Another Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day that I remember, sort of.
I know that is me looking at the lens of my antique, long gone, Casio digital camera, with its taking a selfie feature, well before such became a common thing.
And that is my long gone Schwinn Moab mountain bike behind me. That bike died five bikes ago, with the aluminum frame braking whilst I was having a fine time on the Horseshoe Trail in Grapevine.
I am fairly certain, in this photo, my bike and I are in Cameron Park in Waco. That park has some of the best mountain trails I have pedaled on. The trails have names and markers indicating their difficulty level. If I remember correctly, and sometimes I do, one diamond meant easy trail, two diamonds meant less easy, on up to five diamonds, which indicated difficult, for expert riders only.
I remember finding the one and two diamond trails treacherous enough for me. I did not attempt any of the three, four or five diamond trails.
There is a cliff in Cameron Park, called Lover's Leap. The leap is into the Brazos River, far below. If I remember correctly one of the five diamond trails took off from Lover's Leap...
A boat tour video opens up, but it shows the Waco boat tour. Formidable Fort Worth, the 13th largest city in the United States, is following Waco's lead.
J.D. Granger & Marty Leonard among others are also in a photo from the website.
Above is the photo to which Anonymous referred, with J.D. Granger on the far left, and TRWD board member, Marty Leonard, on the far right, costumed like Katherine Hepburn's Rose Sayer in African Queen, ready to hop aboard the jungle boat for a river cruise.
The video to which Anonymous refers starts up as soon as you enter the Panther Island Boat Tours website. And, just as Anonymous indicated, that video does not show river boaters floating the Trinity River, but instead takes us on a look at a river boat tour of the Brazos River, in Waco.
With that boat tour actually passing by some actual scenic scenery, including an actual signature bridge, and the steep limestone cliffs of Cameron Park.
One of those bridges seen in the video is an irony we have mentioned before. That being that there is a bridge across the Brazos River, in Waco, which appears to be built upon V-piers of the sort Fort Worth has been struggling to build for years.
Above you can see the river boat heading towards that V-pier bridge, while below is a screen cap from the video showing a closer look at the river boat going under that Brazos River bridge.
Explain again, please, Trinity River Vision Boondogglers, why those V-piers stuck in slow motion construction mode will result in any sort of signature unique iconic type bridge?
Now, let's move on to the next comment, that being the one which took us to the Panther Island delusion mentioned above...
You can't make this stuff up.
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I agree with Anonymous, you can't make this stuff up. No need to, apparently, what with someone doing so.
You can watch the video, below, without needing to click the YouTube link above. The video opens with the Panther Island 2028 scene you see at the top. My instant reaction when seeing this was wait? what? that is not Fort Worth, that looks like Vancouver.
And so it was.
If my memory is serving me correctly, way back near the start of this century, when I was startled by a HUGE headline in the Sunday Fort Worth Star-Telegram proclaiming "TRINITY UPTOWN TO MAKE FORT WORTH THE VANCOUVER OF THE SOUTH" I remember thinking what fresh ridiculous nonsense is this? Little could I know then how totally absurdly ridiculous this was to become in the following decades.
Anyway, if my memory is serving me correctly I remember the original propaganda claimed this Fort Worth Vancouver makeover as being inspired by what Vancouver did with its False Creek industrial wasteland. That is the area of Vancouver which was transformed into Expo 86, Vancouver's extremely transformative successful world's fair.
Years later I recollect J.D. Granger taking the Boondogglers on one of their multiple "fact finding" junkets to Vancouver, and at that time touting the wonders of Granville Island.
Granville Island is located near False Creek, but came into existence before the False Creek industrial wasteland was transformed by Expo 86.
In the video the Fort Worth realtor waxes poetic about Granville Island and how the Panther Island version of it will transform Fort Worth, where the realtor claims now the only reason to go downtown is to go to jail or pick up someone from the jail.
The realtor apparently had never been to a Farmers Market before visiting the one on Granville Island. Not even the Farmer's Market in Dallas.
According to the realtor he and his wife were browsing through the Granville Farmers Market, picking up goods and putting them in their shopping cart, til chased down by a vendor who explained the goods had to be paid for at the vendor where one picked the goods up.
This realtor seems to be well-intentioned, though delusional. The few scenes in the video which do show Fort Worth, and the current Panther Island wasteland, ironically illustrate how absurd it is to think that chunk of land, and that polluted river, is going to somehow be transformed into anything even remotely resembling anything in Vancouver.
Anyway, watch the video below and you will see that it is true, you really can't make this stuff up...
For illustrative purposes I searched for an image of one of the River Safari cruise ship river boats of the sort which the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision's Party Planner Division has contracted with to float river boat cruises on the super scenic Trinity River as it passes by the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.
The River Safari cruise ship river boat operation is headquartered in Waco, Texas. I assume the above photo shows a River Safari river boat on the Brazos River at a location on the actually scenic Brazos River as it passes through Waco.
Among the actual scenic scenery one would see via a River Safari river boat cruise on the Brazos River is an actual real non-imaginary signature bridge, that being the iconic Waco Suspension Bridge. A short distance from that bridge one would float by the scenic cliffs of Cameron Park.
And imagine my surprise when I found the above photo and I saw the bridges. The first one looks like one of the pedestrian bridges which cross the Trinity River near the location of the Trinity River Vision's inner tube parties at the location of the Boondoggle's imaginary island.
And then there is the surprise of the second bridge.
Let's take a closer look at that surprising second bridge...
Are those V-piers holding up that bridge?
V-piers?
You know, those supposedly unique, one-of-a-kind piers which America's Biggest Boondoggle's propagandaists tout as making America's Biggest Boondoggle's bridges "signature" bridges, destined to become iconic symbols of, well, currently, iconic symbols of America's Biggest Boondoggle.
Those Fort Worth V-piers being built over dry land are now well into their 5th year of construction, with no end in sight until, maybe, some point in the next decade.
Did J.D. Granger and his Confederacy of Dunces copy a Waco bridge design before copying Waco's river boat cruises?
Is the Brazos River a polluted e.coli infested murky mess like the Trinity River? My times seeing the Brazos it looked like a normal river, not anything close to being a glorified ditch with heavily littered banks.
And another thing we have been wondering about regarding the Fort Worth version of Waco's Brazos River river boat cruises.
What with the Fort Worth version being a Trinity River Vision Party Planner Division operation, of course, booze consumption is a component, with the BYOB concept being pushed by the TRVPPD chief planner, Shanna Cate (Granger*).
Are there restroom facilities of the modern sort on board the Trinity River cruise ships? Or will the restroom facilities be the Fort Worth norm of an outhouse, or two, somewhere on one of the cruise ship's decks?
*We still have not received confirmation that the nuptials between Shanna Cate and her formerly married boyfriend, J.D. Granger, actually took place, as planned, on an isolated Caribbean island last February.
This morning's swim was quite refreshing, what with the air at my location on the planet being heated to a relatively chilly 58 degrees, the water in the pool was warmer than the air.
At noon I decided I needed to check in on the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.
I saw two large water snakes today in Village Creek. I was not able to get a picture of either.
This past weekend's rain has recharged the Village Creek Blue Bayou, causing the sprouting of a lot of green foliage, which is blooming yellow flowers.
In the Blue Bayou I saw a small turtle the likes of which I've not seen before, for a brief moment, before he or she dived for safety. The turtle had a red marking on it.
There were a lot of people in the VCNHA today, including a pair of canoodling smoochers sitting on a picnic table by the Blue Bayou. I don't think they noticed me.
I stopped by the historical marker that is stuck in the ground by the parking lot off Dottie Lynn Parkway, today, and read it, again.
I'd not made note, previously, of one of the paragraphs. I found this paragraph just a bit appalling in its nonchalant way in which it described what was basically a crime against humanity.
Below is the referenced paragraph...
The earliest days of the newly formed Republic of Texas record the end of the long history of Native American settlement in this area. Expeditions of scouting parties made up of the rangers, volunteers and militia were designated to clear the area of Indians to make way for colonists and the land hungry settlers who were being attracted with the sales of land grants in 1841 to the W.S. Peters' Emigration Land Company of Louisville, Kentucky. Before being destroyed in the Battle of Village Creek in 1841, a whole series of villages lay on either side of the creek extending for about five miles southward from near current-day Lamar Boulevard to a hill on which was located the largest village at the current location of the clubhouse of the Lake Arlington Golf Course near Spur 303. A large village was also located in the vicinity of Village Creek where it crosses this trail east of the marker. Three hundred acres of corn grew near the villages which supported over 1,000 warriors of the native local tribes, which included the Anadarko, Bidais, Caddo, Keechi, Kickapoo, Tawakoni, Tonkawa, Waco, Waxahachie and Wichita, all members of the Caddoan Confederacy.
I have not found any source which tells me how many Indians were murdered in the Village Creek zone in this primitive version of abusing someone's eminent domain. The number likely was very large.
I was in no mood to overheat during my regular midday endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation today, what with the temperature approaching 90, not a lot of wind blowing and me already overheated due to having my phone against my ear for way too long this morning dealing with some ridiculousness that I later figured out was caused by something called Facebook.
It really is time for the next big thing to come along and replace Facebook, like Facebook replaced MySpace.
I digress.
So, with me in no mood to overheat, I opted to walk in the shade in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area with the Native American Ghosts of the Caddoan Confederacy, with that particular confederacy made up of tribes like the Anadarko, Bidais, Caddo, Heechi, Kickapoo, Tawakoni, Tonkawa, Waco, Waxahachie and Wichita.
I think only one state, that being my old home state of Washington, has more place names named after Native Americans than the current state I am located in, that being Texas. Washington is way smaller in size than Texas, so you would think Washington would have fewer Native American place names.
But, Washingtonians got along with Native Americans better than the Texans did. Which has towns in Washington, like Seattle, named after a well liked chief. While the biggest town in Texas is named after some white guy with the last name of Houston.
I decided to leave the paved trail today and take the old Indian Path that leads through the woods. This proved to be a bit of a mistake. All the excess precipitation has the old Indian Path a bit over grown. I was glad I had my trusty snake/spider web whacking stick with me.
I whacked no snakes, but I did do some spider web whacking.
The sun directly overhead at noon made for a Short Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man, which I am stepping on in the picture.
Today I realized the extent of the rut in which I've fallen.
Ever since I discovered, about 4 years ago, the Tandy Hills trails, less than 4 miles from my abode, it became my default hiking location.
Even after the discovery of the Tandy Hills I used to go to locations like Rockledge Park in Grapevine to hike along Lake Grapevine. Or Bob Jones Park in Southlake. Or Cedar Hills State Park in south Dallas. Or Dinosaur Valley State Park down by Glen Rose.
Or even drive as far as Waco to hike or bike around Cameron Park. Or all the way down to Austin to head west to climb up Enchanted Rock.
But then going to other locations began to taper off. I did go to Bob Jones Park in Southlake on New Year's Day, or maybe it was the day before New Year's Day.
It is 25 miles from my current location to Cedar Hills State Park. 50 miles roundtrip. I don't remember at what point I decided it was ridiculous to drive 50 miles to go on a hike.
I can not remember the last time I went to Dinosaur Valley State Park. I think it was the time I remember getting gas in Glen Rose for $1.50 a gallon and calling my mom to tell her I got gas and how much it cost.
I don't know what I'm going to do to get out of this Tandy Hills rut. I really don't feel like burning 3 or 4 gallons of gas and an hour of time, driving just to go to Cedar Hills State Park just to hike their many miles of very nice trails.
