20241001 Western National Parks Tour Day 20/20 - Omaha Zoo and home

American West Bus Tour Day 20/20 - Visiting the Omaha Zoo and the Airport Zoo

All good things must come to an end and today is the end of our western tour. We still had most of today since our flight was at 4:00 so we made the most of it and visited the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha.

We enjoy seeing decorative sewer covers

The zoo's most prominent feature is its Desert Dome.

The dome holds an entire desert habitat and that's where we started.

Blue-bellied Roller

Mongooses, snuggling

Burrowing owl

Red Bishop (I think)

They had a nocturnal exhibit as well - this lizard was pretty cool

Oh - they had bats. Lots of bats.

We left the desert and continued walking around the zoo.

Gorilla

I didn't catch what type of primate this was

We walked through the aviary.

Roseate spoonbills

A type of ibis

Scarlet ibis

Another unusual ibis

African crowned crane

Arlona spent $0.25 and fed the koi

Between the koi and ducks, it was a frenzy

Nursing baby elephants

We saw lots more but didn't photograph everything. We only touched on the entirety of the zoo. We were impressed with the size of the place and the variety of animals on display.

We would not have time for dinner with our flight schedule so we checked our places for lunch and settled on Smoking Jay's BBQ. 

We both chose the daily special - mac & cheese loaded with smoked brisket.

Wow, was it delicious

The owner, Jay, was a great guy and was working hard to make sure all the customers were well taken care of

We continued on to OMA - Omaha's Eppley Airfield. This is where the second zoo comes in. The Southwest gates were bordering on mobbed as it seemed all flights departed around the same time. When we transferred planes in St. Louis, it was the same.

Let's do a quick trip wrap-up.

• Nights: 20
• Hotels: 14
• Miles: 4,400 - Bus - 2,700; Car - 1,700 miles across two vehicles
• States: 11 - New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska (plus Texas and Missouri for airline layovers  so 13?)
• National Parks: 8 - Mesa Verde, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Badlands
• National Monuments/Sites: 5 - Monument Valley, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, Grant-Kohrs Ranch
• Other stuff: Omaha Zoo, Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Code Talker, Smokejumpers, Fort Missoula, Mormon Row, helicopter tour, river float, Salt Lake City, Bluff Fort, Durango, Santa Fe, and more

This trip raised the state count for both to 49, with both of us only lacking Oregon.

Based on this experience, I would definitely recommend EF Go Ahead Tours as a tour operator. Everything was organized and planned extremely well. Bus touring is different than cruising as you live out of a suitcase, but for this type of trip, this is a great way to go.

So now, it's on to the next adventure. Come back at the end of November for our next big trip, a 90-day roundtrip cruise from Barcelona, circumnavigating Africa on Seabourn Sojourn. We will be taking a one-week safari as part of that journey. We're excited and I'll be writing about it. See you then.