Day 43 June 25 Thursday

First, we went to the play last night. Kind of cute. Kids threw popcorn at the villian, a sing-a-long at intermission, etc. The place was packed with people from the lodge and campers. See picture.

Headed towards Omaha and saw this church up on the hill from the interstate. So we went up to see it but not opened until 10. I climbed over the gate and took some pictures anyway. Jack said that's trespassing. Too bad. Not as nice as the one in Eureka Springs. Not the same mood and the lines not quite as good. They have a stone path with a little stream in the middle leading to it and it is surrounded by wildflowers, etc so it's very natural just like the other one in the woods. I guess the woods were just prettier than the grassy plains are. Also this one is Catholic rather than a non denominational house of prayer.

Then went to Boys Town. I can't believe how nice the campus is. It is now Girls and Boys Town and they live in homes with a couple who have their own apartment in the home. They act as surrogate parents and the 6 or so kids can be from preschoolers to teenagers so it's creating as much of a family as they can. The dorms are gone. Some children/adolescents sent there by the courts, others orphans, and others there recovering from abuse, etc. The museum is just great. Understand why it was Boys Town and not Boys Home. Statue of 2 brothers became the symbol. The original statue showed the boy being carried with braces. See photo. One of the actual brothers it was based on wore braces and all of the boys helped carry him around because it was so hard for him to walk.

You have to give it to Father Flanagan for having the idea and the ability to market and raise funds to make it as big as it was and continues to be. Also credit his successors for changing with the times as more was known about problem kids and how to deal with them etc. Their programs and approaches changed to deal with new adolescent and social problems. Heavy into parenting skills for example and they have a national 24/7 hotline for parents to call. Education still important but listening to the interviews of alumni, it seems that life skills is what they got out of it - how to get along with others, anger management, etc. as well as vocational skills. There is still a heavy religious influence of course. We ate in the cafe with all of the people who work there. Each one wears a pin with the 2 brothers emblem on it.

The first branch of Boy's Town was - guess where? No, Tallahassee and there are two others in FL. Some branches focus more on counseling, parenting programs etc. but all of them have a residential component. The emphasis is different from place to place and they are all over the country but not that many of them.

Drove through downtown Omaha. Seems like medicine and universities are the big businesses. Seems nice enough. At least through the sections we were in. Wanted to see the Golden Spike Monument in Council Bluffs IA since I was at actual place in Utah. This is where the Union Pacific began. Council Bluffs is right across the river from Omaha. It wasn't worth it. And that section of Council Bluffs was kind of icky.

Onward to Des Moines and in a nice rv park. Pricey and just did laundry. Saw lots and lots of windmills along the way.