4th Of July Walking In The Closed Due To Flooding Village Creek Natural Area From Interlochen

The deluge of rain of late has reduced my hiking/walking options. Today I decided to gamble that Village Creek Natural Historic Area was open, with the "Closed Due To Flooding" gate not blocking the entry.

Well, the Village Creek parking lot off Dottie Lynn Parkway was blocked by the flood gate.

So, I decided to go to the Interlochen side of Village Creek Natural Historic Area. If Village Creek was rampaging over the bridge/dam I could still take a walk through Bob Findlay Linear Park, which is what the Village Creek paved trail exits to.

Well. Village Creek was not flooding over the dam/bridge. Why was the park not open, I wondered, it being the 4th of July, afterall. I figured all the park workers had the day off. I walked into the Natural Historic Area to the other dam/bridge. I walked over that dam/bridge to the bayou overlook, where weeks ago I thought I saw alligators.

The flooding had not left the mess of thick mud it usually leaves. On the way back out of the Natural Historic Area I heard an air blower. A park worker had arrived to re-open the park.

I don't often drive into Interlochen. It's a very nice neighborhood. It is also the location of what is widely believed to be the most over the top Christmas displays in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Interlochen is so named because of the canals and lakes that make up the neighborhood.

The guy for whom the Linear Park is named, Bob Findlay, developed Interlochen Estates. He had the vision to see that converting a bunch of abandoned gravel pits, located in a flood plain, into canals and lakes, would turn the gravel pits into prime home building real estate.

And so it did.

I would love to live in Interlochen, except for one drawback. I am used to quick access to the freeway. Interlochen does not have quick access to the freeway. I am also used to being close to stores. The closest store to Interlochen, I think, is the Wal-Mart Supercenter I frequent most frequently.

It is half past 3 on the 4th of July in Texas and I have yet to hear a single firecracker.