Newbraska

This photo was actually taken at the end of our time in NE, on a country highway. You can see Big Boy in the background.

We began our week in a new state. Somewhere none of us had ever been before. Nebraska.

Omaha skyline

We crossed the border from Iowa into Omaha. We made one stop there at the Joslyn Castle. It’s been a part of the city since 1903.

Isn’t it lovely? But this isn’t even the castle. It’s the carriage house!

George and Sarah Joslyn were the first millionaires of the Midwest. He made his fortune in the newspaper business. The Joslyns named their estate Lindhurst, but all the locals referred to it as the Joslyn Castle, so that’s the name that stuck.

Another view of the Carriage House. It was built before the main home. The Joslyns loved and preferred riding their horses, even after purchasing the first car in the city.

They paid to have all mature landscaping put in, particularly trees.

Below are photos of what the home looked like when they lived in it.

Eleven months after construction first began, the Joslyns moved in! Amazing, even by today’s timelines of home building. Be sure you’re sitting down before reading the next sentence. Are you sitting? All the wood used in the home was brought in in plank or beam form and hand-carved and fitted right there during the building!! And all within that eleven months!!! They had artisans from around the world working on their home non-stop. The locals said it was like a busy ant hill. If you’re familiar with the story of Solomon’s temple being built in the Bible, with thousands of workers working, it was probably like that on a smaller scale. The staircase in the bottom left picture is made of Spanish mahogany. That wood is no longer available anywhere in the world, and their whole dining room and foyer are made from it. The top right photo is made from wood found in Thailand. All the carving is so intricate — and it was done by hand!! In eleven months!!!!

There were so many details everywhere. These are ceilings in two of the rooms

George and Sarah were not very tall people. Their home had custom-made furniture and counters to fit their height. He was around 5’2″, and Sarah was 4’11”. Needless to say, this original piece fit the boys and me perfectly!

This light fixture is also original to the home. And the front door weighs 1800 lbs!!

The home across the street from the castle (below), belonged to a high-ranking military official. There was a tunnel running underground between the castle and this home. The military man let George in on news right when it happened, helping George become a newspaper mogul. The right photo shows a brick street in front of the castle. I’m sure George and Sarah rode their horses on it.

Before leaving Omaha, we made sure Mel got her time at an off-leash dog park.

She had a blast running in freedom and got so muddy, Albert gave her a bath. To help her dry off, we went for a walk. We’d heard some live music coming from somewhere and went on an expedition to find it.

These guys were having a concert here later that evening. We got to listen in on a free jam session….oh, yeah….

We got back on the road and headed for Lincoln. There is another Advenist college there, Union College, and we were curious what it looked like. We’ve had several friends attend, but never had the opportunity to see it ourselves. The campus was very beautiful. So many tall, mature, shady trees. And there are several shopportunities across the street.

Our last stop was Camp-away Campground. The boys had fun playing basketball and climbing trees while Mel enjoyed some more dog park time.
The next day, we headed to the Sunken Garden. It’s a beautiful, Butchart Gardens-like oasis in town.

The story for the garden’s beginning is a really neat one.

These Elephant Ears reminded Albert of plants he saw growing up in Peru.

Next was a used book store. Dayne is still on the hunt for some special books, but alas, just a few days earlier, they’d sold several books to another boy. But we found some other treasures, including some new friends. The bookstore people were so friendly and kind.

Bluestem grass is a grass that grows in NE.

It was lunchtime, which meant Valentino’s pizza. When my sister and I were younger, my mom had a friend who was from Lincoln. She’d always rave about Valentino’s pizza. When coming to visit in CA, her mom would sometimes bring a Valentino’s pizza on the flight. I’d always wondered if pizza could be that good. Thankfully my sister reminded me where we were, in Lincoln, home of Valentino’s. Oh, yeah! We’ve got to try it! So we visited the University of Nebraska campus where they have a Valentino’s in the student food court. It was yummy. I could’ve eaten two more slices, but the one was delish. The crust was so soft and filling. The sauce just right. And they aren’t skimpy on the toppings. It was well-covered. Every bite was tasty. I’d take it on a plane!

Outside the Student Center, they also had hammocks. The boys really enjoyed them!

We felt the need, the need for speed, so we made our last stop at the American Museum of Speed.

It is filled with three floors of the Smith family collection. Some of the cars and other items are on loan from other owners, but most of it is from the life-long passion of Bill “Speedy” Smith’s collecting.

Albert enjoyed being on a tour given by Duane. Duane also has a passion for sharing his years of experience of being around cars. They also have working machine shops in the museum, as shown below.

The boys and I decided to skip the tour and do our own thing, so Albert could enjoy listening without feeling like he was keeping us. We found plenty to do, including some racing of our own. And we found some relics from the past.

We drove out of Lincoln and spent the night in Mason City. The boys had already gone to bed by the time we pulled in after midnight, and Albert and I were looking forward to hitting the hay for some deep sleep. Alas, it was not to be.

This is Main St. Near the center of the photo, you can see an aluminum colored cylinder. It’s across the railroad tracks. Trains went through town all night long, seemingly on the hour, every hour. Blaring their horns. Then, if that wasn’t enough, at 6am, a siren went off. Sort of like a town alarm clock. It was one of those old-fashioned hand-cranked kind that didn’t die off for the loooooooooooongest time.

Across the street from the park, you couldn’t help but notice this adorable, old building. It has a beautiful new black metal roof and an artistic metal sign out front. I thought it was a restaurant. I told Albert I was going to walk up and take some pictures of this beautiful structure and be right back. Famous last words.
As I rounded the corner, there was a friendly woman taking items from her car into the store. We got to talking about this beautiful structure and I asked when the store would open. Come to find out, this was no store, but her studio! She asked me if I’d like to come in for a look around. Um, yes, please!! The next half hour was so fun. Lisa has such a beautiful collection and sells around the world. The most beautiful part was her warm and welcoming personality. She’s in the process of rebranding, but if you’re into Peruvian photography (she was delighted to meet Albert) and other unique international pieces, look for Chasing the Rosetta Sun online later down the road.

We have a chair and ottoman at home that match this couch. It was beeeeeautiful!

Can you imagine having this as your work space?

The building was a church originally. Then the Masons bought it and put in this tin ceiling. That was back in the 1920’s.

This is her HVAC system, done so it doesn’t take away any of the beauty of the ceiling. Lisa and her cowboy contractor did all of the work to restore this building. It took her several months to work through the seven layers of wall paper and paint, but this work of art was worth it.

After our visit with Lisa, we continued on down the country road. It took us through Broken Bow, NE. Doesn’t that name just ooze coolness?! It was the largest town we drove through, and Albert found a fun community water recreation center. We spent a couple of hours there.