Point Defiance Hike With Close Ferry Collision

My one reader may remember me mentioning going hiking at Point Defiance a couple times since I've been in Tacoma. And that I went again on Saturday, that time to take video of the hike.

My first day here we walked the beach at Point Defiance and I tried to take a photo of the crystal clear water with my old-fashioned digital camera. That did not come out well. But video of the same water did show how clear it is.

On Saturday, there were dozens of boats of all sizes in the water, from little kayaks to regular fishing boats to yachts to ferrys to container ships.

In the video below you'll go on a hike through old growth forest, spend a little time on the beach, see some very clear water, a lot of boats and a near collision with a ferry. Very dramatic.

Me, McDonald's and Tacoma

I have only been in a couple McDonald's in Texas. Maybe 3. My fast food experiences in Texas have not been pretty. It's not just McDonald's. I had a very unsettling experience at a Taco Bell in the rattlesnake town of Sweetwater.

The last Texas McDonald's I've been in was in 2001, when my mom and dad were here, I mean there---I'm here in Tacoma right now, not there, in Texas. We were on our way to Waxahachie, they saw a McDonald's and wanted an ice cream cone. The machine was broken. That was the same problem with the very first Texas McDonald's I'd been in, up in the Panhandle, in a town the name of which I've long forgotten.

I just remembered, I have been to a good Texas McDonald's, that being the one I call the "World's Most Unique McDonald's" on my Texas website. That was also during my mom and dad's 2001 visit.

So, why am I babbling about McDonald's? Well, an odd thing happens when I'm up here in Tacoma. I seem to go to McDonald's a lot. There is a very well run one near where I'm staying. It's called the Chihuly Glass McDonald's due to some Chihuly Glass being on display. I use the drive-thru. Even if the line of cars is long, it goes very very fast.

On Friday I went thru the aforementioned drive-thru to find that on Fridays you get a free iced latte, along with the 2 bacon cheeseburgers I got from the Dollar Menu.

The last time I was here, on the way back to the airport, Lulu and I went to the Chihuly McDonald's and I got a Fish Sandwich, in addition to something on the Dollar Menu. I had a 3 hour layover in Phoenix. I knew I was going to be picked up by my mom and dad and sister and likely taken to McDonald's All You Can Eat in Phoenix.

So, why in the world did I go to McDonald's before going to the airport? It perplexes me to this day.

In the meantime, today I had a McChicken and a Bacon Cheeseburger. From the Dollar Menu, of course. No, I did not want a drink or fries with that. If you're giving away Iced Lattes, I'll take one of those.

No TV No Missing It

I thought I had a few "Don't Miss" TV shows. But, apparently I was wrong. I've not watched TV since I've been in Tacoma. Or the day before I flew up here. I'm not missing it.

I had programmed myself to watch certain shows, like some sort of moronic robot on auto-pilot. Like Bravo's Flipping Out. I have not watched since Jeff Lewis fired his lying assistant, Chris Elwood, who happened to be his executive assistant, Jenni's, husband. They've probably gotten divorced in the episodes I've not seen.

And then there is Kathy Griffin's: My Life on the D-List. I thought I couldn't miss that funny show. I guess I was wrong.

I was afraid Lulu would get me addicted to the lastest version of Big Brother. But, she ain't watching it.

It's not like I'm wanting for TVs here. There's one of those big new-fangled flat panel things in one room. Every bedroom has a TV. But I've not turned mine on.

Speaking of my bedroom. It had been in an apartment in the basement, that I called The Arctic. Well, my sister got home last night, from a week in D.C., where she experienced high temps and horrible humidity and got drenched in a downpour. I would have thought she'd get back here and find it chilly. Particularly since the temps here are being record-breaking lows. As in it got down in the 50s last night and only 69 during the day.

But. When my sister got home she thought it was way too hot in here. While my mom and dad, from Arizona, and me, from Texas, are quite chilly all the time.

Due to this Hot House, my sister was not able to sleep well last night. So, this morning I suggested I move up to the upper loft, known as The Tropics, while she could move to The Arctic. She jumped at this idea, incredulous that I could find it bearable to be in The Tropical Attic. Unbearable? When it's 10 degrees, or more, colder than I keep the A/C back in Texas.

So, I am now up in "The Tropics." I am still a bit chilly. There are 2 A/C units in here, should, God Forbid, we get a heat wave with temps in the low 80s.

The TV appears to be smaller in The Tropics than the one I didn't watch in The Arctic. I likely will not watch this one either.

I'm thinking I may be in the process of making a serious life change, in more ways than one, with one being dropping TV, Cold Turkey. I tell you, I think I'm already reaping benefits from not subjecting my feeble little brain to the corroding evil of the cathode ray.

Does a Flat Panel TV have a cathode ray? I suspect not.

Fremont Sunday Market In Seattle

On Sunday I got up at 3 am to get picked up by Lulu at 6 am to be in Seattle in the Fremont District at 7 am to be at the Fremont Sunday Market which opened at 10 am.

It was a long day. But a lot of fun. Due to letting it be known that I would be there Lulu and I had a few visitors drop in. Some I'd not seen in years.

