Half milk, half cream.

This morning I got up and made a coffee.  To save having to keep cream AND milk in the fridge, you can keep a carton of half & half.  My coffee was delicious.

Transport for the week

I started the car with the remote fob from the driveway so that the engine had a chance to warm up. It was -13 degrees centigrade.  The air is so dry that there is no frost.  This makes going outside quite deceptive.

I dropped my host at work. I wanted to see the Durham Museum which is near downtown but it doesn't open until 10. This meant I had to go and find something to do, so I decided to go to a park.  

Arriving at the Park

Google maps suggested that there was a park also near the museum and downtown so I plugged in the details to satnav and off I tootled.  It's called the Heartland of America Park. It happens to be very close to Douglas Street which I took as a good omen. It was quite nice. I didn't walk round it a whole place as it was still -13.

Sore teeth on Douglas Sthreet.

I walked around and I was feeling happy so I was smiling a lot and what I discovered is that if you close your mouth after showing your teeth when it's -13, the temperature change is quite uncomfortable. Also, taking your hands out of your pockets to operate the camera makes them stop working.  Speaking of stopping working, a charged camera battery lasts much less time at -13 than it does at anything approaching winter temperatures at home. I took some snaps of the Gene Leahy Mall which is a sort of park which would have waterfalls and fountains and children skipping and playing happily if it was not the middle of winter.

I think people must forget what country they are in sometimes so they put up some flags to remind them.

I just love seeing my name on things.

Bridge across the Misouri River to Iowa.

Conagra Lake.  Named after the company who paid for it.

Gene Leahy Mall

View of Downtown from Heartland of America Park

Skyscrapers from Gene Leahy Mall.

More skyscrapers

If you look closely there are some Squirrels.

Water in the waterfalls was frozen, the ice could easily have been a foot thick.

Buses

Next to the Gene Leahy Mall was Douglas Street.  It had a couple of school buses parked on it. I asked a group of bus drivers what was happening as there were also Police cars with flashing lights cordoning off the street.  Apparently it is a field trip to a performance in a local theatre for elementary school kids. They bus them in from all over Omaha.

I thought going to elementary school in Wahoo sounded like it would be fun!

I wore a wooly jumper and my body was warm enough, I think that a hat is probably the most important single item of clothing necessary for surviving outside for more that a minute or two and I had one of them too but my legs were freezing and I couldn't work my hands so I went back to the car  and made my way to the Durham Museum for opening time.

The Durham Museum is in an old station.  Omaha is slap bang in the middle of the United States and was/is the location of the headquarters of the Union Pacific railroad. The station was quite a grand Art Deco affair. The museum is dedicated to the history of Omaha and the surrounding area.

After visiting the park, the camera battery died so I used my phone for the rest of these snaps.

Station/Durham Museum Exterior

Main hall.

Trains

It has some exhibits on the railroad because of its local importance but it also houses a load of Omaha History which I found really interesting.

Train coupling.

Funny old electric car

Douglas Trucks

They made trucks called Douglas here in Omaha.

This exhibit appears to be about the Freemasons.

Also a pretty amazing coin collection gifted to the city by the collector Byron Reed on his death. Byron Reed made his money in real estate in Omaha.

I spent a couple of hours in the museum and then went to meet Blair for lunch.  Lunch was a fine but fairly mediocre burger.

After that we went to Cabela's which is an outdoor sporting goods shop. I discovered that 'Sporting' means 'Hunting things' here.  You can buy shoes, guns, tents, boats, fishing rods or indeed anything you want but the centrepiece of the store is this enormous testament of taxidermy. 

(the Rhinoceros was fake)

Finished the day with a Pizza and a Mojito.

See you tomorrow.