I'm sitting here in the airport with a fractured hip, skinned knee ,and multiple purple bruises. I even have a lovely ace bandage supporting my sprained wrist ( the one I am supposed to lead the crutches with).
This wasn't exactly the adventure I expected.Tony had it all planned out. We were supposed to roam the entire state of Nebraska and only Nebraska.So much hiking was to happen, but instead the accident prone Amber decided to fall from (a debated) 30 ft onto rocks during the spur of the moment Colorado lake trip.So our Nebraska trip turned into a midwest adventure that spanned 5 states and involved a lot of road trip hours. Do I regret it? Never. Will this be the only blog about this trip? Also, that answer is no.

Welcome to part one in which I Describe the story of what we did manage to do in Nebraska and hopefully give you guys a reason to visit for yourselves.
Step 1: Fly into Omaha and meet up. Step 2: Commandeer rental car. Step 3: Head to Ash’s new house. Those all happened to plan, more or less with the anticipated Tony having problems with rental cars. Does that happen to anyone else? It seems to always happen with us. Maybe it just takes practice. We’ll get there, or he’ll get his Rv by then...who knows.

Ash and her giant tree were waiting for us when we finally managed to get to her house, along with all her inside “critters”, and several squirrel and bird friends. They are nestled in the suburbs outside of Omaha with an amazing little quiet neighborhood. Ash and John proved to be amazing hosts as was expected. We even managed to have a wonderful “housewarming” party before we took off to explore some more of the state parks and start our hiking.

We managed to hit the places around Omaha that we had on the planned list,as well as a few from the tourist guide I picked up at the airport visitors center. For those that don’t know, or seem to forget, if you stop by you can generally pick up a guide book on local eats and tourist attractions.


We made wishes on Omar the trolls' foot underneath the pedestrian bridge aka “Bobs Bridge” Omar the troll has a cute little story that you can find online at omarthetroll.com while sitting with your kids on the bench and after letting them watch it you could have them make a wish on his toe like it says within the story. We didn’t have kids with us, but we did sit on the bench and watch the excitement of all the little ones that walked near. It’s things like this that make these small little details added into a city just that much more special.
Speaking of special, I think the best part of the entire trip (for me) was TreeRush Adventures. It was one of the only places I picked out to go because I wanted to know what it was like to climb in the trees and zipline in the dark with ambient lights strung around while a live Dj played music. Having a slight fear of heights people seem to think that I wouldn’t actually love this. People are wrong.

Most don't understand my love of adrenaline.Games, puzzles, and exploration are things that make me feel like me and all of those were found within this Adventure location. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to have my own zipline hooked onto me (well when I wasn't getting stuck in inconvenient places like on other side ropes trying to move through the courses.) They had various levels of courses and seeing as how we’d never been, we decided to start with the novice and just work our way up. I believe we managed to hit 5 trails before our time went up. This was definitely worth the money.

It felt like a much safer version of Ninja Warriors. Being hooked to a cable knowing that I would be safe enough hanging there if I fell off one of the logs.A few times, that was the only way i could continue going on when I was trying to unhook myself from a rope i got stuck on while trying to move forward and standing on a rope knot sideways because I was ahead of the rope at time of trying to fix it. When we arrived it was daylight still and that was probably for the best because it allowed us to get familiar with the workings of the courses and ziplines. The most trouble I had was actually learning how to transfer my hooks onto the cables, well, until the courses got more difficult.

The staff was amazing at checking to make sure our harnesses were always tightened and answering any questions we had.One even sat beneath me when I felt I couldn't go on and encouraged me to find a way as I had one foot on a white rope and was trying to balance myself with another so that i could lean back to unclasp my zipline from the side I had gotten stuck on. It felt as though I defeated a fear every course I went on and by the end of it, I was even looking down at the wonderful foliage around and just how tall the trees we were standing on were.
When our time was up I was sufficiently exhausted and ready to leave. I did, however, manage to meet the very friendly Dj they had been stationed near the harnesses. He even gave me a memorable glow in the dark ring meant for children but I couldn’t help but want one. That night is one I will never forget and I know when I end back in the area it will be a place I go back to.

We had our hike later, so we will be going back to Nebraska in another article. Stick around so you don't miss out.
Conquering that fear is very liberating. It seems as though everything I have ever tried has at one point or another given me a fear that has almost crippled me until I actually get to the point of doing it. Then while it’s happening, I feel as though I have just had the best push towards growth ever possible. If you’ve never had that feeling I am truly sorry for you.

I’m not actually fearless as some people think. I’m full of fear, but I’m also full of determination. I will not let that fear control me. I will live my life seeing all the things I want to see. Hike all the mountains, ride the elevators, and climb the trees. Because I am brave. Don’t be afraid of the fear. You’ll miss out on the Adventure.