Fremont used to be a town, then it became a district of Seattle. Then it seceded from the Union and declared itself the Independent Republic of Fremont. When the Soviet Union went bye-bye, Fremont bought some Lenin statues and some old missiles.

In other words Fremont is pretty much ground zero for the lively Seattle counter-culture. There are a lot of galleries and restaurants and shops in Fremont.

A canal runs through Fremont connecting Lake Union with Puget Sound, taking boats through the Ballard Locks in order to get them through the varying water elevations. Fort Worth may one day have a lake, but unlike natural Lake Union, if their Trinity River Vision ever becomes clear and they dam up a perfectly fine river to create a little lake and some canals. Fort Worth will need no locks for its canals.

In Fremont, a bridge crosses the canal that has to open up to permit big boats to pass. This created a huge traffic jam as we were leaving the Sunday Market yesterday.

I'd not had Rainier Cherries in a long time. Bought some yesterday. They were better than I remembered.

Fremont has this really cool, large, environmentally friendly, organic oriented grocery store that has apartments built above, parking garage below, with elevators taking the apartment dwellers down to the grocery store. I got really good pizza, some natural coke made with cane sugar and an almond stuffed croissant at this store. It has a very big outdoor eating zone. I was impressed. Only thing close to this, in my zone of Texas, is Central Market. I think the Fremont grocery was called PCC. I may be wrong.

Lulu was in fine form yesterday. She's like the Queen of the Market. I may do Fremont again next Sunday. Maybe. You'll see a lot of Lulu in the video below....

Fremont Sunday Market

I got up at 3:30 this morning. My biological clock, still ticking on Central Time, thinks it's 5:30. I am up early this morning because Lulu is picking me up at 6 to go to Seattle to go to the Fremont Sunday Market where Lulu has a booth pretty much every Sunday.

It should be an interesting, albeit, exhausting day. I have to get back here in time to drive back to the airport to pick up my incoming sister at 8:30 pm.

I've been to the Fremont Sunday Market a couple times. It's a good thing. One time Wanda bought these things called Hash Brownies from a street vendor at Fremont. Apparently this type thing is illegal in some places. They were tasty brownies.

The Fremont Sunday Market has been running every Sunday since 1990. It has grown into being a thriving, diverse, European type street market. Fort Worth should have sent someone to check out Fremont and Pike Place before claiming their pathetic predictably soon to fail Sante Fe Rail Market was modeled after Pike Place and European public markets. The sad little Fort Worth boondoggle did not remotely resemble either.

There is good food to be had at the Fremont Market. Things like Veracci pizzas, Chicago style hot dogs, French crepes, tamales, Thai desserts, Tuscan Bruschetta, a pizza oven on wheels, fruits and veggies, chocolate truffles and all sortsa pastry stuff.

I'll be shooting video today and YouTubing it later. I hope it is not a cloudy day. I know it will be cold. Temperatures here are averaging about 10 degrees below the norm. So much for global warming in the Pacific Northwest.

Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade

Last night a crowd estimated to be around 300,000 lined 2.5 miles of a downtown Seattle street, a line of people stretching from the Seahawk Stadium, known as Quest Field, to the Seattle Center (that's where the Space Needle is) to watch the 49th annual Seafair Torchlight Parade.

The Seafair Pirates are always a big part of the Torchlight Parade. They act like really bad boys. There were several giant balloons, like the pirate you see in the photo. A goldfish and a killer whale (orca) also floated by in balloon form. A rather goofy balloon, perfect for ultra-green Seattle, was Seattle City Light workers walking the parade with a giant balloon shaped like one of those new corkscrew shaped light bulbs we will soon all be plagued with.

The Torchlight Parade is one of the many events that make up Seattle's Seafair. There were over 100 floats in this year's parade. A marching Army band played "God Bless America," bringing ultra-patriotic, ultra-liberal northwesterners to their feet.

The next big event in Seafair comes up August 1-3 when hydroplanes roar in races on Lake Washington while the Navy's Blue Angels make noise in the sky. I've personally never cared for the hydroplanes races. Way too many people, both on land and in the water. Watching fast boats. Reminds me way too much of a NASCAR race. I don't get why people like watching that either.

Drive Across The New Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridge

Like I mentioned earlier, today I drove across the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge for the first time. The new bridge included improvements to the highway that connects the bridge to I-5, vastly improving one of the Northwest's worst traffic bottlenecks.

It might be of interest to people in Fort Worth, and maybe Texas, to know that this bridge came about via a vote by the people who use it. If I remember correctly, 5 or 6 different counties voted on the bond issue to build the bridge.

Cost? Over $1 Billion. Meanwhile, as many of you know, Fort Worth currently has a likely public works boondoggle in the making that the public has not voted on and which has not been funded by the public voting on a bond issue to finance building a little lake and some canals. As you may be able to tell, it appalls me that something so drastic can be proposed to a town's infrastructure, with the people not allowed to vote on it. Because the Fort Worth Ruling Junta wants their latest boondoggle and the Ruling Junta knows the public would vote a BIG NO.

Someday, maybe, Fort Worth may become a democracy. Who knows? The Berlin Wall came down, China now is a booming capitalist nation, if you live long enough you live to see some dramatic changes. Maybe Fort Worth can someday overthrow the Ruling Junta and become a democracy. Who knows? It's unlikely, but stranger miracles have occurred.

In the meantime, watch the video I took today of driving through Tacoma and across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

A Long Day's Journey Into Night In Tacoma

I've had me a day. And it's not even 2pm yet. This morning I did not get my early wake-up call from The Poodles yapping when the newspaper arrives. They were being too contented to bother, because my little sister convinced my mom that The Poodles got sad when left alone in their own room at night. How this information was gleaned, I do not know.

Now, before Grandma and Grandpa arrived The Poodles seemed just fine with staying behind the closed door of their own bedroom, while their Uncle enjoyed his peace and quiet in the basement.

After reading the paper and drinking my morning coffee I took off to Lulu's to let her dog, Pal, out of the garage. Lulu is out of town til tonight. Originally I was to go along. I'm glad that changed.

About 8am I leashed up The Poodles and let them lead me to Wright Park. That is sort of Tacoma's mini-version of New York City's Central Park. It was a long walk.

After I returned The Poodles, to the safety of their Grandma and Grandpa, I took off to take video of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. That's what you see in the photo. Parallel suspension bridges. The one on the left is the old bridge. I think it was built over 50 years ago to replace the previous suspension bridge known as Galloping Gertie, due to the way she swayed in the wind. Eventually wind knocked down Galloping Gertie. Washington has had its unfair share of bridge disasters, either falling down or sinking. Or combos of both.

After checking out the new bridge I headed to Point Defiance Park to take video of the hike through the woods that I had fun on yesterday. It was fun again. I don't know if it's the fresh air, the cool temps, being at sea level or that I'm in incredibly better shape than I realized, but I had no idea I could run up steep slopes like I did again today, let alone holding a video camera in one hand while doing so.

After I was done with hiking and being at the beach and watching all the boats I headed back here, checking out Stadium High School on the way. I won't explain right now why a high school would be interesting to see. I took video of it. You'll see why its a cool thing when you see the video. I mean, if you see the video.

I'll be having myself one long day tomorrow, stuck in Seattle all day in the Fremont district at the Fremont Sunday Market. I'll be in Lulu's booth. Drop by and I'll autograph a "Durango Texas" t-shirt for you. After you buy it, of course.

Driving Tacoma's Waterfront

I went hiking today at Tacoma's Point Defiance Park. Great trails hovered over by giant old growth trees. And it smelled so good.

As I was leaving there was a couple acting all concerned that they weren't allowed to walk on the paved trail that runs along the beach. I overheard them debating. I asked where they were from. I was already thinking I knew, due to the accent. Yup, they were Texans.

I explained that this was a public park, that the only fees were for the zoo and the aquarium, that they could hike all they wanted to. For free. Washington has started charging a fee for most day use at the state parks. It didn't used to be that way. Texas charges a hefty fee to enter their state parks. Hence the Texas couple's concern. They must have thought they were at a state park. I told them they should hike til the pavement ended in about quarter mile, because then they'd be at a driftwood covered beach with a lot of people having fun. Free of charge.

After the hike I drove the Tacoma waterfront. And took video. You can watch that below. Someday, way in the future, Fort Worth may have a little bitty bit of waterfront due to their very forward thinking Trinity River Vision. I really can't wait for that to happen.

Chesapeake Energy Turns Even More Comic

2000 miles away and I can't escape Chesapeake Energy looniness. What's the latest you ask? Well, as part of Chesapeake Energy's ongoing expensive propaganda campaign's onslaught on the minds of what Chesapeake Energy must think are easily brainwashed Texas minds, Chesapeake Energy is now targeting children.

Oh no, you say. Not the children. Well, the adults get Chesapeake's Shale.TV, newspaper ads, billboards, TV ads, radio ads, bus ads, I've likely forgotten some of the propaganda ads targetted at adults, so, isn't it simple common sense that some effort be directed at kids?

And so it will be, in the form of a coloring book featuring a dog drill rig worker named Chesapeake Charlie.

Why doesn't Chesapeake Energy take all the money being blown on their silly, not-working, just annoying people, over the top propaganda campaign and instead spend that money helping the people being directly affected by the drilling shenanigans. Like if you destroy someone's trees, make it right and plant even better trees. And send the family to Disneyland while you plant them.

Try dealing directly with the actual issues that bother people, rather than trying so hard to futilely try to convince them that Barnett Shale is pretty near the Second Coming. When people let you know they don't want a drill rig next to a cherished natural area, listen to them and don't drill there. You've got plenty of spots to stick your holes in the ground. You don't need to be doing so in controversial locations.

That's how you get people on your side, by treating them fairly and sensitively, not by bombarding them with a foolish propaganda campaign that the vast majority sees precisely for what it is. Self-serving blather.

Read more about the latest Chesapeake Energy foolishness here.