long Brachiosaurus skeleton on the upper level of Terminal 1 in Concourse B.
Over Reed's objections we keep marching to gate C4. Upon our arrival at gate C4 we discover the flight to Omaha has a one hour delay. Reed suggests we go see the dinosaur while we wait. Reed takes the lead and shows grandpa the way to the dinosaur.
It's now almost 10:00PM (CTZ) and Reed hasn't had a nap but he out runs grandpa back to gate C4. We board the last flight of the day for Omaha and call Nikki with the updated arrival time. Nikki meets us at the Omaha airport and drives us to her home in Lincoln. We arrive around 1:00AM and Mr. Reed is still awake and is up at 8:00AM to see his cousins.
After spending time with Chuck, Nikki and the Grand-Kids, it's time to return home.
The return trip: Chuck drives us to the Lincoln (LNK) airport, which is 5 miles from their house, and drops us off. We go to check-in and discover that more bad weather at Chicago O'Hare has caused a delay in our flight and an earlier flight to O'Hare. We try to re-book on the earlier flight, but they only have 2 seats left and we need 3 seats.
Our flight to O'Hare is listed as "DELAYED" and Mr. Reed kills time with a coloring book.
We continue to monitor our flight status which is still listed as "DELAYED". We send Nikki a text message on our flight status and Mr. Reed settles in watching videos. Around 5:30PM Nikki drives to the Lincoln airport to check on us. Mary leaves the airport with Nikki and returns with meals for us (only vending machines at the airport).
About 8:00PM our flight to O'Hare is canceled and there are no more flights from Lincoln to O'Hare available for the next 2 days! We were able to re-book on a 10:15AM flight from Omaha to O'Hare for the next day. We call Matt to let him know the status of our return. Matt asks Reed "how's it going" and Reed replies with a sigh "it's been a long day". We return to Chuck & Nikki's house for the night.
We were up early the next day and Chuck dove us to the Omaha airport. This is normally a one hour drive but a major accident on the Interstate causes optional routes to be taken. All systems "GO" at check-in and an on time departure for O'Hare.
We arrive at O'Hare gate C4 (been here before) and need to get to gate F23, a 20 minute walk. We have a 6 hour wait for our next flight and Reed has lots of time to check out the dinosaur and look for souvenirs to remember these flights.
After waiting a couple of hours at gate F23 I check the status board and find our flight has moved to gate F10. Pick up and move to gate F10. Mr. Reed settles in and kills time watching more videos.
After a couple more hours of waiting I check the flight status board and find our gate has moved to F28, near F23 where we started. Pack up and move again. As we approach our scheduled departure time for the flight to Scranton there's still no incoming plane at gate F28. The incoming plane for the flight to Scranton was over an hour late arriving. We finally board the plane for the flight to Scranton. Reed checks the safety features of the plane before take-off. We arrive in Scranton over a day late and get home just after midnight. Reed was up by 8:00AM and ready for another day of fun with Grandpa & Grandma.
Getting to Lincoln NE: Start from Matt's house and drive to Scranton (AVP) airport. Check in, go through TSA security, and wait at gate and hear the announcement that our flight has been canceled. Re-booked for the same flight the next day. Return to Matt's house for the night.
Repeat the previous day's routine. The flight from Scranton (AVP) takes off for Chicago O'Hare (ORD) on time. Before reaching Chicago the pilot announces that bad weather at O'Hare is forcing delays and we don't have enough fuel to wait for landing. Our flight is diverted to Milwaukee (MKE) for fuel and additional instructions.
Land in Milwaukee and de-plane with all carry-on items. Since this delay will cause us to miss our connecting flight to Lincoln (LNK), we call Nikki and she suggests we re-book for Omaha (OMA) which is a 1 hour drive from Lincoln. We book seats on the Omaha flight and are re-boarded for a short flight from Milwaukee to O'Hare.
We arrive at O'Hare gate F28 with 45 minutes to get to gate C4, a 20+ minute walk, dragging our carry-on bags and Reed. Half way to gate C4 Mr. Reed sees a life-sized, 72-foot-long Brachiosaurus skeleton on the upper level of Terminal 1 in Concourse B.
