The 2012 State Fair Of Texas Big Tex Choice Awards Deep-Fried Health Food

That is a Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll on a stick you are looking at. Doesn't that look delicious?

This delicious looking thing on a stick won the Most Creative accolade at this year's State Fair of Texas Big Tex Choice Awards.

The Big Tex Choice Awards are awarded on Labor Day.

The State Fair of Texas starts up in a couple weeks, September 28, to be precise. You have until the Fair's closing, October 21, to have yourself some Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll.

Fried Jambalaya won the coveted Best Taste Award. Fried Jambalaya is the creation of Abel Gonzales, the man behind past winners like Fried Cookie Dough, Fried Coke and my personal favorite, Fried Butter. For his award winning Fried Jambalaya, Mr. Gonzales somehow glues shrimp and Cajun sausage together, coats that with a flavored flour, then deep fries the conglomeration.

Butch Benavides is the genius behind the creation of the Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll. He takes a perfectly innocent cinnamon roll, covers it with pancake batter and crumbled bacon, then deep fries and dusts the result with sugar.

The finalists who did not win the two grand prizes created equally tasty sounding fried concoctions.

Picnic on a Stick sticks spicy chicken, tater tots and dill pickle slices on a stick, then dipped in batter, rolled in bread crumbs, fried, served with sauces in the form of BBQ, ranch or honey mustard.

Deep Fried Mac-N-Cheese Sliders take macaroni and cheese, batters it in bread crumbs, deep fried, then stuck in a bun, along with a hamburger patty.

Chicken Fried Cactus Bites takes thinly sliced prickly pear cactus pads, coats them in batter, then deep fried. Served with sweet & spicy jalapeno ranch and agave nectar dipping sauce.

Fried Pork Wing deep fries pork that has been slow cooked for 6 hours, then rolls the pork in a bacon chipotle sauce. Served with homemade BBQ potato chips.

Deep Fried Divine Chocolate Tres Leches Cake soaks a slice of chocolate tres leches cake in buttermilk batter, then deep fried, dusted with cinnamon, then topped with whipped cream, strawberry slices and peaches, then to add some sweetness, drizzled with a syrup.

I am so excited to go to this year's State Fair of Texas to try all of these delicious sounding delicacies. This should be very helpful in attaining my goal of being morbidly obese by the start of 2013.

Quacking With The Fosdick Lake Fosducks While Recovering From Cockroach Nightmares

The Flock of Fosducks who live at Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park were being very sociable today.

Via the picture you can almost tell how loudly the fosducks were quacking at me.

Even though the temperature was in the 90s, on its way to being over 100.

Again.

There were a lot of people aerobicizing under the noon day sun.

And 3 guys fishing. Humans, not birds.

I don't know how my camera managed to turn Fosdick Lake into such a nice shade of blue. My all natural visualizing orbs saw a lake looking green, not blue.

I woke up this morning with a really bad punched in the gut feeling. With a small bruise on my left forearm. I have no evidence that I've had another sleep walking incident. Except for the bruise. And that punched in the gut feeling.

I think the punched in the gut feeling may have been nightmare related. Last night I nightmared a cinematic epic that involved cockroaches. I nightmared cockroaches were crawling all over me as I laid in bed. I woke up, drenched in sweat, swatting at non-existent cockroaches.

The cockroach nightmare may have been caused by a partial viewing of Days of Wine & Roses. I made it to the part where Jack Lemmon visits Lee Remick's apartment for the first time. Lee had warned Jack that her apartment building was infested with cockroaches, and, if he did not mind such an infestation, he could come visit.

So, Jack Lemmon shows up with a bag of booze and a bottle of cockroach killing spray. He then proceeds to spray all over Lee's apartment.

A short time later the apartment manager is knocking on Lee's door, asking if she's been spraying the cockroaches, saying that the spraying has the cockroaches all riled up all over the building. Soon, the other tenants are coming out of their apartments to yell at Lee about the stirred up cockroaches.

Jack and Lee shrug it off and proceed to get drunk. I proceeded to turn off Days of Wine & Roses because I couldn't get past the nonsensical cockroach scene. That and I really am not a big fan of watching people get drunk, either in a movie or in real life.

Have I previously mentioned that I never saw a cockroach til I was in Texas? I remember my first cockroach like it was yesterday.

Before moving to Texas, I made a test run, staying in Fort Worth for a week. During that one week visit, on Wednesday, May 6, 1998, a date that lives in infamy, I saw my first cockroach, and also experienced my first ever bout of food poisoning.

The cockroach was seen in the Weatherford Visitor's Center. These were big cockroaches, not the petite German brand I have as occasional housepets. The food poisoning came courtesy of a hamburger from a greasy spoon located on the Parker County Courthouse Square, in Weatherford, which resulted in rocket-like projectile vomiting the next morning.

I don't think I consumed another hamburger until sometime in the century that followed the century in which I was food poisoned.

Imaginary Snake Encounters In Gateway Park While Thinking About Getting A Smart Car

Today my handlebars were back in Gateway Park on the FWMBA (Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association) Trail.

I believe the temperature was in the low 90s when I started pedaling. A breeze and shade made for pleasant pedaling, until I'd stop pedaling to consume some H2O or take a picture, or both.

Stopping pedaling quickly starts the steam bath phenomenon. I try and make my stops brief.

In the picture, due to my inferior photographic skills, you can't really tell that my handlebars are on the FWMBA Trail, with one of the Gateway Park paved trails to my handlebar's right, with a wooden bridge visible in the upper right.

I don't know the cause, maybe it was watching the video I blogged about a couple days ago, part of which showed a Copperhead snake encounter on the mountain bike trail in River Legacy Park, but today I have been being spooked  by tree roots. On my way to the pool this morning I reacted to a tree root I've seen many times, thinking, for an instant, it was a snake.

Today, whilst pedaling through the Gateway Park woods, the snake root spook reaction happened multiple times. This sort of got on my nerves. Maybe I had a bad snake nightmare last night that I'm not remembering consciously.

Changing the subject from snakes to Smart cars.

A couple days ago I Googled Smart cars, curious was I regarding how much a Smart car costs and its gas mileage. Ever since I Googled Smart cars, as I browse around the Internet, I keep seeing Smart car ads. Smart cars look so ridiculous, but also look like they'd be fun to drive. Like a go-kart on steroids.

I see a Smart car almost every day, parked by Albertson's. That Smart car has a personalized license plate. SMART. Why would someone want a personalized license plate that is the name of your car? Is that smart?

I have no idea what my license plate's combo of letters and numbers is. If it were SMART I'd be able to easily remember it.

I think I'll go Smart car shopping now.

Watching A Fish Get Caught & Consumed In Fosdick Lake

Walking around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park today I saw something I'd never seen before in Fosdick Lake.

I've seen what I saw today in other locations, but not Fosdick Lake.

What did I see today whilst walking around Fosdick Lake that I'd not seen before?

I saw a fish caught.

Who caught the fish?

It was that white guy you see in the picture. He or she suddenly darted its beak into the water and came out of the water with a little fish pinned in its beak. The fish squirmed for a bit and then the bird swallowed it. Then took a couple quick drinks of lake water, I assume help wash down the fish.

The picture was taken after the bird finished eating its lunch and had returned to its fishing position.

Do the Fosdick Lake birds not read the signs that warn that it is not safe to eat the Fosdick fish?

Mountain Biking The EKG Section Of The River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail With A Bad Snake

This afternoon, whilst in the process of updating my Eyes on Texas River Legacy Park webpage, I was Googling for info, when I came upon a really good video of the EKG section of the River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail.

This video starts off with a group of bikers confronting a Copperhead snake which had sunk its fangs into one of the biker's tires and then went into defensive mode, blocking the trail.

I have attempted to bike the EKG section only once. It did not go well. The least of my woes was I got sort of lost.

If you have never experienced the outdoors in North Texas, and have never experienced what mountain bike riding is like, this video gives you a really good example of why I have myself a really fine time biking the trails of River Legacy Park. And other mountain bike trails in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Have I mentioned before that when I moved to Texas I thought I'd be giving up mountain biking? Since there are few mountains in Texas, this seemed sort of obvious to me.

