Fremont, NE Outdoor Activities

Retrofitted from former city buses, Nebraska Party Bus's six-vehicle fleet conveys revelers about town in limo-like luxury. The air-conditioned transports include a luxuriously upholstered 35-footer with a private party area in the rear, encouraging between-bar tête-à-têtes, whereas a pair of 42-seaters are perfect for ferrying wedding guests to receptions or back to central casting's rent-a-wedding-guest unit. The buses serve Omaha, Lincoln, and Council Bluffs, offering patrons comfortable conveyance throughout the metro area.

After a long stint in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Creighton University Bluejays will have a new home in 2013. Though the program is moving to the Big East Conference, its achievements in the MVC will live on. Creighton is the only school in conference history to top 200,000 fans in attendance for a season and the men's basketball team's reign of 15 consecutive postseason appearances, but the school's greatest sports moment may have come on the softball field. In an interview with White & Blue Review, Travis Sing—an alum and author of a book about the school's athletic past—gave his vote to softball player Kelly Brookhart for pitching a complete 31-inning game in 1991, followed by more than 20 innings in the second half of a double-header that went until 6 a.m. the following morning.

The athletics program's facilities are almost as much of a draw as the players. Built in 2011, the impressive TD Ameritrade Park Omaha houses the men's baseball team as well as the College World Series. Up to 24,000 fans can pack the park's trio of decks and bleacher seats, hemmed in by a spacious, 360-degree concourse and wormhole that transports fans to the 2114 College Galactic Series.

At K/B Stables, instructor Donna Stading-Smith imparts the equine wisdom she has been accruing since she first saddled up when she was 3 years old. As a former elementary media specialist and a 4-H teacher for 14 years, she’s experienced in making horseback riding a comfortable and fun activity for both beginners and more seasoned riders. Regular lessons and training prep students to take the reins for casual or competitive rides in English, western, or dressage styles. When they're not supporting budding equestrians, some 20 horses gallop across K/B Stables’ 11 acres. The family-run stable hosts 30 stalls for boarding accommodations by the night, week, month, or whatever period of time the horse’s former girlfriend said it needed to “sort things out.”

Stalking through the prairie grass, a guide leads his labrador retriever and a hunter into a stretch of foothills. They hear a rustling ahead, prompting them to pause. Peering through the brush, they see a bird with red plumage around its eye, a green head, and a white ring around its neck—the distinguishing marks of a pheasant. The hunter readies his gun, the labrador poises, and both wait for the guide's signal.

The hunting guides at Pheasant Bonanza lead hunters through experiences like these and ready them for similar outings with sport shooting. The sporting-clay course, for example, supplies beginning through advanced shooters with 20 stations whose targets simulate the movements of animals such as quail and rabbits. To further sharpen hunters' aim, the guides also oversee trap, skeet, five-stand, and snooker ranges. This diversity of shooting scenarios prepares clients for guided hunting trips—which include the retrieval and tracking service of trained labradors or german shorthaired pointers—on Pheasant Bonanza's grounds. Spanning hundreds of acres in the Loess Hills, the grounds sustain game such as pheasant, waterfowl, whitetail deer, wild turkey, and rogue Yahtzee dice.

The lodge accommodates guests on extended trips, surrounding them with rustic touches such as a stone fireplace, knotty-pine paneling, and furniture upholstered in hunters' orange. Further services range from expert advice at the pro shop to Pheasant Bonanza's boarding, training, and breeding programs for hunting dogs.