The 2015 Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike Is Upon Us New Years Day

Yesterday, on Facebook, I saw that which you see here, that being a poster advertising the 2015, New Years Day Manly Men & Wild Women Hike on the Tandy Hills.

I do not do math well, and can not use my fingers to count right now because they are engaged in typing, but, since the first Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike took place on New Years Day of 2010 I think this upcoming Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike will be the 6th Annual Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike.

On Saturday, January 2, 2010, I blogged about that first Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike in a blogging titled Tandy Hills Hiking With Wild Women, Manly Men, The Queen Of Wink & Princess Annie.

How can it be, this upcoming New Years Day, that it has been five years since the Queen of Wink & Princess Annie journeyed all the way from their Kingdom in West Texas to do some hill hiking?

Time tends to fade memories, but my memory of that day, almost five years ago, is that the Queen of Wink, Annie and me could not keep up with the rigorous pace set by all the Manly Men & Wild Women. Eventually we found ourselves left behind, no Manly Men or Wild Women to be seen.

And so we made our way to my primitive form of mechanized locomotion and drove away from the Tandy Hills, eventually ending up in Arlington at a Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant, where we vowed to get ourselves in shape and come back to a future Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike where we would not be left behind in the dust.....

Protesting With Princess Annie Of Wink Taking A Drink Before Heading To Mississippi

In the picture you are looking at Princess Annie of Wink. I believe this picture was taken soon before, or after, Princess Annie had her 8th grade graduation ceremony.

I am fairly certain that is not an adult beverage Princess Annie is holding.

But, who knows? There ain't a lot of law west of the Pecos. Or so I have heard.

I last saw Princess Annie, in person, over four years ago, if my memory is serving me somewhat reliably. At that point in time Princess Annie was still a little girl.

Way back in the winter of 2010, Princess Annie, and her mother, the Queen of Wink, drove all the way to Fort Worth, from Wink, so as to join the protest at the Tarrant County Courthouse protesting what Chesapeake Energy was planning to do to Carter Avenue.

After the protest we packed Judge Sprinkle's courtroom.

Four years later there have been a lot of changes in the Barnett Shale. Chesapeake Energy has gone from being a shadow government of the city of Fort Worth to being sued by Fort Worth, and others, due to Chesapeake's shady dealings.

Carter Avenue was saved, Judge Sprinkle was retired, Aubrey McClendon was booted from Chesapeake, in disgrace, and no one has heard from Steve Doeung in years.

On that protest day, four years ago, after we were done protesting, Annie, her mom and I went to the Fort Worth Stockyards, for BBQ and so I could watch the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie get themselves totally bum puzzled trying to figure their way out of the Cowtown Maze.

Now it is June of 2014 and Princess Annie is scheduled to leave Texas for a few weeks of Mississippi time. Then, near the end of June, the Queen of Wink will venture to Tyler, Texas to fetch Princess Annie, then head back to Wink, with a possible stop in Fort Worth on the way.

If the time and logistics can be worked out....

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Fat Man On The 2nd Day Of The New Year

I hauled my bloated carcass to the Tandy Hills today, parked on top of Mount Tandy. I was optimistic that the hills had dried out and were no longer muddy.

As is way too often the case, my optimism had no basis in reality.

Too much mud was quickly adding too many inches to my height.

I don't know what the deal was with the sun and the shadow today, but it appears I have gained a lot of weight since I last saw the formerly thin shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man.

Once I realized I'd picked up some mud, I decided to continue on, since the damage was already done. I had a fairly brisk hike. During most of it I was talking to Tootsie Tonasket, who had gotten me on the phone on the way to the Hills. Tootsie invited me over for Key Lime Pie.

And after that, Aunt Alice invited me over for ham cooked in ginger ale. I don't know if that sounds good, or not.

I realized, whilst navigating the mud, that today is exactly one year since the Tandy Hills Manly Men & Wild Women Hike. An event where about 100 hikers were strung out for miles on the Tandy Hills.

The Queen of Wink and Princess Annie drove all the way from their realm in West Texas in order to hike the Manly Men/Wild Women Hike. However, the hiking soon proved too strenuous for the Queen, when she developed a serious case of the vapors.

To recover from the vapors I drove to Arlington, to Sweet Tomatoes, where we found food. If I remember right, I then drove back to the Tandy Hills with the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie driving off into the sunset. Almost never to be seen again.

A year goes by so fast. And yet so much happens and changes during the course of a year. I'm looking forward to 2012. It's only about 364 days away.

Tandy Hills Hiking With Wild Women, Manly Men, The Queen Of Wink & Princess Annie

Well. I have had me a day. It started out good with a dip in the pool. A bit before 10 I headed towards the Tandy Hills. I parked on the east side of the park so that my vehicle would be well positioned should I want to escape.

I miscalculated how long it would take me to hike from where I parked to where the Manly Men and Wild Women were assembled.

When the assembly area came in to view I could see that the assembly had not yet started hiking. Don Young was on a pedestal telling the group what lay ahead for them.

About 15 minutes later the hike finally began.

Oh. I forgot to mention, I was not too shocked to see the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie. The Queen had already spotted me, so it was no surprise when I came up behind her and asked what the hell she was doing there. She said Annie kept asking was this person Durango, was that person Durango. And then my, apparently, distinctive walk came into view and the Queen told Annie that that is Durango.

I was surprised by how large the hiking group was. I surmised this was going to be interesting, as it seemed fairly obvious that these people would have widely different hiking speeds. That, and I'd already discovered the trails were muddy, icy and slippery in places.

Every time we'd stop to wait for the stragglers to catch up I'd overheat and steam up my sunglasses. The Queen did not get as hot and steamy as I did.

We reached the top of a long climb. And waited. Annie then launched a berry attack on me with the first wave being a Japanese Pearl Harbor type sneak attack. When Annie came in for her second attack I was well armed with my own handful of berries. She was not expecting that.

Soon Don Young showed up and told us the next stop was Tandy Falls. I was thinking some of this group is going to have a hard time getting down there. My group took off towards the falls, with Annie in the lead.

By the time we made it to Tandy Falls I'd informed the Queen that I had an escape vehicle parked nearby. The Queen instantly subscribed to that plan. Annie was a bit confused, wanting to wait for the rest of the group.

It was fun hiking with that big group, most people I've ever seen hiking the Tandy Hills, but I could not take the stopping and waiting.

So, we loaded into the escape vehicle and I asked if the Queen would like to go anywhere. She had no where in mind. I asked if she'd like to drive around and see stuff. I like driving people around and seeing stuff. The Queen was quite agreeable to that plan.

First I drove to nearby Oakland Lake Park and Fosdic Lake, then down Oakland Avenue, seeing the big Chesapeake Energy complex that pops up at the end of Oakland. Then on to Gateway Park and Fort Woof, pointing out Town Talk as we drove by.

At Gateway Park Annie had a bit of an acrophobia incident crossing the bridge that connects to the Trinity Trails. Then she wanted to go on the dam/bridge that makes a waterfall of the Trinity River. There she climbed down onto the falls and made me a bit nervous.

After we were done with Gateway Park I asked if the Queen had been to the Fort Worth Stockyards. She had not. I asked if she'd seen the new Dallas Cowboy stadium. She had not. Somehow the stadium won out over the Stockyards.

As soon as I got off the freeway it was obvious something was going on in the stadium. I knew it was not a Cowboys game because I was seeing no silver and blue, just a lot of orange. I rolled down the window and asked. Cotton Bowl. Some team from Oklahoma was playing some team from somewhere else. I thought the Cotton Bowl was in Dallas at Fair Park.

And the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot was closed off, just like it is for Cowboy games, only this time there were an awful lot of buses parked on the lot. I hope they don't get towed.

At this point in time Annie announced she was hungry. After inquiring as to what type vittles were wanted, we went to Sweet Tomatoes, where Annie made artful plate arrangements with her mom's leftovers.

Before we got to Sweet Tomatoes Annie informed her mom that her phone was making noises. Annie's mom checked her phone to find a voice mail from Don Young telling her the hike terminated by 12:04 and they were heading to 8.0 in downtown Fort Worth. We were about 25 miles from there at that point in time.

After Sweet Tomatoes we headed west with a stop at Veterans Park. I wanted to show the Queen the bizarre gas drilling rig that's right up against an apartment complex. A well dressed woman in stiletto heels walked by as we drove in. I've never seen such a sight at this location before.

Then it was back towards the Tandy Hills where the Queen's Chariot awaited her return. But, before we got there we drove down Carter Avenue, paid a visit to Mother Nature guarding Scott Avenue and then headed back to View Street and the aforementioned Chariot.

So, the Manly Men and Wild Women Hike turned into a very enjoyable day. Princess Annie and the Queen of Wink were a lot of fun. The most amusing thing I heard today came from Princess Annie. She asked me how old I was. Why are you asking me such a rude question said I. Annie then said, "You act 23, but your hair is white."

I told Annie I was 29. She did not quibble with that number. Kids.

Princess Annie's Flowers For The Tandy Hills Hobo

I saw photo proof of the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie ziplining in New York. But I saw no photo evidence of the visit to the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

I was suspicious about the Queen of Wink's Tandy Hills story, due to the fact that I was there during the time frame of the Queen and her entourage's visit. I was on the trails the Queen was on. We should have crossed paths. I can not figure out why and how that did not happen.

Now, yes, I may have earlier indicated that I was onboard for this trip to New York and getting scared at Thrillvania. But that didn't work out.

So, until today around noon, I had no real hard evidence that the Queen of Wink had actually been walking on the Tandy Hills.

An elaborate story had been told by Princess Annie of picking flowers, while at the Tandy Hills, and putting them in a bottle she found floating by Tandy Falls. Then putting the vase of flowers at the Tandy Hills Hobo's Campsite.

If I saw a vase of flowers, this would be the physical evidence I was looking for to prove the Winkettes were not pulling some sort of Balloon Boy Hoax on me.

Well, when I got to the Hobo Camp I saw the vase, well, actually it was a whiskey bottle. There was a nice floral arrangement in the whiskey bottle. Sitting in front of the vase were 16 bits of Royal Coinage, left I assume, by Princess Annie, for the Hobo.

What a thoughtful kid. I mean princess.

It is past the middle of October and there are still flowers blooming on the Tandy Hills. Today I saw a big group of purple flowers I'd not noticed before. They were clustered around a tree by the Hobo Camp.