Not when the Tandy Hills is pretty much in my backyard. Maybe I will take up bowling to get me out of my rut.
Looking at that road sign, on the left, in the lower right part of the picture, one might think we are looking at a skyscraper in Waco, 2 miles away.
But, what we are actually looking at is a road sign on I-30 telling you that the I-35 exit to Waco is 2 miles ahead.
And that skyscraper is one of the more unfortunate looking ones, viewed from the Tandy Hills, that make up the skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.
It was a beautiful day looking at the beautiful skyline today on the Tandy Hills. Perfect temperature. No need for a coat.
Town Talk had lots of good stuff today. I got a couple containers of yellow grape tomatoes, a pork roast, smoked provolone, feta cheese, big whole wheat hamburger buns, veggie burgers, sweet potato chips, shrimp, salmon and cod.
You can quit worrying about Elsie Hotpepper, who had been missing since Thanksgiving. I heard from her this morning, simply saying, with no details, "In trouble..."
I have no idea what Elsie has done this time to get in hot water. It's always something.
The previous blogging was, in part, about Durango, Texas and a roadtrip I took to check out my namesake. Thinking about that put me in mind of something I saw along the way that seemed a tad odd.
To go to Durango you exit Interstate 35, in Waco, at Exit 333, to Highway 77. You head east and you'll soon come to a big traffic circle.
At that traffic circle, at 2601 Circle Road, is a greasy spoon type burger joint. That calls itself Health Camp. There were a lot of cars parked at Health Camp. If you click the photo, on the enlarged version you'll see "Malts", "Shakes", "Serving Super Burgers."
Health Camp opened in 1949. Making it older than McDonald's. One of the burgers on the menu is called the "Super Health Burger." With that you get a double-decker bun, 2 meat patties, lettuce, tomato, 2 slices of Old English cheese and "special sauce."
You can also get fries and onion rings at Health Camp.
I suppose you're wondering why this greasy spoon is called Health Camp. Well, seems the original owner, Jack Schivetz, had trouble coming up with a name for his new burger joint. All he could think of was Health Camp. Due to Health Camp being stamped on each egg his mom would buy from a nearby farm when he was a kid. Why couldn't he just call the place "Jack's Burger Joint" I couldn't help but wonder.
There's a guy in Texas calling himself Texas Burger Guy. TBG has a very good blog that's all about burger joints. He'd didn't care for the Health Camp burgers, but other stuff, like the shakes, he liked.
Apparently some citizens of Stephenville have grown weary of the UFO brouhaha and fear becoming a Texas version of Roswell, New Mexico, feeling somehow embarrassed by their perception that the rest of the planet perceives Stephenville as the new Flying Saucer Capital of the World. I think it'd be a better plan to just sit back and enjoy the attention while it lasts. Which won't be long, most likely.
Meanwhile a town near Stephenville, which was also under assault the night of the UFO invasion, that town being tiny Dublin, named after a town in Ireland, known in Texas as the only source of the original version of the state drink of Texas, that being Dr Pepper. The Dublin plant is the only Dr Pepper brewery which still makes the sickeningly sweet cherry flavored concoction with pure cane sugar.
So, the powers that be in Dublin, unlike those in Stephenville, see the media circus surrounding the supposed UFO as an opportunity, with the director of Dublin economic development, Sandy Reed and members of the Dublin Rotary Club, plotting how the UFO could be a good thing for Dublin.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that a Cleburne, Texas native, Jason Leigh, who the media, such as NBC Weekend, labeled an expert on UFOs, turned out to be a bit of a crackpot. What a shock. Seems that 10 years ago Mr. Leigh attacked a Veterans Affairs Center in Waco with his Jeep because he was cranky about his veteran's benefits. After a standoff that involved the threat that he had enough explosives in his jeep to turn downtown Waco into a flower garden, Mr. Leigh surrendered and eventually received a short sentence.