Then, my first month in Texas I drove out to the Piney Woods Region, that being East Texas. I came upon Tyler State Park. Drove into the park not knowing it is known for its mountain bike trails. I biked the Tyler State Park trails and whilst commiserating with a local I mentioned my surprise at finding such trails. He then told me, to my shock, that there are really good mountain bike trails inside the Dallas/Fort Worth metro zone.

Within a week I found out that this was true.

I soon discovered the trails on Lake Grapevine, like the Horseshoe, Northshore and Knob Hills trails. Then I found the DORBA trails at Cedar Hills State Park. At that point in time no mountain bike trail existed in River Legacy Park or Gateway Park.

Eventually I mountain biked the trails at Dinosaur Valley State Park, getting totally lost more than once. The mountain bike trails at Cameron Park in Waco have worn me out a couple times.

But, now, in 2012, with gas costing nearly $4 a gallon, I have no reason to drive a long distance to pedal on a mountain bike trail. I have River Legacy Park and Gateway Park in the neighborhood.

Labor Day Pedaling In River Legacy Park With The Holiday Hordes

The West Loop/Bypass Junction

Today I drove my 4 wheeled motorized motion device to River Legacy Park to pedal my 2 wheeled un-motorized motion device under the shade that chills the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails.

A lot of people drove their 4 wheeled motorized motion devices to River Legacy Park today. A lot of walkers, joggers, bladers, skateboarders and bikers.

I can be real dense sometimes. No, really, it's true. Today I was pedaling along, totally perplexed as to why River Legacy Park had so many people, including the picnickers I forgot to mention, enjoying the outdoors today.

And then I remembered. It's a holiday. Labor Day. The informal end of summer, even though the actual end does not come til September 22, with the arrival of the Autumnal Equinox.

It is HOT today. 97 degrees right now, with the humidity making it feel like 104. One does not get HOT whilst pedaling the shaded River Legacy Park mountain bike trails.

Til one stops for a water break.

Moisture quickly begins to seep, which then is very cooling once one is back pedaling.

My first waterbreak today came at the trail junction you see in the picture above. As you can also see, the trail is nicely shaded. At this junction I had the option of taking the West Loop, or the West Loop Bypass. I chose the West Loop. This goes by Fun Town. I do not go into Fun Town. Fun Town looks too scary to me.

River Legacy Park's new playground for kids is now open and ready for business.

The playground is sort of exposed to the sun, except for the mesh bridge that is back in the trees.

This is just about the best looking kid's playground I have ever seen. When I was a kid playgrounds, such as this, did not exist.

I was tempted to be a kid, then I saw the "NO GROWNUPS ALLOWED" sign. I do not think it is fair to discriminate in this manner. Who is to say who is a grownup?

Spencer Jack Getting Wet Thinking About The Skagit River Vision

Click here for info about the May 23, 2013 I-5 Skagit River Bridge Collapse.

This morning, in my email box, there was incoming from Spencer Jack's dad, my nephew, Jason, with the email's subject line being "42 Days Without Rain Leaves Skagit River Near Empty."

In the picture on the left that is Spencer Jack playing in the near empty Skagit River.

In the picture you can sort of see how clear and clean the Skagit River is. With no rain falling, the water in the river would be coming from the melting snowpack and glaciers high in the Cascade Mountains.

Those looking at these pictures, whose closest river is the Trinity River, please make note of the fact that you see no litter floating in the Skagit River.

If the Trinity River is ones main river frame of reference, one might wonder, if this is the Skagit River being almost empty, what is it like when the river runs with a normal flow.

Well, it really does not look all that much different.

I can not tell which bridge Jason is letting Spencer Jack play under. The I-5 bridge? Or is it the downtown Mount Vernon bridge? If that is where Spencer is in the river, well, it really is running low.

In the second picture I know for sure the bridge in the foreground is the I-5 bridge because I see the new bridge that connects Mount Vernon to Burlington behind it.

The Skagit River has what is known as a current. As in the water in the river moves. In downtown Mount Vernon the Skagit River is only a few miles from where it empties into Puget Sound. When the tide runs high the saltwater acts as a dam, slowing up the Skagit River, when the tide runs low the Skagit River speeds up.

