A Soaking River Legacy Rain Caused Me To Run A Couple Miles At High Speed

Due to the recent deluging I did not think the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area would be accessible today due to that area likely being closed due to a flooding Village Creek.

It'd been a couple months since I visited Arlington's River Legacy Park. I believe it was way back in July, when I rolled my bike's wheels from River Legacy to Viridian.

I did not know that rain was on the menu for today. When I reached the location you see in the two photos I was about two miles from where my mechanized motoring device was parked. By the time I got to the north side of the bridge rain began to fall in copious amounts.

In the above photo we are in the middle of the bridge you saw at the top, looking west at a muddy body of water known as the Trinity River.

My newly developed ability to run came in handy today as I ran back from whence I came. By the time I reached my vehicular destination I was pretty much soaking wet. I do not remember the last time I got myself soaking wet in a rainstorm.

The complete rebuild of the north side entry to River Legacy Park, a project which began back in July, is  nowhere near completed. This surprised me. I thought it was just a repaving project, but it appears to be much more than that. The River Legacy Park upgrade appears to be a much better organized effort than the mess I saw yesterday at Fort Worth's Gateway Park, where America's Biggest Boondoggle is currently working some of its slow motion construction magic.

Lunch bell just sounded. Must consume food now....

Saturday Walk Through Gateway Park Checking The Boondoggle's Progress

I think til today it had been over a month since I'd done any treasure hunting at Town Talk.

Gateway Park is between my abode and Town Talk. So, I decided to walk around Gateway Park on the way to Town Talk, figuring I would check in on the progress of America's Biggest Boondoggle's construction in the park.

With the construction in Gateway Park being yet one more "product" of The Boondoggle I did not expect to see much progress, unlike the road and bridge building project taking place on the north side of Gateway Park, the upgrade to 1st Avenue East, which is making rapid progress, with the bridge piers for the bridge across the Trinity taking shape, but with no propaganda touting such as a major accomplishment.

Like I said the upgrade to 1st Avenue East is not a product of The Boondoggle. It appears to be a well engineered, well designed project, quickly getting built.

I digress. Back to Gateway Park.

The photo you see at the top. That is a sign near the trailhead for the Gateway Park mountain bike trail. If I remember right I have made mention of this sign previously. Today, looking at that sign, something struck me as noteworthy. Under the heading of things "Coming in 2015 to Gateway Park East" among the items on the list is "ADDITIONAL RESTROOMS".

Additional restrooms? How do you have additional restrooms when you currently have no public restrooms? A 100 feet north of the above sign you see that which you see below.

Yes, what you see above is what passes for a "restroom" in Gateway Park, just as it does in most of Fort Worth's city parks.

Outhouses.

As you can see this installation of outhouses has been prettified with a concrete enclosure. The plus-sized outhouse at the end is plus-sized so as to accommodate wheel chairs. Isn't that thoughtful? But there is no place to wash ones hands after using these outhouses. Isn't that disgusting? How does a town get away with having public parks with no running water? Isn't that some sort of health code violation?

The above outhouse installation is not the only one located on this parking lot. There are a few other outhouses sitting at other locations on this parking lot, but without the prettifying concrete enclosures. All the Gateway Park parking lots have outhouse installations.

More on the Gateway Park outhouses later as we take a walk to the west side of Gateway Park to check out the current state of the new overlook being built to replace the old boarded up eyesore that had been making eyes sore for a decade, give or take a year.

Well, there has been some progress since I looked at this a month or so ago. The overlook is taking shape. Looks like there is a lot to get done though if this is going to be open for overlooking by the end of 2015.

From the overlook I decided to head east on the paved trail to see the current status of one of the new trail bridges I saw in the making the last time I was at this location.

Well, the paved trail does not yet connect to the new footbridge, a wood plank currently makes that connection.

