Tanking in Nebraska

I have to admit that I am addicted to checking out the stastics for my blog readership. I love looking at how many people have visited the blog, which posts are the most popular, where everyone is from, how many pages they visited, and even how long they spent on the site.

OK, so for your information (because I know you're just dying to find out), since I started publishing my blog in February of 2009, 5,279 visitors have visited 7,145 times and read 11,309 pages, averaging 1.46 minutes per visit. Visitors have come from 1908 cities in 74 countries. Kinda cool, huh?

Anyway, one of the things that fascinates me is HOW they find me. Except for the return visitors, it is predominantly through search engines, and some of the search strings are intriguing. For instance, in the last month, 49 people found my blog by searching something related to Deadliest Catch (do I really go on about DC that much?). Just about as many came to find out about Nebraska celebrities such as Miss Nebraska and Miss Rodeo Nebraska, and even a few because of my cat Adso (yes, that's a famous name, just ask Diana Gabaldon), and of course there is the ever-popular ratio of cows to people.

However, by far and away the most popular search string on my blog has something to do with tanking. Just in the last 30 days, 145 people found their way to my blog by searching, in some form, for tanking in Nebraska. Now, of course, I have blogged about tanking frequently, as it is one of our favorite summer pastimes. This year has been better than most because of the abundant water flowing down the Platte. We can tank nearly in our back yard.Here are some of the posts:

Good Times

Friends on the River

Summer Drawing to a Close

And I can't say as I blame people for their interest in tanking. It's a great way to spend time with friends and family, you get to see beautiful scenery,

And lots of wildlife. Some big...

Some small.

Of course, you know that we are fortunate enough to have access to a tank, a river that this year has had plenty of water in it, trailers and 4x4's to get us to the river. But you really don't need all of that. There are great outfitters throughout Nebraska that can get you on a river. Just this past week, we had the opportunity to go tanking with the Calamus Outfitters on the Calamus river near Burwell.
I'll be doing an entire post later on about what fun they have to offer, but even on a chilly overcast day, the tanking was wonderful.

Nebraska seems to be most known for the long, straight, flat drive along Interstate 80. I've tried to educate the world that this ain't necessarily so, and I'll continue to do so. However, at one time Nebraska was also known as The Great American Desert, and this ain't necessarily so either. In fact, Nebraska has more miles of shoreline than any other state in the country. Don't think this is true? Just look at this map that I got off of Geology.com. Look at all of the rivers that run nearly border to border, and of course there's the Missouri that forms the eastern boundary.
Another interesting statistic that I learned recently is that Nebraska is second only to Florida in the number of airboats operating on it's waters. Pretty cool, huh? I know of at least one outfitter, Bryson's airboats ,that offer airboat tours.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has compiled a list of all outfitters offering water adventures in Nebraska.

Nebraska River Outfitters & Rentals
State sections indicated on map inside. This list is compiled by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for the convenience of the outdoor enthusiasts. The Commission does not endorse any outfitter.

PANHANDLE
Oregon Trail Wagon Train
RR 2 Box 502
Bayard, NE 69334
308-586-1850
www.oregontrailwagontrain.com
rompnreds@scottsbluff.net
North Platte River

SOUTHWEST
North Shore Marina
Canoe Rental
Gremlin Cove
Harlan County Reservoir
70738 Lake View
Republican City, NE 68971
308-799-2315
www.harlanlake.com
Republican River

SOUTHEAST
UNL Campus Recreation
Canoe Rental
Outdoor Adventures
841 North 14th St.
Lincoln, NE 68588
402-472-4777
www.crec.unl.edu/outdoor/

Canfield’s Sporting Goods
Canoe & Kayak Rental
Rich Canfield
8457 W. Center Rd.
Omaha, NE 68124
402-393-3363
800-333-2263
www.canfields.com

UNO Campus Recreation
Canoe & Kayak Rental
Outdoor Venture Center
6001 Dodge St.
Omaha, NE 68182
402-554-2258
unoovc@mail.unomaha.edu

