Lincoln NE - Visiting Chuck & Carol

Sunday-Wednesday ( Oct 18-21):

We spent three days visiting with our friends, Chuck and Carol Leininger, in Lincoln. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and got The Duchess hooked up to 20 amp electric and water from Chuck's garage/workshop. Connie had worked with Chuck during the construction of the Provident Crossing Senior Living Center in Round Rock Texas in 2011 and we have remained friends since then. Chuck has been very generous with us: allowing us to stay in his house in Missouri and use his time share condo in Branson over the last few years. Chuck is the general manager of the construction company (Cameron General Contractors) that builds these Senior Living Centers around the country for RLC. Connie's mom & dad lived in one of the facilities, Lakeline Oaks, located in Cedar Park for several years after they had sold their home.

With only 20 amp service we had to be careful which electrical appliances were turned on at the same time (at the last few locations we have not had full hookups so we have been dealing with limited services within The Duchess). We were also lucky that the temperatures were mild. On Sunday afternoon we visited with Chuck and Carole before going out to eat that evening. Chuck is recovering from surgery having a growth removed from his pituitary gland while Carol is recovering from having a knee replacement.  After dinner, they took us on a tour of Lincoln: We saw downtown Lincoln, the state capitol and the University of Nebraska (very pretty campus).

On Monday we took it easy and stayed around the motorhome after taking a short visit to Chuck's office. At his office we got a chance to say hello to Tim & Georgia who we had met during the construction project in Round Rock. We had been traveling several days in a row, so it was nice to be able to have a relaxing day. We spent the afternoon setting out beside the motorhome in the sun reading and basking in the Nebraska sun.

On Tuesday we visited several locations around Lincoln. Our first stop was the Sunken Gardens. We didn't know if any of the flowers would still be in bloom and were pleasantly surprised at the colors we saw. The Sunken Garden was started as a depression era project in 1930 and have been added to over the years. Here are a few pictures from the gardens:

 From the Gardens, we drove down to the Nebraska State Capitol building. We arrived inside the building just as a tour was starting. The building is beautiful inside and out. The most amazing thing about the building is that there are no pictures/photos of current politicians anywhere on display. Also the building is completely open to the public: no scanner or security checkpoints to pass through. The artwork inside the capitol is beautiful along with the materials/workmanship used in the construction. This is the third capitol building built on this site: the first two were made of Nebraska limestone and didn't last. The third one is made out of Indiana limestone and should last for several hundred years.

Nebraska State Capitol building

These tiles were laid by Italian craftmen.

Here are a few photos from our tour:

Doors to "Old Senate"

Our tour guide: he was excellent & very
knowledgeable

Supreme Court

Ceiling in the Supreme Court

Notice how small the elevator door is.

The Nebraska capitol is unusual in that it houses all three branches of government: legislature, governor and Supreme/Appeal Courts.

From downtown we traveled to Pioneer Park. We walked around the park for a few minutes and also visited the Nature Center inside the park. At the Nature Center there were several bison along with elk.

The park was originally called Antelope Park.

Columns brought from Washington DC to Lincoln

I've fallen & can't get up.

Bison bench @ Nature Center.

That evening we went out to eat with Chuck and one of his daughters, Jordan (Carol had a friend come into town for a visit). It was a great few days in Lincoln and we got caught up with Chuck & Carol's life over the last couple of years. We forgot to get a photo of Carol but remembered to get one of Chuck before we left. We are grateful to have friends like them and hope their recoveries continue from their surgeries.

Chuck in his shop. He gave us a couple of Honey Bears.