The Gateway Park paved trails are rather messed up by this project. Could it not be done in a more cohesive, less sloppy manner? The mountain bike trail has been messed with in several locations. A lot of work had gone into the mountain bike trails. A lot of work will be required to restore the mountain bike trails to their pre-Boondoggle glory.

I think I have mentioned previously that I find it bizarre how much America's Biggest Boondoggle likes its signage. Sign propaganda is about the only thing The Boondoggle does well.

The massive sign installation by the Fort Woof Dog Park in Gateway Park is the most astonishing bit of propaganda signage I have seen produced by The Boondoggle. I've made note of this a number of times, if my memory is serving me correctly.

The Boondoggle's Fort Woof signs have had an update. See the big sign above, in front of all the other signs? Notice another sign stuck under the big sign? Let's get a close up look at what that update is telling us.

Oh my, America's Biggest Boondoggle paid someone to make a new sign announcing "CONSTRUCTION NOW UNDERWAY". With  two scenic river overlooks, paved trail upgrades, children's learning center, pedestrian bridges, bench, water fountains and...

A NEW TRAILHEAD WITH UPGRADED RESTROOMS.

Upgraded restrooms? Are these different than the "Additional Restrooms" we read about on the first sign we saw today? There will be upgraded restrooms at a new trailhead? Where is this new trailhead? How do you upgrade restrooms in a park which has no restrooms?

Is The Boondoggle upgrading the outhouses? Maybe painting the concrete enclosures? Or putting concrete enclosures around the outhouses which are currently not so adorned?

I was recently told that the genius behind America's Biggest Boondoggle's propaganda of the signage sort you see in Gateway Park and those embarrassing slick quarterly updates The Boondoggle mails to voters who have never been allowed to voted on this project, telling those voters all the progress that has been made since the last quarterly update. You know, like the Fall of 2014 quarterly update breathlessly told about the TNT explosion that mark the start of construction of three simple little bridges being built over dry land to connect Fort Worth's mainland and an imaginary island.

Was it in the Spring quarterly update that we got told about the amazing feat of engineering achieved with the construction of the wooden forms for the little bridge's V-piers?

That paragraph that started with me saying I was recently told who the genius was behind The Boondoggle's propaganda turned into a run-on sentence that got away from me.  Anyway, I was told it was the notorious propaganda artist, Bryan Eppstein who is behind The Boondoggle's public relations. Apparently Eppstein was hired to help repair The Boondoggle's bad public image. I recollect mentioning something in relation to that, which had me offering advice for free regarding The Boondoggle's bad public image, with that advice being you can repair your bad public image by "Getting something done you clueless boobs" or something like that.

Did those running The Boondoggle really think that no one would notice that they have been Boondoggling along for well over a decade, with little to show for the effort?

Did The Boondoggle really think that no one would point out the fact that taking four years to build three simple bridges is just embarrassing? Taking longer to build than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge, built over deep, fast moving water.

Did The Boondoggle really think no one would point out that their propaganda about building the bridges over dry land as a planned construction method, cheaper and easier than building over water, was an obvious lie? When the obvious fact of the matter is there will be no water under those bridges until the Trinity River is diverted in the ditch not currently being dug because The Boondoggle is not a fully funded project.

I was told Bryan Eppstein's propaganda firm has been paid a substantial amount of money to spew out The Boondoggle's propaganda, well over a million bucks. How does that work? The Boondoggle is not a private business. The Trinity River Vision in all its various names is some sort of quasi-public agency. The funds The Boondoggle spends are not private funds, the money spent is taxpayer money. So, The Boondoggle takes your money to build a project you have not voted to build, then takes more of your money to produce propaganda to convince you that they are doing a good job with that money you have given them.

I tell you, the Fort Worth Way of getting things done is very unusual....

Fort Worth Wayward Mayor Betsy Price's Devilish Ballerina Tutu

At some point in the 2008 time frame I began getting emails from someone calling him or herself "Deep Moat".

Deep Moat, I believe, but never had any means to confirm, was an employee of the Trinity River Vision, now known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Deep Moat's inside the TRV tidbits of info came before America's Biggest Boondoggle turned, well, bizarre, what with "products" like its Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in the polluted Trinity River at a location the Boondoggle calls Panther Island Pavilion, where there is no island or pavilion.

It was from Deep Moat I learned about the extravagant spending going on inside the Boondoggle that the taxpayers would likely not be happy to hear about.

Things like multiple employees getting company cars, iPhones, iPads, I forget what else. It's been years, but phones and tablets don't seem all that extravagant to me now. I'm likely forgetting a lot of it. I do remember being told of a well stocked liquor supply in the main TRV office. And junkets. Lots of junkets. Junkets which turned into party time. Some junkets being long distance junkets. Some junkets only going to Dallas, with only two people and an overnight stay in a downtown Dallas hotel.

Deep Moat also told me about extramarital flings involving TRV executive officials and subordinate employees. Some of these extramarital flings led to broken marriages in the TRV family of employees.

While it has been years since I have heard from Deep Moat, in recent years I hear from someone who calls him or herself  "Fort Worth Wayward".

It was from Fort Worth Wayward, last year, I learned that J.D. Granger was having his offspring cheer for beer and go nuts for runner's butts.

You can read all about that particular scandal in the blog posting titled  This Morning I Learned J.D. Granger Is Promoting Little Kids Cheering For Beer & Going Nuts For Runner's Butts.

That particular blogging became the posting on my blog with the highest number of page views. And that blogging is one of the few times that a blogging has caused local news entities to contact me wanting details.

I figured that the Going Nuts For Runner's Butts Scandal would be the thing that finally got J.D. Granger fired. That that instance would be the thing that finally hammered home the fact that this guy is not suited to be in charge of something like what the Trinity River Vision was purported to be.

You know, a massive public works project designed to enhance flood protection and stimulate economic development, where there was already flood protection and where economic development is unlikely a result of this dithering Boondoggle.

So, back to today and that photo you see above. That was brought to me via incoming email from the aforementioned Fort Worth Wayward"s email address Fort Worth Wayward***@gmail.com. I used that *** to protect Fort Worth Wayward's email anonymity. Don't click on the email link, it won't work unless you can successfully guess what *** is.

That is Fort Worth's mayor, Betsy Price, you are seeing in the above photo, looking like a devil in a ballerina tutu. I assume this must be a photo taken during the most recent Fort Worth City Council Meeting. Likely Betsy is explaining why she, Fort Worth's best public servant, is ignoring the Pulte Wall of Shame.

If I recollect correctly I blogged about this recently in Why Is Fort Worth's Best Public Servant Ignoring The Pulte Wall Of Shame?

Now looking at that photo one might think to oneself that Fort Worth's mayor is a bit of a party girl. I have seen more than one photo which confirms such.

However, I think Fort Worth Wayward's insider info purporting that Betsy Price is in some sort of Cougar Relationship with Kay Granger's wayward son, J.D., is totally ridiculous.

Then again, I've had heard of stranger things, though not often.

J.D.'s mama, Kay, and Betsy, are friends. It was Kay who convinced Betsy to run for mayor of Fort Worth.

But I really don't think Fort Worth has reached a Roman Empire, at its worst, level of demented debauchery.

Then again, how do you explain something like the Trinity River Vision Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle without it being caused by something like lead in the water? That being the element that is believed to have caused the Roman dementia.

Could Fort Worth being the world's most concentrated area of fracking, and that fracking's resultant pollution, be what has driven Fort Worth a bit nuts, as evidenced by Fort Worth's mayor, attired as you see above? And locals willingly getting in an e.coli polluted river to drink beer while listening to music coming from an imaginary island?

The Bearded Lady's Coffee & Donut Burger With Mildred's Papa

A year or two ago, maybe three, I acquired yet one more Facebook friend who I do not actually know.

Mildred's Papa.

Mildred's Papa and Mama travel the country watching baseball games, enjoying lunch and dinner in exotic locations.

But none that I made note of while on the road are as exotic as those Mildred's Papa and Mama frequent whilst they are in their home zone of Fort Worth and its environs.

Mildred's Papa and Mama post selfie photos on Facebook documenting their attendance at various baseball games in various locations along with documenting, via the selfie method, what was had for lunch and dinner.

Such as yesterday's lunch at the Bearded Lady in Fort Worth where the above was had for lunch. A delicious looking Bearded Lady Burger of the Week Coffee and Donut Burger.

The description of the Coffee and Donut Burger below, gleaned from Mildred's Papa's Facebook entry and confirmed on the Bearded Lady Facebook page....

Lunch today! Burger of the Week: Coffee and Donut Burger! Ground Beef Patty stuffed with Blackberry Cream Cheese topped with Cheddar, AVOCA Coffee Glazed Bacon, Caramelized Onions, Candied Pecans on a Paul's Donut's Glazed Donut Bun!

I read the above description of the Coffee and Donut Burger and then made the following comment to Mildred's Papa's Bearded Lady Facebook post...

You and your lovely wife really need to write a How To book explaining how it is you two manage to eat that which you eat and yet remain such svelte figures of fitness.....

The Bearded Lady Facebook page's photo of their Burger of the Week did not look as tasty as Mildred's Papa's photo of the Coffee and Donut Burger.

I like a donut once or twice a decade. Bacon is tasty every once in awhile. I don't think coffee glazed bacon sounds like a good thing. Blackberry cream cheese would likely be tasty on a bagel.  Candied pecans are a good thing. As are caramelized onions

But, all this assembled together?

How is all that held together by a donut bun?

Mildred's Papa and Mama go to a lot of places where something real tasty looking shows up on their table.

Of those I think the most tasty looking item comes from a place called something like Bentley's Pub. There Mildred's Papa gets classic British style fish and chips.

I miss fresh seafood of the cod, crab, halibut, clam and oyster sort.

This fish and chips that Mildred's Papa gets at that Bentley's Pub place looks like a classic fish and chips I  have had myself a time or two at a fish and chip joint at Stanley Park in Vancouver.

The Bearded Lady has an interesting menu which you can peruse by going to the Bearded Lady website.

Who wants to take me out to lunch at the Bearded Lady for a Coffee & Donut Burger?

I hear crickets......

Climbing Disneyland's Matterhorn Gets Me Melancholy About San Clemente Body Surfing

That which you see here arrived in my email inbox this morning at 12:55 am, sent by my Favorite Nephew Jason, aka FNJ.

The email contained no explanatory text.

The subject line of the email was: Disneyland Park Video jpg.

There was no video included, despite what the subject line said. There also was no photo in the jpg format. The photo that was included is in the png format.

I knew not what to make of this.

I thought that since this was sent about an hour after midnight that FNJ was tired and not thinking clearly.

A few minutes after thinking FNJ was not thinking clearly I was on Facebook where the mystery was cleared up with this...

Jason Jones FUD---We actually were privileged to hike up the Anaheim Matterhorn. Most guests reach such heights using a bobsled. It was a disastrous attempt. I was surprised as anyone might be that we were allowed this opportunity. Nonetheless, to make a short story.... Disney has pictures logged of this. I will contact those folks in Anaheim and see if I can provide you with photo documentation of our journey up one of Disneyland's four mountains.

The photo documentation to which FNJ refers is the photo you see above. At least I am assuming such.

When I read "one of Disneyland's four mountains" I could only think of one, at first, that being the Matterhorn. Then I remembered Space Mountain. After that I remembered Thunder Mountain. But, currently I can not think of a fourth Disneyland mountain.

Disneyland exists in my memory as far back as my memory goes. When mom and dad took me and my siblings to Disneyland for the first time I was 13. That trip was the best, funnest family vacation we ever took. And that covers a lot of fun family vacations.

Recently my little brother wrote a rather well written story of his memories of that trip. The first trip to Southern California was so much fun the following summer we did Disneyland and Southern California again. My little brother and I have been trying to differentiate those two trips, finding doing so difficult. Like I realized it was on the second trip we took that twisty ride down Lombard Street in San Francisco, because we did not know of Lombard Street til we saw it on the Circlevision attraction  in Disneyland the year before.

So, in my 13th year on the planet I had my first visit to Disneyland. My last visit to Disneyland was on Christmas Day of 1994.

21 years ago.

For some reason realizing this particular passage of time is making me feel melancholy.

I remember another Disneyland related time I felt melancholy. I was 21, seven years after my first visit to Disneyland. I was back in Southern California, camping at San Clemente State Park, near the Nixon abode. I was standing on the San Clemente bluff, looking out across the Pacific. The plan was to go to Disneyland the next day. I remember standing there and thinking it seemed such a long time ago, when it was only seven years, that I was there for the first time, with my siblings, and now I was back, without my parental units or siblings. I remember that first day at San Clemente, me and my little brother being so excited to hurry up and find our way down to the ocean. We all had our chores we did to set up camp. We hurried through those chores. Mom and dad knew how anxious we were to get to the ocean. They let us go ahead of them, which was not the norm in a new place, protective mom that we had.

To get to the San Clemente beach you take a trail that cuts through the tall bluffs,  goes under railroad tracks and then opens up on the beach. A beautiful beach with big waves crashing. We were quickly in the water and soon were trying to master the art of body surfing.

I can not remember the last time I went body surfing.

I think I have now gone from feeling melancholy to being depressed.  An ocean breeze and the sound of crashing waves would be a real good thing right about now.....

Spencer Jack Is Ready To Climb Switzerland's Matterhorn After Climbing Disneyland's

Incoming emails this morning from my Favorite Nephew Jason and my Favorite Great Nephew Spencer Jack, also known as FNJ and FGNSJ.

The emails included several photos, including the one you see here, along with a very short video, which was so short you won't see it here.

In addition to the photos and the short video there was the following message....

FNJ,
Your mother obviously spoiled our photo attempt to throw you off our current whereabouts.

And for the record books, this is only Spencer's 2nd trip to Anaheim in 2015.  I believe.

The choosing of our vacation destination is a complicated process. One that I am not at all involved in.  

This is solely Spencer's job. I merely suggest spots. 

Once he chooses a spot, I handle the travel arrangements and such like matters.

This was not a suggested spot. And I have no inside knowledge as to how Spencer comes up with his final choice. You would have to ask him if you desired to know his trip picking methodology.

I suspect he might have seen an Halloween Disneyland Commercial. The kid is easily persuaded by advertising gimmicks.

I was lobbying for Phoenix or an overnight floating trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.  

Both were denied.

In the end, I don't really care where we go, as I just enjoy our time together wherever we are at.

That being said, I should probably ask him what we are doing tomorrow.

Last night he mentioned we may be visiting the Santa Monica Pier.

FNJ & FGNSJ

________________________________________

When I was a much younger boy there was period where I was making annual treks to Southern California and Disneyland. But never twice, or thrice in one year, that I recall.

If I remember correctly I have asked FNJ if he and Spencer Jack have also visited Knott's Berry Farm. I do not remember the answer to that probing question. Knott's Berry Farm is real close to Disneyland. Back in its original iteration, before it became a roller coaster mecca, Knott's Berry Farm was sort of a one of a kind theme park. Now it's become like Six Flags Over Texas on steroids with better landscaping and a lot more variety, including Mrs. Knott's chicken dinner with boysenberry jam on biscuits.

Spencer Jack needs to add Universal Studios in Universal City in Hollywood to his theme park wish list.

