A Post-Christmas Walk To Interlochen With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts

Does it qualify as a 'selfie' if you aim a camera at a mirror-type device and take a photo of oneself? I have no idea what the 'selfie' criteria are.

This particular 'selfie' was taken in Arlington, at the Village Creek Natural Historical Area where I went to walk with the Indian ghosts today to try and get myself back to feeling normal after yesterday's Christmas feeding debauchery which ended up with me feeling like a python who had ingested a much too big pig.

It was yesterday's extremely tasty macaroni and cheese followed by too many Christmas cookies which turned into a too big of a pig for this particular python.

I shan't repeat that mistake anytime soon. I'd rather be hungry than feeling like I am about to explode. I really don't understand how plus-sized people manage it.

Today I exited the Village Creek Historical Natural Area to walk along the Bob Findlay Linear Park in the Interlochen zone.

Interlochen is known for its over the top Christmas decorations which result in traffic jams requiring traffic police and directional rules.

My previous bloggings about Interlochen and the directions to get to the experience must rank high in search engines because every year my Interlochen Christmas Lights Map blogging gets a lot of hits.

The Interlochen Christmas displays are not nearly as bright at noon as they are after the sun leaves for the day.

At night the scene depicted in the display above would be brightly lit. But in daylight I am still able to tell that this is some sort of religious scene of some sort of Christmas related event.

It has been several years since I braved the Interlochen traffic to view the Vegas-bright light displays. I feel no compelling urge to do so this year....

Cranking Pedals Looking For Christmas Decorations In Interlochen

I don't remember when I last took my handlebars on a pedaling excursion. Was it Gateway Park? I don't remember.

But I do remember taking my handlebars to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area today to do some pedaling with the Indian Ghosts who haunt this area.

In the picture those are the aforementioned handlebars on the overlook that looks over the Village Creek Blue Bayou.

There were quite a few people out among the ghosts today. I think the ideal temperature causes an amp up in physical activity among those who are not so inclined when the temperature is 20 or 30 degrees hotter.

Right now the outer world at my location, according to my computer based temperature monitoring device, is 2 degrees shy of 70. This would be considered a hot summer day at my former location in the Pacific Northwest.

Today I pedaled out of the Village Creek Natural Historical  Area zone into the Interlochen zone,  pedaling on the Bob Findlay Linear Park trail.

Interlochen is known for its over the top Christmas displays. I did not see much evidence of over the top Christmas displays in Interlochen today. But, I only saw the houses one sees from the Linear Park trail. I'm sure other areas of Interlochen are in over the top Christmas decoration mode.

I've got all my Christmas decorations totally installed. My Christmas decorations consist of a little crocheted Christmas stocking my grandma made for me a long, long time ago. I hang it on my Bart Simpson Christmas tree.

I should take a picture of my Christmas decoration. I'll hit the publish button and go do that.

Walking & Talking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Thinking About Fred Jackson & Bubba's Sex Change

Village Creek Kids Looking For Turtles

I don't know what happened to the 80 something degrees those weather predictors predicted for today. It was 65 when I went swimming this morning. Now, at around an hour past noon that number has reversed and it is now 56 degrees in the outer world in my location.

The forecast is still forecasting Thunder and Rain and has added tomorrow, Monday, as a wet, electrical day.

I went to one of my favorite walking locations, the Village Creek Natural Historical Area, today. On Sunday's there are a lot of people enjoying walking and playing with the Indian Spirits that inhabit the Historical Area, including the two little kids and their dad you see in the picture.

Changing the subject now to football.

Village Creek is in Arlington. Arlington is where the Dallas Cowboys play football. A couple days ago I blogged about NFL Films wanting to use some of my photos of the destruction caused by the worst abuse of eminent domain in American history. The person who contacted me from NFL Films told me they were doing a story on Fred Jackson and his boyhood home that had been lost to the Cowboy bulldozers. I had no clue who Fred Jackson was or why NFL Films would focus on him.

And then I heard from JJ..........

JJ has left a new comment on your post "A Cloudy Cold Tandy Hills With The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal Back Haunting Me": 

Hey Durango, Fred Jackson is playing a key role in the success of the NFL's Buffalo Bills. He was born in FW but grew up in the Arlington neighborhood that was located in and around the current Eminent Domain Abuse Stadium. Could be an interesting story, especially considering all the odds that this guy had to overcome in order to compete at the highest level, especially his small stature + playing in a tiny college, not picked by any NFL team, etc. 

Changing the subject from football to running around Christmas lights. A couple days ago I mentioned Cori asking me if I thought it doable to do a group run past the Interlochen Christmas lights. This morning I heard from Bubba with an alternative suggestion...

Bubba has left a new comment on your post "Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Think About Running Past The Interlochen Christmas Lights With Cori": 

Cori and his fellow runners should consider the Diamond Loch area in Haltom City and North Richland Hills. The decorations are on a smaller scale but comparable to the way overcrowded and tiny streets in Interlochen. Plus the said neighborhood is right off of loop 820 and Ruff Snow, with lots of parking/staging in nearby parks and schools and churches. And the streets are very wide and thus much safer for walkers/cyclers/runners. BTW, who is Cori and co. running from?? Do they need some good hiding places, too? 

Bubba has turned Cori from a girl into a guy. That's disturbing.

Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Thinking About Running Past The Interlochen Christmas Lights With Cori

Otherworldly Red Leaves In
 Village Creek Natural Historical Area

Even though it was only 42 degrees at the time I did so, I did get in the pool this morning. For a short time. And then I retreated to the hot tub.

On my way to Pantego to the ALDI Food Market today I stopped for a walking with the Native American ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

Since I last walked with the ghosts the red leaves you see in the picture appeared. My photographer skills do not do justice to how other worldly this plant was looking today.

The paved trail through the Village Creek Natural Area takes you to the Interlochen neighborhood, widely believed by many who live in this parched part of the planet to be the location of the best Christmas lighting displays in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

I don't know if it ironic or coincidental, or both, but the first email I saw upon waking up my computer, upon my return, was a comment from Cori asking me about Interlochen.....

cori has left a new comment on your post "Interlochen Christmas Lights Map & Directions": 

Durango!
I am thinking about setting up a little group run with my friends through a Christmas lit neightborhood and interlochen seems to be the best one around, but do you think they would let us in, and would there be too much traffic? I'm not sure of the set up with the sidewalks and what have you. 

Let me know your thoughts and you're of course invited! 

I can not remember the last time I went running with Cori through a neighborhood lit up for Christmas. I don't see why this would not be doable. One would need to find a place to park and assemble outside the Interlochen zone and then jog right past the police directing the traffic.

It has been a few years since I've toured the Interlochen Christmas lights. I think the last time was with Miss Puerto Rico. Those Interlochen lights will be lit up a week from today, that being the day after Thanksgiving.

Interlochen Christmas Lights Map & Directions

Yesterday when I blogged about the Interlochen Christmas Lights it did not occur to me to tell people how to find the lights.

By this morning I found several emails asking me for directions. And I found that yesterday's blogging comes up #1 when Googling "Interlochen Christmas Lights." Hence the questions.

Below are 2 maps. The first shows you where Interlochen is in relationship to I-30. That's Interlochen with the big red circle drawn around it. You can see the Interlochen canals on the map. The second map shows the Interlochen Traffic Routes.

To find Interlochen all you have to do is exit I-30 at Fielder Road or Eastchase Parkway. From Eastchase head east on Meadowbrook, which becomes Green Oaks. You'll come to a Shell station on your left. Turn right on Randoll Mill Road, at the Shell station. Continue on Randoll Mill til you come to a light. At that point you will likely be encountering a lot of Interlochen traffic. It is pretty straightforward from then on. Just follow the signs.

A more direct route to Interlochen may be found by exiting I-30 at Fielder Road. Go south on Fielder til you come to Randoll Mill Road. Turn right onto Randoll Mill and head west til you are obviously in the Interlochen zone.

From Division Street head north on Bowen Road til it runs into Interlochen.

Interlochen Christmas Lights in Arlington Texas

I'd not been on my bike in a long time. It had a flat that I had trouble getting around to fixing, til this morning, when I came in from swimming and needed something to warm me up.

About noon I went to Village Creek Natural Historical Area to do some pedaling. The paved trail leaves the park after about a mile. You are then in what is called Interlochen. That's an Arlington neighborhood that is famous in these parts for its over the top Christmas Lights.

A couple years ago an Interlochenite was asked by D/FW Airport to tone down their lights due to distracting pilots. To those who have not seen Interlochen that likely sounds ridiculous. How could lights be that bright? Well, like I said, Interlochen is over the top.

Police have to direct traffic. It is very controlled. You can go in only one direction. One lane is kept open for residents. I probably shouldn't say this, but for those of us who live in the area, it's easy to know how to sneak in and avoid the 2 hour or more wait to get to the lights.

Interlochen is so-named, I think, because "lochen" is some language's word for canals. There are several canals in Interlochen. You can take a boat to visit the neighbors. The canals are all lit up as well as the front yards.

Today I got off the paved trail and pedaled some of the Interlochen streets. Christmas decorations have an entirely different look when the power is off and the sun is up. Most people go all traditional, manger scenes, reindeer, snowmen.

I saw a couple of somewhat original displays today. One had Santa kneeling over what I assume was Baby Jesus in a crib.

My favorite was a Pedro's Trailer Park themed display. At least that was my take on it. Santa was sitting in front of his brightly painted trailer, surrounded by palm trees, lots of lights and a big herd of big pink flamingos.

If it wasn't such a major deal to go to Interlochen at night, I'd go back to see Santa and the Trailer all lit up. The last time I went to see the Interlochen Lights was a couple Christmases ago with Miss Puerto Rico. We had libations on board. It was very festive.

CLICK HERE FOR MAPS & DIRECTIONS
TO THE INTERLOCHEN CHRISTMAS LIGHTS