Omaha Visit & Biker Mom & Grandma 8/15-18/2010

Well here we are in Omaha and having a great time with Jan and Dave. There hasn't been a lot to put on the blog that is why I am including for days today. We have been doing a few caches here and there when we get a chance and about the only one that has any interest is a virtual at the Holy Family Shrine.


Holy Family Shrine sits high on a hill out in the country on a dirt road overlooking I-80. As you can see by the pictures it really is beautiful and the 40' cross is amazing. The Cross, made of stainless steel tubing, is approximately 40 feet tall (one foot for each day of Lent), and weighs 2,820 pounds. The figure of Christ is just over 8 feet tall, made of cast bronze, weighing in at 528 pounds. The Cross was fabricated by Nebraska Welding Ltd. out of stainless steel tubing and plate. It was suspended on it's side by giant cranes, rotated on it's axis, cut and welded together. The figure of Christ was made by Michael Montag, using the lost wax casting process. It is a process whose origins are lost in the cellars of antiquity with a few modern twists. A cast bronze sculpture is made three times, first in clay, then in wax, and finally in bronze. There is a series of different types of molds that transform the shape of the sculpture from one step to the next.
The sculpture is cast in many pieces into bronze at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. It is then assembled by welding together the individual pieces like a huge 3-D jigsaw puzzle. Finally it is given a color treatment called a patina. The ornamental base was made by Enterprise Pre-cast, and the Engineering was done by Rupprecht Engineering Inc.
The Celtic circles have rings and spirals with no beginning or end. These three rings are seen as a portal into the infinite Spirituality of the Trinity, the Holy Family, and the Domestic Church. They form a likeness of a monstrance, magnifying the Body of Christ.
Stainless steel is the razor's edge of modern art and technology. It trumpets the relevance and the dynamism of our church in the modern age.


The rest of the caches we have been doing are mostly NRV caches and have been in small neighborhood parks, off dirt roads near bridges or in shopping centers. It really is funny but every housing development here in Omaha has a small neighborhood park and there seems to be a cache in each one. The other peculiar thing is that so many of the roads here are still just dirt roads where roads would be paved in NY here they are still dirt.

We have been having a great time otherwise visiting with Jan and Dave and have been going to lunch each day and then having his friends, that we had met in previous trip, over at night for dinner. Sunday we went to Rick's Cafe Boatyard Restaurant which overlooked the Missouri River in downtown Omaha. Tuesday we went to Louie M's Burger Lust Restaurant a quaint little burger place in the Mexican section of Omaha. Wednesday Mom went to lunch and a movie with Jan, Sue and Margie and they had a great time together. I went caching with Muffy and Raggs as Dave had a meeting.

Mom did get one item crossed off here bucket list as one of our friends here has a Harley Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle and came over last night and gave her a ride. They were gone for about 10 minutes and she came back and said it was awesome and enjoyed it very much. You will love the pictures of her in her helmet.

Our dinners have been wonderful as we have enjoyed seeing all the friends we had met in our earlier visits here. Dave has cooked some awesome meals while we have been here and it's been fun just sitting around catching up with friends. Well that's about all from Omaha for today so until next time we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick