A Roller Coaster Bus Ride To See A Panther & JFK

Yesterday I rode four Fort Worth buses to transit from my abode to downtown Fort Worth and back.

Whilst walking the mean streets of downtown Fort Worth I came upon two points of interest I'd not seen previously. Both visible from Main Street, that being the road which runs from the Tarrant County Courthouse to the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Fort Worth loves its panthers, so  much so that the town has named an imaginary island Panther Island.

The panther you see above rests on the plaza in front of the Tarrant County Tax Office. I believe this to be near the actual location where long ago a Dallas reporter reported that Fort Worth was so lifeless he saw a panther taking a nap on the courthouse steps. Or something like that.

After I was done visiting the napping panther I headed south on Main Street. Directly north of the Convention Center I saw what you see below.

A memorial marking the location of the last speech John F. Kennedy gave prior to heading east to Dallas on that unfortunate day over half a century ago.

Soon after leaving JFK I was caught up in the Trump Mob milling at the south end of the Convention Center.

I lasted about 15 minutes in the Trump Mob and then walk back to the Transit Center to get on what is known as a Spur bus to go east to another Transit Center to get on another bus.

I don't understand why so many Texans have an aversion to using public transit. Yes, the ride is not as smooth as a car or pickup. Yes, the seats could be more comfortable. Yes, it takes longer to get to ones destination.  But, once you are there you don't have to find a parking spot.

To put oneself in the mindset to enjoy riding the Fort Worth buses think of Fort Worth as a big theme park and you are riding a theme park ride.

If you have experienced getting seasick, or find roller coasters to be a not fun thing, well, then, maybe riding the Fort Worth buses would not be something you'd want to do. If you have back problems or are easily nauseated by jerky motion you probably wouldn't like the ride you get on a Fort Worth bus.

The Fort Worth bus system now has a smart phone app you can use as your boarding pass. I have no clue how this works, but I saw several people use that method to get onboard.

The last time I roller coastered to downtown Fort Worth was back in March of 2012, almost four years ago. Apparently about every four years I ride a Fort Worth bus. It probably takes that long for the memory to fade enough to make it seem like a good idea to use the Fort Worth bus method of transit again....

Going Stir Crazy With Fort Worth Buses On Day Two Of The Great North Texas Ice Storm Of 2013

Today, December 7, 2013, a day which will live on in infamy as Day Two of the Great North Texas Ice Storm, saw conditions worsen.

Yesterday, on Day One of the Great North Texas Ice Storm, I was a little surprised to see the Fort Worth buses busy rolling over the ice, with no noticeable problem getting up and down the hills which were being major vexations for those driving cars.

I thought the Ice Storm may have grounded the buses. I thought wrong.

Today, on Day Two of the Great North Texas Ice Storm, with the ice having grown much slicker over night, I was again surprised to see the Fort Worth buses busy rolling over the ice.

However, today the buses were rolling noticeably slower. And whilst I was helping Miss Puerto Rico deal with a fallen tree this morning we saw one of the buses come down the hill, slowly, and then have a little sideways sliding action whilst maneuvering around a couple stuck cars.

With the Fort Worth bus system, known as the "T", delivering its people packages so reliably under these dire conditions, it occurred to me that it would be an excellent idea, excellent, I tell you, if the "T" would announce via radio and other means that bus service, system-wide, was free during the duration of the dire weather event.

Free bus service on an occasion like this would accomplish several things.

One good thing would be offering free bus service would likely cause a lot of people to decide to take the bus, rather than risk driving.

Another good thing is offering free bus service under these dire conditions would cause people to ride the bus for the first time, and thus discover how good the Fort Worth bus system is.

Additionally, getting extra weight on the bus, in the form of extra humans, would likely make the buses more stable in these slippery conditions.

Also, offering free bus service would likely cause more people to decide to risk the ice to go shopping or to a restaurant.

Due to going slightly stir crazy I was tempted to go on a bus ride today, and pay the fare, which is still way cheaper than driving. And safer.

The stir crazy thing had me back in the outer world late this afternoon. I managed to slip my way up to Albertsons, which is where I saw the Fort Wort bus in the picture above. I saw three Fort Worth buses in the short time I was exposed to their route this afternoon.