Over Reed's objections we keep marching to gate C4. Upon our arrival at gate C4 we discover the flight to Omaha has a one hour delay. Reed suggests we go see the dinosaur while we wait. Reed takes the lead and shows grandpa the way to the dinosaur.
It's now almost 10:00PM (CTZ) and Reed hasn't had a nap but he out runs grandpa back to gate C4. We board the last flight of the day for Omaha and call Nikki with the updated arrival time. Nikki meets us at the Omaha airport and drives us to her home in Lincoln. We arrive around 1:00AM and Mr. Reed is still awake and is up at 8:00AM to see his cousins.
After spending time with Chuck, Nikki and the Grand-Kids, it's time to return home.
The return trip: Chuck drives us to the Lincoln (LNK) airport, which is 5 miles from their house, and drops us off. We go to check-in and discover that more bad weather at Chicago O'Hare has caused a delay in our flight and an earlier flight to O'Hare. We try to re-book on the earlier flight, but they only have 2 seats left and we need 3 seats.
Our flight to O'Hare is listed as "DELAYED" and Mr. Reed kills time with a coloring book.
We continue to monitor our flight status which is still listed as "DELAYED". We send Nikki a text message on our flight status and Mr. Reed settles in watching videos. Around 5:30PM Nikki drives to the Lincoln airport to check on us. Mary leaves the airport with Nikki and returns with meals for us (only vending machines at the airport).
About 8:00PM our flight to O'Hare is canceled and there are no more flights from Lincoln to O'Hare available for the next 2 days! We were able to re-book on a 10:15AM flight from Omaha to O'Hare for the next day. We call Matt to let him know the status of our return. Matt asks Reed "how's it going" and Reed replies with a sigh "it's been a long day". We return to Chuck & Nikki's house for the night.
We were up early the next day and Chuck dove us to the Omaha airport. This is normally a one hour drive but a major accident on the Interstate causes optional routes to be taken. All systems "GO" at check-in and an on time departure for O'Hare.
We arrive at O'Hare gate C4 (been here before) and need to get to gate F23, a 20 minute walk. We have a 6 hour wait for our next flight and Reed has lots of time to check out the dinosaur and look for souvenirs to remember these flights.
After waiting a couple of hours at gate F23 I check the status board and find our flight has moved to gate F10. Pick up and move to gate F10. Mr. Reed settles in and kills time watching more videos.
After a couple more hours of waiting I check the flight status board and find our gate has moved to F28, near F23 where we started. Pack up and move again. As we approach our scheduled departure time for the flight to Scranton there's still no incoming plane at gate F28. The incoming plane for the flight to Scranton was over an hour late arriving. We finally board the plane for the flight to Scranton. Reed checks the safety features of the plane before take-off. We arrive in Scranton over a day late and get home just after midnight. Reed was up by 8:00AM and ready for another day of fun with Grandpa & Grandma.
29 August 2019
Grand-Kids
Along with all of the planned activities of our visit, it was a chance for the cousins to play together. Checking out Myra's new birthday tent.
Exploring Myra and Henry's new backyard playset.
Making homemade ice cream.
Rub-a-dub-dub three kids in a hot-tub
Exploring Myra and Henry's new backyard playset.
Making homemade ice cream.
Rub-a-dub-dub three kids in a hot-tub
Wild Plums
During our recent visit to Iowa to see the grand-kids, the wild plums were starting to ripen at the Fisher Wildlife Area near Chuck & Nikki's "farm" property.
The search was on for the ripest/sweetest plums for picking.
Nikki plans to make wild plum jelly from this 1/2 bucket of plums.
After hand-pitting these plums, Nikki started cooking the plums for jelly.
Since we don't have any wild plums in our area, I brought the plum pits home and will attempt to propagate some local wild plums. During our flights home I had to open my carry-on bag twice for TSA security to check my bag of plum pits.
The search was on for the ripest/sweetest plums for picking.
Nikki plans to make wild plum jelly from this 1/2 bucket of plums.
