My Second Walk Last Wednesday to American Heroes Park

Hello friends and Hivians I hope you all are well today. Last week I shared a walk I took last Wednesday here. Today I share another walk I took the same day in another place. So let me share with you this amazing walk.

This walk took place at a fairly new park called American Heroes Park located right off the Missouri River in Bellevue, Nebraska. Prior to being a park it was home to the old Kramer Power Plant which was retired by the Nebraska Public Power District in 1987. The plant operated for more than 40 years. It wasn't until 2004 that most of the plant was demolished. In 2013, the 10 acre pond was finished and some other add ons were added to it a few years after.

This is my first time visiting here but I have drove by it several times and even seen it's construction happening. Across the road from it is another park that has river fishing access and camping that I have visited several times. The name of that park is Hayworth Park. Alright a bit of its history but now let me take you on that walk now.

I parked near the entrance and two things caught my eyes right right away. The first thing was the pond and it's rather cool looking fountains that are in it. I learned later after the walk that these are lighted as well. Must be even a cooler sight to see at night. The next view which isn't part of the park but I thought was neat was a view of an older toll bridge that connects Iowa and Nebraska. I have traveled over this bridge several times but not today. It's quite narrow and has that rustic look and creaky feel to it. Every time I cross it I think thank God for it not collapsing, haha.

It wasn't really busy here today but I did see a few other walkers, even a runner or two and some individuals fishing. It's a peaceful place but my thoughts is the fishing isn't the best. The place has been flooded out a few times by the nearby river.

I walked for the most part on a paved surface. Initially I thought this just wrapped around the pond but I was wrong. Now there was a split in the trail where you could stay alongside the pond but I chose to do the longer route. The distance is 0.6 miles around the pond and 0.9 miles on the longer paved route. Now I got off the paved route a few times and ventured into some other areas as well so I definitely put close to 1.5 miles on the legs.

I ran across this building off to my right. Just looked like a metal frame with a roof over the top. The sign states, "Restricted Area. No unauthorized personnel beyond this point. My thoughts were I want to get closer and investigate after seeing this sign, haha. The fence was at least 8 feet tall so it would have been challenging and probably not worth an injury trying to scale over it.

I didn't need to scale the fence, just beyond the fence line was a down hill beaten path. There were a couple of things to see at the bottom of the hill. The obvious is the river which is all so close to the park. Once at the bottom I looked to my right and seen the face of the building . The old factory wasn't completely torn down, it left one reminder. This made it all worth it walking down the steep hill which was a little muddy by the way.

Still looking right I looked down stream and seen the part of the bridge that is over the river. I tell you driving over it is kind of thrill making it fun in a weird way. To my left is trail alongside the river. I decided not to see where it leads to because I had plenty more walking yet to do in the park.

I got back on the paved trail at the park. I seen a rather large tree in the center and decided to take a closer look. At this point of the walk I was about half way around the trail. I looked back and noticed where I parked was quite a distance away. No worries, I feel like much left in the tank even after walking nearly 6 miles that morning.

After my time by the large tree I looked beyond the paved path and seen an old wooden fence with an opening to an area. I went closer to investigate to find out their is a 1.4 mile nature trail according to the sign. I'm not really prepared for a wooded nature walk. I have no hat to keep ticks from landing on my head, no bug spray to keep the bugs at bay and nothing really to defend myself if I have a brush with something. Also it rained pretty good the night before so I'm sure it's pretty muddy in there. This will definitely be a future walk I will take at another time. The sure warning on the sign saying enjoy at your own risk peaked my interest, haha.

I walked quite a distance more enjoying the surroundings of the park. Towards the entrance about 300 yards from where I parked was a display for Heroes. The first exhibit was that of a statue of a fireman. This monument is to honor all first responders to include fireman, EMTs, paramedics, police officers and sheriff department personnel who saved lives and property in the city of Bellevue and Sarpy County.

The second image is a dedication to those lost during the 9/11 events. The two identical flag poles represent the twin towers that were hit in New York, NY. The stone tablet is in the shape of the Pentagon which was also hit and in its center is flight number 93 which crashed in the country side. The passengers are much deserving heroes as some rushed onto the terrorists from causing more damage and lives of others. Many lost their lives on that horrific day from either being casualties or trying to save lives of others.

My walk ended seeing a football field complex. It was built and established in 2009 for the Bellevue Junior Sports Association (BJSA). It's a field for youth football players. This was the first thing built on the property since the power plant removed all but one thing of the plant.

This article serves as my #wednesdaywalk an initiative started by @tattoodjay. Take care, stay safe and have a great day ahead. Until next time!

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