The Wild West, Nebraska Bats, And Us

Nick and I signed up for this crazy Nebraska Bats class in Lincoln about a month ago.  We decided to make a weekend of it and stayed the night!  Nick was in charge of getting us a room and let's just say, it was pretty...um...interesting. The room was themed: Wild West Hideout.  Doesn't Nick look thrilled?!  The decor was hideous with a barrel table, mirrors surrounding the hot tub, cowboys and cowgirl statues, skulls, and crazy paintings starring at us all night long.  It was quite the adventure!

 Our Bat class took place at Pioneers Park Nature Center.  We had fun making a short video of our experience and couldn't help but shudder every time a dead or live bat came our way.  Did you know there are 13 species of bats in Nebraska?  Only 4 fly south for winter while the others hibernate.  We were asked to create bats with art materials, play habitat games, and listen to Nebraska's very own bat enthusiast.  Like I said, we examined several small brown bats alive AND dead and were even brave enough to touch them!

Bat Class

 Nick touching a DEAD, frozen bat!

Our attempts at getting crafty

 We celebrated our learning experience with a visit to James Aurthur Vineyard.  (We were given a gift certificate for a picnic basket and wine tasting)  James Aurthur is a lovely vineyard tucked away amongst a bustling city of movement.  The drive was peaceful and the vineyard was packed with individuals looking for the first touches of spring.  We had a good time together pretending we knew what we were doing and fancied ourselves from another time as we were seated in high back vintage chairs with a small Tiffany lamp lighting our intimate conversation.  We had a great getaway and look forward to the next one!