After hand-pitting these plums, Nikki started cooking the plums for jelly.
Since we don't have any wild plums in our area, I brought the plum pits home and will attempt to propagate some local wild plums. During our flights home I had to open my carry-on bag twice for TSA security to check my bag of plum pits.
28 August 2019
Water Lilies
During our recent visit to Iowa/Nebraska, our son Chuck and I stopped at the Willow Slough Wildlife Management Area near Hastings, Iowa, to check out the fishing conditions. What we found were water lilies. Lots of water lilies!
The water level in the impoundment had dropped leaving the water lilies at least 2 feet above the water.
There were acres of just water lilies in bloom.
For a sense of scale, here's an aerial view of the water lilies with Chuck and I standing on the boat ramp (bottom center of photo). There may be fish in the water but it would be hard to get a boat or hook in the water.
The water level in the impoundment had dropped leaving the water lilies at least 2 feet above the water.
There were acres of just water lilies in bloom.
For a sense of scale, here's an aerial view of the water lilies with Chuck and I standing on the boat ramp (bottom center of photo). There may be fish in the water but it would be hard to get a boat or hook in the water.
University of Nebraska Museum
We stopped in to see Nikki's new office at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her office is located in the Pershing Military & Naval Science Building next to the entrance of the football stadium and across the parking lot from the University of Nebraska State Museum.
Reed checks out a display in the museum of dinosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Reed and Myra discus mammoths and mastodons.
Myra and Reed made quick work of a dinosaur puzzle.
Myra and Reed study leaf-cutter ants.
Henry and Reed discus the differences between a tyrannosaurus (T. Rex) and this allosaurus.
The grand-kids found the interactive displays very interesting. This display was about parasites.
The grand-kids and Chuck looking for the queen bee in this honey bee hive.
Time to rest the feet and have a snack of raisins.
The snack break is over and it's time to dig for dinosaur bones.
Reed checks out a display in the museum of dinosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Reed and Myra discus mammoths and mastodons.
Myra and Reed made quick work of a dinosaur puzzle.
Myra and Reed study leaf-cutter ants.
Henry and Reed discus the differences between a tyrannosaurus (T. Rex) and this allosaurus.
The grand-kids found the interactive displays very interesting. This display was about parasites.
The grand-kids and Chuck looking for the queen bee in this honey bee hive.
Time to rest the feet and have a snack of raisins.
The snack break is over and it's time to dig for dinosaur bones.
Animals & Aircraft
Another day exploring at Chuck and Nikki's with the grand-kids. We traveled to Ashland, NE and our first stop was the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari.
This is a drive-through safari park where you can get close to the animals.
Mr. Reed did his deer call, "Here deer... Here deer ... Come here deer" to get close to the elk.
Pull off areas allowed more interaction with some animals. Myra and Reed grooming goats.
Reed likes goats
The grand-kids on an old John Deere 720 tractor.
Getting close to a bald eagle.
Sandhill Crane.
The weather started to change to rain and it was time to head indoors a couple of miles away at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Myra and Henry in front of an SR-71 Blackbird (Reed was exploring).
The grand-kids checking out some of the World War II aircraft.
Reed controlling a model airplane in a wind tunnel. It was hard to get him away from the controls. He then declared "I know how to fly".
Reed showing Myra and Henry his newly acquired piloting skills.
This is a drive-through safari park where you can get close to the animals.
Mr. Reed did his deer call, "Here deer... Here deer ... Come here deer" to get close to the elk.
Pull off areas allowed more interaction with some animals. Myra and Reed grooming goats.
Reed likes goats
The grand-kids on an old John Deere 720 tractor.
Getting close to a bald eagle.
Sandhill Crane.
The weather started to change to rain and it was time to head indoors a couple of miles away at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Myra and Henry in front of an SR-71 Blackbird (Reed was exploring).
The grand-kids checking out some of the World War II aircraft.
Reed controlling a model airplane in a wind tunnel. It was hard to get him away from the controls. He then declared "I know how to fly".
Reed showing Myra and Henry his newly acquired piloting skills.
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