Tanking Down the Elkhorn
Tanking Outfitter
Jill & Steve Evers
P.O. Box 45064
Omaha, NE 68145
402-709-8693
Elkhorn River Tubing & Adventures Brock Beran - (402) 301-7482
www.tubingandadventures.com

NORTHEAST
Lakeside County Store & Grill
Canoe Rental
Fremont SRA
3120 State Lakes Rd.
Fremont, NE 68025
402-753-0957
www.lakesidegrille.net

Missouri River Expeditions
1011 S. Hawthorne Ave.
Sioux Falls, SD 57105
866-US-KAYAK
www.missriverexp.com
trips@missriverexp.com
Missouri River

Missouri River Tours
Marlin Roth
86990 – 564 Ave.
Randolph, NE 68771
402-985-2216
Missouri River

Broken Arrow Wilderness
Douglas & Darla Russell
1025 N. 4th St.
Fullerton, NE 68638
308-536-2441
www.brokenarrowwilderness.com
Cedar and Loup Rivers

SANDHILLS
Glidden Canoe Rental
West Hwy. 2 Box 368
Mullen, NE 69152-0368
308-546-2206
888-278-6167
www.gliddencanoerental.com
Dismal and Middle Loup Rivers

Trapper’s Creek Outdoors
Mary Hughes
RR 1 Box 64
Burwell, NE 68823 - 308-346-5024
www.cornhusker.net/~tcohughes
tcohughes@cornhusker.net
North Loup and Calamus Rivers Allison Springs

Gary Hughes
82360 468th Ave.
Burwell, NE 68823
308-750-0874
North Loup River

Calamus Outfitters LLC
83720 Valleyview Ave. Burwell, NE 68823 - 308-346-4697
www.calamusoutfitters.com
Calamus River

Kamp Kaleo
46872 Willow Springs Rd.
Burwell, NE 68823
308-346-5083
www.kampkaleo.com
kamp@micrord.com
Loup River
NIOBRARA RIVER

Rock Barn Outfitters
Fred Egelhoff
Valentine, NE 69201
402-376-1764
800-335-6252
www.rockbarnoutfitters.com
egelhoff@q.com

Little Outlaw Canoe & Tube
Rich Mercure
1005 E. Hwy. 20
Valentine, NE 69201
402-376-1822
800-238-1867
www.outlawcanoe.com
outlawcanoe@yahoo.com

A & C Outfitters
Valentine, NE 69201
402-376-2839
800-691-9951
Brewer’s Canoers
Randy & Mary Mercure
433 E. Hwy. 20
Valentine, NE 69201
402-376-2046
800-346-2046
www.brewerscanoers.com
info@brewerscanoers.com

Dryland Aquatics, Inc.
Ed & Louise Heinert
HC 13 Box 33
Sparks, NE 69220
402-376-3119
800-337-3119
www.drylandaquatics.com
info@drylandaquatics.com

Graham Canoe Outfitters
HC 13 Box 16-A1
Valentine, NE 69201
Located at Hwy. 20 and 83
402-376-3708
800-322-3708

Rocky Ford Outfitters
Kerry & Lisa Krueger
P.O. Box 3
Valentine, NE 69201
402-497-3479
402-376-1124 (Off Season)
www.rockyfordoutfitters.com

Sharp’s Outfitters
Wayne Sharp
HC 13 Box 34A
Sparks, NE 69220
402-376-2506
www.sharpsoutfitters.com
sharpsoutfitters@hotmail.com

Sunny Brook Camp Outfitters
Steve Breuklander
HC 13 Box 36C
Sparks, NE 96220
402-376-1887
877-376-1887
www.sunnybrookcamp.com

Supertubes
Nola Moosman
310 W. Hwy. 20
Valentine, NE 69201
402-376-2956
800-799-9929
www.nolasupertubes.com

Heartland Elk Guest Ranch
P.O. Box 3
Valentine, NE 69201
402-376-1124
www.heartlandelk.com
info@heartlandelk.com
Niobrara River Ranch
HC 13 Box 30A
Valentine, NE 69201
866-282-8677
www.niobrarariverranch.com

So what are you waiting for? Contact one of these outfitters, plan your trip to Nebraska, and get out on one of our great rivers!

Thanks for stopping by. The coffee is always on.