Speaking of the sliding. I saw some major slipping issues in the Albertsons parking lot. One was a pickup truck which could get no traction. And then, after many minutes of tires spinning the truck began to slowly move. Another vehicle, of the car sort, could not make it up the gentle slope which leads to the parking lot.

On my way back to my abode I had myself one incident of extreme sliding. I had no control. I was able to ride it out without falling. That slide was at least 20 feet. Very unsettling. And yet, also sort of fun.

I am ready for this to end. But, I believe we are scheduled for several more days of ice and the deep freeze....

Riding A Fort Worth Bus To Sundance Square While Not Enjoying In-N-Out Double Double Burgers

What you are looking at in the picture is the interior of a Fort Worth bus. Today I got myself a Fort Worth bus day pass and hopped on board the #21 to make  my way to the transfer station where I hopped on board the #2  bus which took me to downtown Fort Worth's Intermodal Transit Center.

Near as I can tell, by Intermodal Transit Center, Fort Worth means you can take a bus to get on an Amtrak train. And vice versa.

Today I learned that riding a Fort Worth bus is great exercise, particularly the articulated bus ride from the transfer station to downtown. This is one very bumpy ride that I think must do wonders for the abdominal muscles.

By articulated bus I mean a bus that can bend in the middle like an accordion. The only other articulated buses I have been on are the ones that run through the Seattle bus tunnel. The Seattle articulated buses are like well suspended Cadillacs, while Fort Worth's are like not so well suspended oversized VW buses.

In other words, the Fort Worth articulated buses, and the un-articulated Fort Worth buses give riders a much more adventurous ride than the sedate, smooth riding Seattle buses.

When I exited the #2 I had myself a fine time wandering the streets of downtown Fort Worth for the first time in a long time. One of the things I was wanting to see is Sundance Square. Ever since I moved to Fort Worth Sundance Square has perplexed me. Because there is no Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth. There are signs pointing visitors to Sundance Square, but there is no square. Eventually, I and others concluded that by "Square" downtown Fort Worth means "parking lots".

So, last year it was announced that, after all these years of there being no Square in Sundance Square, Fort Worth was finally going to build one.

On one of the parking lots.

And call it Sundance Plaza. I assume to continue the tradition of confusing tourists.

I was a bit surprised to find that Sundance Plaza is a long ways from becoming a square. The parking lot in front of the Chisholm Trail mural, where the plaza is being built,  is a construction mess, with two new buildings being built on the west and east ends of the former parking lots, with the new plaza currently pretty much a hole in the ground. However, there are multiple signs, all around the construction site, such as the one you see above, where the guy in the cowboy hat is telling the Butch Cassidy lookalike in the derby, that "THERE'LL ALSO BE A NEW OUTDOOR PLAZA. A REALLY GREAT SPACE  THE WHOLE CITY CAN BE PROUD OF."

Below you see some of the signage around the Sundance Plaza construction site, with one of the new buildings, butted up against the old Flying Saucer Emporium building, with the Angels on the Bass Performance Hall blowing their horns on the right.

Isn't this Sundance Plaza project well past its projected completion date?

Regarding downtown Fort Worth, other than the construction zones, I have never seen downtown Fort Worth looking so good. Lots of street activity, new restaurants, many open to the street, well manicured landscaping.

I must repeat, because I was surprised to find myself thinking this, downtown Fort Worth is looking really good.

I also thought I'd never find myself saying that downtown Fort Worth is a much more lively, people oriented downtown that what one finds in Dallas. Then again, it has been a few years since I've wandered around downtown Dallas. Maybe downtown Dallas has improved just as much as downtown Fort Worth has.

After an hour or two of wandering around downtown Fort Worth my group of wanderers grew hungry. So, it was back to the Intermodal Transit Center to hop back on the #2 bus to head west to 7th Street.

The feeding choices were Sweet Tomatoes or In-N-Out.

All the wanderers had been to Sweet Tomatoes, but only I had been to an In-N-Out. So, it was to In-N-Out we went.

Today was my 4th In-N-Out Double Double Burger. The first two were consumed in Phoenix in 2004. Number 3 was consumed in Tempe, (or was it Scottsdale?) in 2012. I don't know what it was, for sure, but the Fort Worth In-N-Out Double Double Burger did not match the Double Double Burger of my memory. It seemed smaller, messier, not as tasty. And the french fries, something was way off with the fries. Almost as if they were powdery. As in flavorless starchiness. Very disappointing. I think I will be waiting til next I am in Arizona or California to have an In-N-Out Double Double Burger.

As you can see in the above photo of the In-N-Out Burger joint, traffic on 7th Street is a congested mess. Methinks something needs to be done to ameliorate this, but what that amelioration might be, I have no idea.

But, I am almost 100% certain the traffic congestion is not going to be solved by the 300 bikes, newly operational, that I saw at several kiosks in the downtown zone today. I saw no one riding one of the bikes.

Even though I saw no one riding one of the 300 bikes, several seem to be missing from this 7th Street kiosk. Or maybe those are just empty spaces awaiting incoming bikes.

Like I said, 7th Street is terribly congested. But one block to the south, on Crockett Street, one finds a totally more sedate, better designed street experience. I think Crockett Street benefited from being developed long after long established 7th Street.

Crockett Street has wide sidewalks, well designed landscaping, with an overall more pleasant street walking experience than 7th Street.

Finishing exploring the 7th Street zone it was back on the #2 bus to head back to the Intermodal Transit Center. This bus had no seating available, standing room only, which made the ride a very rock and roll, standing on a subway train-like experience. I was enjoying the carnival ride aspect, but was sort of relieved to finally get off the ride at the Transit Center.

From the Transit Center we had to switch to an eastbound #2 bus to the transfer station, then back on the #21 to return to the starting location.

Today the buses were well timed. Very little waiting to make a switch.

It only cost $3.50 for an all day pass on the Fort Worth bus system. I really don't understand why more of the locals don't have themselves a really fine time trying out out this mode of transport. I saw more than one family group, today, with little kids, with the kids having a lot of fun on the Fort Worth bus carnival ride.

Riding A Fort Worth Bus To Meet A Towing Truck & Talk To My Mom About My Aunt In Israel

I've had myself another fun day traveling the streets of Fort Worth.

I hopped aboard the #21 Fort Worth bus a little before 10 this morning to transit back to my disabled vehicular transport.

Fort Worth's buses are rather barebone and stark with a very fun, wild ride that reminds me of something you might get on board in a theme park.

I exited the bus at Barnett and Oakland and walked to my stalled transport. I was hoping for a miracle, that it would now start.

It didn't.

So, I called AAA. I was told it would take 35 to 40 minutes for help to arrive. Instead it was less than 10 minutes.

Then it was off to the repair place. And then back here where I await the diagnoses.

It was foggy this morning, then the fog turned into a light rain. I got a little wet out in it.

When I got back to my homebase zone I went over to Miss Puerto Rico's to take a picture of her foggy balcony view.

It is being a stereotypical Pacific Northwest winter day today in my area of North Texas.

I suspect enough rain has fallen today that March of 2011 will not set a record for the least rain recorded in North Texas.

I called my mom and dad whilst waiting for a bus today. I was surprised to learn my Aunt Judy is currently over in Israel. Somehow this does not seem to be a good time to be being a tourist in the Middle East.

My mom told me they are having a heat wave in Phoenix. I told my mom we are not having a heat wave in Fort Worth.

I'm in the mood for a heat wave.

Taking The Bus To The Tandy Hills Natural Area

The first time I took the bus to go hiking the Tandy Hills it turned into a bit of a boondoggle. I enjoyed riding the bus, the boondoggle, not so much.

Today I was convinced that the bus ride planner had a better plan and that it might be safe to ride the bus to the Tandy Hills, again, and have it not be a boondoggle ordeal.

Since we were going to the Tandy Hills Natural Area and Fort Worth buses run on natural gas, it all seemed very sensible.

So, just before noon my Saturday Tandy Hills Hiking Group headed to the bus stop. There I saw the wildflower you see in picture. I thought we'd passed the peak of wildflowers, but I saw plenty of them today, including some new ones, like the one by the bus stop.

This bus riding attempt we knew to get off the bus where we got back on it the boondoggle time. This made it a totally different entry to the Tandy Hills. Before we get there I have to say that it is a pretty fun ride going on these Fort Worth buses. At times the bus rocks back and forth and feels like it's going to tip over. I'm always the driver, so it is a good thing to get to look around without being the pilot. And you are perched high in the bus, which makes for a better view. In the picture we are heading south on oak tree lined Oakland Avenue.

The above view is from outside the Tandy Hills park zone, about 2 blocks from Oakland Avenue, looking west at beautiful downtown Fort Worth's stunning skyline. As you can see, there are still plenty of wildflowers coloring up the scenery.

The above is the new wildflower I saw hiking the Tandy Hills today. Speaking of hiking. It isn't all that hot today, only 90 when I left to get on the bus. The humidity is down. I was carrying a backpack, due to not having a vehicle to leave my stuff in, and extra water. Anyway, some combo of factors had me breathing way to hard a couple times and sweating like a fat pig in a sauna. Why do I always use that metaphor? It really makes no sense. Why would a pig be in a sauna, and how do I know if it'd sweat in one or not?

That annoying WeatherBug is going off with its annoying weather warning chirp. I've tried to alter the settings so I only get warned if the situation is extremely dire, like an incoming tornado. But I'm still getting warned about every little thing. The past 2 days when I click the flashing WeatherBug it has been a Level Orange Air Pollution Warning. I'm sure that's what it is now. I'll go see. Yup. And the other thing that is annoying is it takes way too long for WeatherBug to come up with the warning. I click it and about a minute later, or longer, I see the message. A tornado could arrive in the time it takes WeatherBug to give me a warning.

The air did not appear to be at all smoggy today.

We took the 11:52 #21 bus to the Tandy Hills. To get back we had to get to the Transfer Center by 1:28, I think, to catch the #2, heading east. If we missed the bus it would be a half hour wait for the next one. That might have been unpleasant. The #2 arrived on time and so did we. The driver on the ride back was a real wild one. She liked to accelerate fast and brake even faster. Each Fort Worth bus I've been on seems to have its own personality. The #2 did a lot of creaking and groaning.

I've only been on buses a few times. One time riding the, then free to ride, SKAT bus back in my old hometown of Mount Vernon. I don't remember the SKAT bus as being particularly fun. I've ridden the Seattle buses several times. They are totally different than the Fort Worth buses. As in they are way bigger. The ride can be a bit wild though if you've got a frisky driver.

I think my next Fort Worth bus adventure will be to go from here to the Fort Worth Stockyards.

So, that's been my exciting day so far, up early and in the pool, a bus ride that did not turn into a boondoggle and later I think I may go over to Miss Puerto Rico's. I've not done that in awhile.

To see what I mean about Seattle buses being way different than Fort Worth buses, watch the YouTube video I made last summer when I was in Seattle. It starts with a walk across the plaza in front of Westlake Center, then goes into Westlake Center, riding the escalators down to the bus tunnel, to ride a bus for a bit, before getting out in Pioneer Square.

A Fort Worth Chesapeake Energy Bus & A Leak

After seeing them on the streets for months, today I was finally able to get a photo of one of the Fort Worth city buses covered with a Chesapeake Energy ad.

The ad says "Thanks Barnett Shale for 83,000 new jobs." The logo of Chesapeake Energy is all over the bus. As well as the AskChesapeake.com web address.

I did not know the Barnett Shale had produced 83,000 new jobs. Now that the drillers are scaling back how many of those jobs have been un-produced?

A non-Chesapeake Barnett Shale natural gas drilling waste water disposal operation out near Aledo, that's in Parker County, west of Fort Worth, was shut down by the Texas Railroad Commission after drilling waste was found on the ground with evidence of an underground leak.

For some mysterious reason the Texas Railroad Commission oversees gas drilling operations.

Waste water from the drilling operations is stored in underground wells. The waste water contains salt, drilling chemicals, drilling mud and crude oil.

CES Saltwater Disposal was given a permit in May of 2007 to drill to a depth of 11,500 feet to pump waste water underground at the now shut down location near Aledo.

The shutdown disposal operation is near a housing development which gets its water from underground wells.

Why these people here in Texas, who rely so much on underground aquifers, would allow contaminated water to be pumped into wells, seems bizarre to me. Up in Washington state there is a serious problem with nuclear wastes at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation slowly migrating towards the Columbia River.

Why do these people here think that contaminated water underground is going to stay put? I see bad things in the future that are only being hinted at in the present. As in MAJOR ECOLOGICAL DISASTER.