I have always enjoyed trees, planting them, sitting under them etc. This may have come from my grandmother Woodward, who had a great appreciation of the outdoors and tried to pass it along to my brother and me. She knew more about flowers (and could name most every mountain flowers in the Rockies by sight!). I guess I filled in with the trees, although I can recognize a few of the hundreds of varieties in the US.
For many years I belonged to the Arbor Day Foundation. They promote planting trees to help the environment, encourage wildlife, keep our homes and cities cooler etc. They also promote a program called Tree City USA, the signs of which you may have seen across the country. You can learn a lot more about the organization at their website: http://www.arborday.org/ Check to see if your city is a member of Tree City USA at that site. Our area cities of Mishawaka and South Bend are!
Their headquarters are in Lincoln, Nebraska, but the Arbor Day Farm, where J. Sterling Morton first started a National Arbor Day 120+ years ago is in Nebraska City, Neb. His home is still there, located in Arbor Lodge State Park. An original spruce windbreak he planted is still easily seen.
Arbor Day Farm is an attraction, and it is still a work in progress, developing more educational programs aimed mostly at school children. One of great attractions is Lied (pronounced Leed) Conference Center. It is a beautiful structure that uses a lot of wood and native stone and has a rustic look, although it was built in 1993. I was proud to see that a former employer of mine...John Deere was a major contributor in constructing the building. International conferences are held there year round. It was a good vacation place as well. http://www.liedlodge.org/ It has a spa, pool, 144 rooms and a golf course nearby designed by Arnold Palmer. One interesting facet is their commitment to sustainability http://www.liedlodge.org/about/green.cfm . They also grow much of the food used in the great dining room. I treated myself to a Nebraska grown KC strip steak.
On Monday afternoon after checking in, I walked the half mile to the actual Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure area. Wow it was still hot and humid...upper 90s. I did take a towel with me and some water! I was able to get on the Discovery Tour, which is high tech....a big green John Deere tractor pulling what might at one time have been a hay wagon...it was covered and seats for passengers. It takes you through their farm and woods, showing many things they are doing in tree and farm development. They have a huge apple orchard, growing many varieties that are not available for sale in most of the world. Part of their reasoning is to maintain seed varieties for a constantly changing planet. Locals are invited to come in and pick during harvest time. They make a lot of cider and prepare apples for pies and other treats throughout the year at the Lodge and their Apple House.
They have a huge sunflower plot and use the seeds to feed local birds. The flowers were just beginning to open during my visit. The flower heads turn during the day to face the sun, although this picture appears to show some with their "backs" to it...during this heat wave!
After the tour, I sat in the information building and watched a video...mostly to cool off, then walked to the Apple House and had an Apple Cider Slushy! Ummm...good and cool!
As mentioned, I dined at the lodge and had a great meal.
BUMMER...one negative was the fact that I found out my email contact list had been hacked and email messages going out under my name to many on my list, producing spam letters hocking various products! Spent much of the evening dealing with that!
On Tuesday, after dealing more with the above, I checked out of the lodge and went back to the "Farm" and walked through their longer 2/3 mile woodland walk. They have information signs pointing out the various variety of trees, what they are good for (wildlife food etc.). I then went through their greenhouse and gift store. It was time to start heading home.
Nebraska City sits on the west banks of the Missouri River. I originally had intended to leave the area by crossing the Missouri there and heading out through western Iowa. However, one of the largest floods of recent Missouri River history is still working its way south and many of the roads are closed, including about 50 miles of Interstate 29. I worked my way toward Omaha, intending to cross there, but saw I could cross at Plattsmouth (US 34). I decided to do that in order to see some of the flood waters. The current water is that which has flooded over the dikes and is pretty much stuck there until it evaporates. It was quite impressive, given the several mile width of the river valley.
I made it to Des Moines for the night and decided to contact our niece Tracy Van Sickle who lives about an hour northwest of DM. I ventured there to meet her and her kids (husband Matt was at a meeting). Tracy took me on a tour of the area...which was of special interest to me, as we visited Boone, Iowa. My grandfather Ewall was born on a ship coming over from Sweden. My mother used to say that her dad's family came to "live with the Indians in Boone, Iowa." I have a feeling they were given land that was taken from the Native Americans and was being parceled out to European settlers to help populate the far west of the country at that time. Having never been through there, it was interesting to know this is where the grandfather I never met spent his early days. They also lived in
Avoca, Iowa, which I purposely drove through earlier that day. With little background information, it's hard to get much of a feel for "roots" other than seeing the terrain and some of the very old buildings that would have been there in the 1880s. Later they moved on to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where my mother was born, then on to Omaha.
One fascinating place Tracy took me was by the Kate Shelly railroad bridge that crosses the Des Moines River valley. It is the tallest double track bridge in America. Quite picturesque http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDwMget1mrk
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