Omaha Nebraska

We headed out by plane to Omaha Sunday, two days after the graduation. Fortunately we had time before leaving to attend services and listen to the flute choir of which Melissa is a member. They played a beautiful rendition of the hymn "Beautiful Savior", complete with many embellishments and trills. On Monday we attended our nephew Michael's graduation from Benson High in Omaha. Before the ceremony he wielded some drum sticks for a concert, it was quite awesome to see how he so handily flipped those sticks around on the drums! He is quite an accomplished young man; also plays the piano and is a member of the National Honors Society.

Two days after the graduation we toured Fort Atkinson. The site of this fort is an area in which Lewis and Clark stopped and the location where they had a peaceful meeting with local Native American Indians.The picture below is a memorial at the fort which commemorates that event.

That same day we also toured the Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha. The tree peony garden there was in bloom and quite beautiful. A wonderful scent from those trees filled that section of the garden!

Another area of the garden which we enjoyed was the model railroad garden which features live trees, plants and shrubs. The buildings near the railroad represent some of the historical buildings of Omaha.

 Speaking of railroads, that evening we boarded the California Zephyr from Omaha for our trip home.