Catching up on Omaha!

   I took a quick weekend trip up to Omaha July 6-8 with Allyson and Scott—my first time at the Henry Doorly zoo! I was shooting with my brand-new Canon EOS Rebel t4i (which, admittedly, I don't even know how to use yet), and Scott borrowed my Sony HX1. We both got some great shots, and I'm working on posting them now. Scroll down to the "blog archive" pulldown menu on the right and select the appropriate date range to see what we captured.

Omaha Zoo: Flocks of Birds

Peacock in hiding

His adorable family! (ARGH! My photo is blurry!!!)  :(

Scott gives Ms. Peacock a wide berth

Stork, sans baby

Flamingo quarrel

Meanwhile, a sweet moment between ibis

Watching from under the bridge

Spoonbill storks and their gangly, pink babies

A very serious-looking snowy egret

Omaha Zoo: Bear vs. Bear

   The polar bear. Handsome, charming, and a delight to all, with those big, furry paws and charming backstroke.

   And then there's the Malayan sun bear. I'm sure he has a... uh... nice personality.

Omaha: Desert Dome

   Omaha zoo has some very cool exhibits and many unusual animals that you don't see at every zoo. The Desert dome was a favorite for sure, full of foxes, bats, and black-footed cats; thick-kneed birds, finches, meercats, and hyrax.

the handsome thick-kneed bird

the incredible & incredibly charming klipspringer

I need to research what the dark spot is at the corner of their eyes

saying hello to a beetle

they can fit all 4 hooves on a spot of cliff the size of a Canadian dollar

kookaburra

a grouchy-looking yet adorable burrowing owl

a sleepy and not-so-swift swift fox

Omaha: Primates

   Ah, Omaha... home of King Kong burgers, and equally impressive real primates.

   Check out these big boys from the zoo. They gave me a good chance to try out my new DSLR camera.

   HEY, MONKEY! Aren't you supposed to be holding up a giant hamburger?!

Flipping me off, eh?

Well, let's move on to the orangutan then...

More fun than a bucket of monkey!

Omaha & the Alpine Inn

   My first time in Nebraska, with Scott at the helm. And what's this about Arbor Day? 

   No time to stop and figure it out... we have chicken to eat and 'coons to watch, at the famed Alpine Inn!

   Dinner at a roadside attraction: fried chicken is served in heaping baskets, and leftovers are thrown on a platform out back, so that diners can enjoy the view out the picture windows: hordes of raccoons and feral cats climbing up for a feast! The cats showed up first:

   and were soon joined, or rather, scooted out of the way, by over a dozen hungry raccoons:

   They even muscled past the kitties to wash the grease off their paws & get a drink. Sheesh! 

   The kitties were cute, but looked a little sad. I can't imagine this diet is good for them, much less the fraternization with mangy 'coons!

   Above the fireplace in the Alpine Inn was a black velvet painting of their main attraction:

   Not unlike a souvenir postcard we found at a gas station on our way home two days later. But I beg to differ: Nebraska is the raccoon state!

Council Bluffs: Microtel

   A micro room for a micro person! (Actually, it was plenty big—bigger than some of the hotels in Japan—clean, and comfortable too!)

Be still, my beating heart...

   We haven't even left for Omaha & we've already spotted wildlife. In fact, he stared menacingly at me the whole way there. Please hunt him down if I don't return alive.

And hmm, what's this?

   Scott made homemade beef jerky for our trip: teriyaki flavor. And it is his finest yet! I had to have him take the bag away from me after several handfuls, lest I hurt myself. But the rest of the drive, I struggled with the urge to tear off my seatbelt and lunge into the back seat like a wild animal, fighting Scott off and reclaiming the bag. (Yes, it's THAT good.)

Torture!!!

   My mom just called me to torture me. She's going to see Usher tonight. So. Not. Fair.

   Now it's got me thinking about driving up to Omaha to see him this Sunday. Crazy? Maybe. But it IS Usher, after all....