Exciting news – I did something in the Omaha area that did not involve food and drinks this weekend! Granted, this activity was to offset a highly indulgent dinner on Friday, but hey…baby steps.
We had another birthday celebration this weekend (I never realized how many Omaha friends I had born in a month span), but this one did not involve any form of pedaling – thank goodness. Rather, I crashed guys night in Lincoln and met up with the group at Rodizio, a Brazilian steakhouse with all you can eat meat. Much more my style. 
We ate ourselves into a food coma, went out for a few drinks, and then went back to the hotel feeling quite gluttonous.
In an attempt to undo some of the previous night’s damage, we decided to make a detour on the ride home to hike around and be one with nature at the Platte River State Park. It is conveniently located in Louisville, which is about halfway between Lincoln and Omaha – the perfect pit-stop!
We opted for the day pass option ($6) and asked for directions to The Falls. The park offers a ton of activities such as hiking, biking, archery, canoeing, and even lodging…in teepees (totally going back for that!). It was a cloudy day and we were kind of tired, so we kept it simple and walked some of the trails.
This is the most “nature-y” place I have been to out here – lots of greenery, wooden bridges crossing over creeks, birds chirping, and all that other good stuff. We took “the trail to the falls” and surprisingly, there was hardly anyone else out there. We passed a few families, but that was about it. It was nice to be in the quiet and have a break from our usual routine of buzzing around doing a million social activities.
We made our way to the falls, which for expectation management are pretty small, and enjoyed the sound of the water. Until some kids ruined the moment by stomping up the trail yelling that they didn’t want to wear their shoes anymore. Ugh, buzzkill.
We snapped some photos and decided we liked the place enough to come back for a longer visit in the future. But until then, we had to get back to Omaha for our double date night – dinner at El Rancho and the new Avengers movie!
To check out this park, or any of the other state parks, visit: http://outdoornebraska.gov
-Leah
PS – while this mini waterfall was neat, if you’re looking for the true waterfall experience, you should check out Smith Falls in Valentine, NE!