I was in a small motor boat, years ago, launched near downtown Mount Vernon, going with the flow of the river, towards the Sound. The motor died. We had rows. The tide changed, the river started moving fast. I don't recollect ever struggling harder to get something to move. Eventually we made it to the river's bank.

Okay, in the last picture I can clearly tell where Spencer Jack is, in the Skagit River, because I can faintly see the Downtown Mount Vernon Tulip Tower in the background to the left of Spencer.

With the Tulip Tower on the other side of the river that would put Spencer Jack in West Mount Vernon. To the north of Spencer, with the river this low, there would be a huge sandbar, likely with a lot of people fishing from it. If I am remembering correctly.

Standing under the Downtown Mount Vernon Skagit River Bridge is something I don't recollect ever seeing before. So, the river really is running low.

I wonder why Mount Vernon does not have a Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Float on the Skagit River, like Fort Worth does on the filthy Trinity River? I can think of one reason. The Skagit River water is cold. Like I said above, the water comes from a melted source.

Downtown Mount Vernon currently has its own version of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. Only the Mount Vernon Skagit River Vision is not a boondoggle. Unlike the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle the Skagit River Vision is an actual needed flood control project. A flood wall is being built to protect downtown Mount Vernon from a Skagit River flood. Part of the project will be a Mount Vernon Riverwalk.

The Mount Vernon Skagit River Vision is well underway and will be completed, I think, by next year. There are no wakeboard parks as part of the Skagit River Vision. And no local congresswoman's unqualified son is employed to oversee the Skagit River Vision.

Several Hours After The Above Was Written....

I logged into Facebook to see that Spencer Jack's dad had Facebooked a picture of Spencer Jack that he did not email me this morning. This picture would have alleviated me of my confusion as to what bridge Spencer was under. In this picture Spencer Jack is on the Skagit River Bridge that connects Downtown Mount Vernon to West Mount Vernon.

To those reading this for whom the Trinity River is your local river, does it appear to you that the Skagit River, as it flows by Downtown Mount Vernon, is bigger than the fabled, ever shrinking, Town Puddle, that is one of the key parts of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, giving Fort Worth its long desired waterfront?

I wonder why the Skagit River is that nice blue color, whilst the Trinity River is currently a jade shade of green? Even with a blue sky overhead.

Today I Visited The Indian Ghosts Who Haunt The Village Creek Historical Area Then Went For A Walk In The Natural Area

That is Village Creek in Arlington you are looking at in the picture. Since that is Village Creek you might correctly guess I went to the place I call the Village Creek Natural Historical Area today for one of my frequent walks with the Indian Ghosts who inhabit this area.

I walked with the Indian Ghosts in the noon time frame. Prior to the noon time frame I drove north to Hurst to ALDI because I needed fat free refried beans and some other things.

The freeway construction that I drive through en route to ALDI, and back, makes me nervous.

Anyone else made nervous by the construction in the juncture of 820/121 zone? The road support beams have been laid on the support columns. It looks very flimsy. Some of the beams look as if they are barely touching the support columns.

It looks like a good wind could wreak havoc. Good thing earthquakes don't happen here.

Above, I said that today I went to the place I call the Village Creek Natural Historical Area. I realized today, and may have realized this previously, but forgot, but at the entry to this area the sign indicates you are at Village Creek Historical Area. No mention made on the sign about anything being Natural. That is the sign to which I refer, below.

So, you park in the Historical Area's Parking lot and walk towards the paved trail that leads to Village Creek. At the trailhead of the paved trail there is an historical marker. Having an historical marker in an historical area seems to make a lot of sense to me.

On the historical marker one learns why this area is called Village Creek, that reason being that one of the biggest Indian villages in America was located at this location, until the Texan evicted them using a primitive version of eminent domain to remove the Caddoan Confederation of tribes that made their home here.

The people of the Anadarko, Bidais, Caddo, Keechi, Kickapoo, Tawakoni, Tonkawa, Waco, Waxahachie and Wichita tribes were forced to leave their town, either by being run out of it. Or by being killed.

