Fun Facts

Ok, so I haven’t posted in a while and it is due to the fact that I’ve been extremely busy with financial forecasting at work, the year end holidays, and finishing a Masters in Heatlhcare Administration and Management.  Well the end is in sight for the Masters degree, but forecasting and year end holiday anxiety are always a pressure (Christmas is just over 11 months away!!!).

So I figured to keep the mood light I thought I’d post some fun facts.  Some will just make you shake your head and others, well hopefully you will just laugh.

Nebraska (yes, I have to start with Nebraska)

• The home of the World’s largest, yes, I did type World’s largest, indoor rain forest.  Lied Jungle is part of the Henry Doorly Zoo and if you haven’t been to the zoo, it is a must if you are anywhere near Omaha.  Growing up in Nebraska it was always something I looked forward too.  But wait, the zoo is also home to the World’s Largest indoor desert; the desert dome.  I really wish I could tell you everything there is to see at the zoo, but it has changed so much since I was there last.  The desert was new, they have an aquarium that includes penguins too.  Let me tell you if you haven’t seen penguins in real life, it is a must.  Just remember a coat because the exhibit is quite cold.  One exhibit that is sure to leave you laughing is the gorilla/orangutan exhibit, especially if they have young ones.  Those young monkeys are hysterical.
• The 911 system of emergency communications, now used nationwide, was developed and first used in Lincoln, Nebraska.
• The University of Nebraska Cornhusker football team has produced more Academic All-Americans than any other Division I school.  
• The University of Nebraska-Lincoln weight room is the largest in the country. It covers three-fourths of an acre.  If you thought I was going to post something about Nebraska and not include my beloved Huskers, boy were you wrong!
• Kearney, Nebraska is located exactly between Boston and San Francisco.
• The largest Kolache Festival in the world is located in Prague, Nebraska.  I miss kolaches…. one of the delicacies I had as a child because the town I grew up in had several people with Polish ancestry. I would love to have a kolache right now.

To the south of Nebraska is Kansas.……

• Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States
•  At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas.  How can this be?  Good thing I grew up in Nebraska.  My mother makes the best cherry pies and while I can’t say that I’ve had ice cream on her cherry pies, it doesn’t sound like it should be illegal.
• Smith County is the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states.  Shout out to Smith County.
• The Arkansas River may be the only river whose pronunciation changes as it crosses state lines. In Kansas, it is called the Arkansas (ahr-KAN-zuhs). On both sides of Kansas (Colorado and Oklahoma), it is called the Arkansaw.  This one really got me thinking and is most interesting.  Never really crossed my mind that this would be a possibility.  Arkansas=Arkansaw to me; sorry Kansas family; still love ya.  But I guess the question should be do you still love me after this comment?
• The world famous fast-food chain of Pizza Hut restaurants opened its first store in Wichita.

To the west of Nebraska is Colorado……

• Colorado is the only state in history, to turn down the Olympics. In 1976 the Winter Olympics were planned to be held in Denver. 62% of all state Voters choose at almost the last minute not to host the Olympics, because of the cost, pollution and population boom it would have on the State Of Colorado, and the City of Denver.
• The United States federal government owns more than 1/3 of the land in Colorado. Colorado contains 75% of the land area of the U.S. with an altitude over 10,000 feet.
• The 13th step of the state capital building in Denver is exactly 1 mile high above sea level.
• Hundreds of thousands of valentines are re-mailed each year from Loveland.
• The highest suspension bridge in the world is over the Royal Gorge near Canon City. The Royal Gorge Bridge spans the Arkansas River at a height of 1,053 feet.

South Dakota is to the north…….

• Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 6,200-foot Mount Rushmore in 1927. Creation of the Shrine to Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million, though it’s now deemed priceless.  Mt. Rushmore should be on everyone’s bucket list.  I’ve been there several times, but I want to go back because it has significantly changed since the last time I was there.
• South Dakota is the home of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota tribes, which make up the Sioux Nation.
• Badlands National Park consists of nearly 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States.  Badlands National Park contains the world’s richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating 23 to 35 million years old. This was in my Grandparent’s backyard and boy did we enjoy the badlands.  As a kid we would climb and then slide down them like it was snow on a hill in the winter.
• The name “Black Hills” comes from the Lakota words Paha Sapa, which mean “hills that are black”. Seen from a distance, these pine-covered hills, rising several thousand feet above the surrounding prairie, appear black.
• Sturgis is home of the annual Black Hills Classic Motorcycle Rally.  Sturgis is very small during 50 weeks of the year, but during the rally, OMG, it is not a place to bring the family! If you enjoy the two wheeled bike, the place to see bikes and to be seen is none other than Sturgis.  Of course Daytona has a bike week too, but nothing is like Sturgis.  Just be careful riding that bike in the winding roads of the black hills.
• The Prairie Rattlesnake is the only venomous snake native to South Dakota. The color of the Prairie Rattlesnake varies from light brown to green, with a yellowish belly. Dark oval blotches with light colored borders run along the center of its back.  Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many of these during my stays at my Grandparent’s house.  Luckily I was never bitten, but still to this day I have nightmares about them.

To the east Iowa and Missouri….. they will have to wait until next time….. I’m sure if I look hard enough I may find some fun facts about those two states…..

So if you are in Nebraska, Colorado, or Kansas and you know of more fun facts, please feel free to comment.  We’d all enjoy reading more fun facts.  If you live in a state other than those mentioned, please feel free to post as well.  We all just need some humor these days.