Like I said, you come to this Village Creek Historical Marker in the Village Creek Historical Area, you then walk past the historical marker (below) to the paved trail, to suddenly see new signage that indicates you have left the Historical Area, to enter a new area.

The sign one sees as one walks past the Historical Marker informs the walker that one is now in the Village Creek Natural Area.

All this time I've been saying I went for a walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area, erroneously.

I do not know how I could have so carelessly made such a dumb mistake.

Pedaling By The Green Trinity River In Gateway Park While Thinking About Clear Texas Water & Apples & Cherries

In the picture my handlebars are on the Gateway Park FWMBA mountain bike trail, pointing to the Trinity River, which is currently an interesting jade shade of green.

I really don't think a jade shade of green is a good look for a river, even though it nicely color coordinates with the surrounding foliage.

I can't help but wonder what makes the Trinity River a jade shade of green.

I have seen rivers in Texas with really clear water. Like the San Marcos River that flows out of Aquarena Springs. I've seldom seen a springs with water as clear as that in Aquarena.

Texas State University San Marcos runs the Aquarena Center, which is a sort of combo education center/entertainment complex.

I've only been to San Marcos and the Aquarena Center once. At that point in time, adjacent to Aquarena Springs there was a Ghost Theme Park. As in an abandoned theme park. The rides were built on a hill that rises by Aquarena Springs.

After I finished pedaling a few miles in the Gateway Park shade I went to Town Talk.

Town Talk was a madhouse zoo today.

A place holder in the busy checkout line got cranky at me when I suggested she get out of my way so I could unload the stuff I wanted to buy. She made quite a fuss. It was sort of the checkout line version of Texans who don't understand the right of way concept when they are befuddled at a four way stop.

I got apples and cherries, both from Chelan in my old home state of Washington. The apples are Delicious. The cherries are Rainiers.

Town Talk was also selling big boxes of plums for only $5 today. This was way more plums than the bushel of plums I previously got from Town Talk. I was a bit overwhelmed with the previous over supply of plums so I passed on the Town Talk plums today.

Earlier today I agreed with Marie that Washington was more expensive than Texas. Steve A then pointed out that the annual A/C bill is a lot bigger in Arlington, Texas than in Arlington, Washington. I thought that this was amusing.

Not all is cheaper in Texas. Keeping cool is costly. Pretty much free of charge in Washington. Most of the time.

The Labor Day Weekend First Day Of September In Texas

Looking out at the outer world on this first day of September it appears this 9th month of 2012 is beginning with a pleasant blue sky Saturday at my location, currently heated to a semi-chilly 83 degrees.

The first of the four 'ber' months usually starts warm and then with each subsequent 'ber' month, by the 4th one, that being December, ice and snow becomes possible.

Ice and snow hardly seems possible at the current time.

I don't remember if it at the end of September I start being surprised to be able to still be swimming, or it is the end of October? I know by December, last year, it was too brrrr til February to get in the pool.

Today I think I will pedal the FWMBA mountain bike trail in River Legacy Park and then go to Town Talk. Town Talk is very close to Gateway Park.

Yesterday I mentioned Marie's topographical adjustment problem. I suggested Marie check out River Legacy Park. Marie amusingly commented on that suggestion, among other things.....

Marie has left a new comment on your post "I Took My Handlebars To River Legacy Park Today While Worrying About Marie's Topographical Adjustment": 

Hey, Durango - you're killing me with Pacific Northwest memories. I too remember being grateful that traffic had stopped so that I could take in the view! The floating bridge was great - so was coming south on I-5 on a sunny day and seeing Mt. Rainier standing in front of you as big as God. Or the Alaskan Way Viaduct at sunset. And the lack of garbage - yes! What gives here? Garbage makes my forehead wrinkle. On the other hand, I do appreciate many things here. Gas is cheaper. Everything's cheaper. There is no state income tax (none in Washington either, but Californication takes a hefty bite.) And many nice folks. Like aerobic bloggers who point the way to shady paths for the topographically challenged. Loved the tree pics on River Legacy Park's site - I shall head over. Many thanks! 

It is quite true that that which one buys is usually cheaper in Texas. When I return to the Washington zone I have sticker shock at times.