And head south to San Diego to go to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park in Escondido.

I think I have been to what is now known as Safari Park twice, if I remember right. The former name for Safari Park was Wild Animal Park. It is the only zoo type place where I have experienced a gorilla getting annoyed at all the gawkers to the point that he began tossing gorilla doo-doo at the crowd. It was a lot more amusing than it sounds.

Safari Park is also the only zoo type place where I found myself peacefully walking along a trail in a jungle-like setting to suddenly find myself face to face with a big tiger.

Spencer Jack, and his dad especially, would really like the Safari Park monorail that takes you on a safari tour above all the wild animals milling about in their recreated natural habitat.

Anyway, I hope FNJ and FGNSJ are having themselves a mighty fine time in Sunny Southern California. But, I suspect they are probably already back home in chilly Washington....

With An Old Lady Saluting Arlington's New Veterans Park Vietnam War Memorial

The other person besides myself who reads this blog is likely looking at that tidy row of outhouses and thinking I must have visited one of Fort Worth's many outhouse infested parks today.

Well, that person would be wrong.

The tidy row of outhouses you see here is a temporary installation in Veterans Park in Arlington.

Arlington is a town whose parks have few outhouses, unless one counts the amazing number of outhouses which dot the parking lots surrounding Arlington's ballparks, as in the place the Texas Rangers play baseball and the crashed spaceship in which the Dallas Cowboys try to play football.

I believe it likely that this tidy row of outhouses was installed in Veterans Park for the use of the crowd which attended the dedication ceremony for the new Veterans Park Vietnam War Memorial.

Let's take a look at the new Veterans Park Vietnam War Memorial.

As I hiked west, up a brown grassy knoll, towards the new memorial, I saw what appeared to be a white-haired little ol' lady saluting something. What is she saluting, I wondered? We will find out.

As I walked towards the saluting senior, and stepped onto the memorial area, the first thing I came upon was what appeared to be a large gold Buddhist urn, filled with coarse sand in which many spent stick of incense were stuck. At the center of the memorial there is a statue of two soldiers. The soldier on the left appears to be Vietnamese, fighting next to an American soldier. The red, white and blue wreath on the left paid tribute to the American soldiers. I assume the yellow and red wreath on the right paid tribute to the Vietnamese soldiers. But I could not read what that wreath was conveying because I am unable to read Vietnamese.

After looking at the wreaths I looked left to see what it was the white-haired senior had been saluting.

A long message on a shiny slab of polished marble or granite or some such polishable stone, of which my photo only shows about half of the message. At the top, in capital letters, "THEY SACRIFICED SO OTHERS COULD LIVE".

The first paragraph, being saluted, "Vietnam was for so many years engulfed in the fires and destruction of  war. More than 2 million soldiers in the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, and more than 1,000,000 soldiers in the Armed Forces of the United States of America and Allied Nations fought valiantly and selflessly side by side for South Vietnam. Countless soldiers suffered injuries and became disabled. More than 300,000 South Vietnamese soldiers and more  than 58,000 American soldiers gave the ultimate sacrifice, dying so the people of South Vietnam could live. They died, but their heroic spirits will never die. They were gone, but they are not forgotten."

I think I will not touch the irony in the sentiment expressed above and just leave it alone.

Above and below is a look at the American and South Vietnamese soldiers, fighting side by side. I believe the yellow and red flag, above, in the middle between the American flag and the state flag of Texas, was the South Vietnam flag, back when there was still a South Vietnam.

I was very impressed by Arlington's new Vietnam War Memorial. On one of the shiny slabs of stone we learn who donated the funds to build this memorial. Many of the donors were Vietnamese Americans, some of whom I assume were born in America, some of whom I assume were among those who escaped to America during the final sad chapter of that sad war.

Arlington has a large Vietnamese American community, who have made quite an impact on Arlington in many ways. A positive impact, working hard to make it in their new land, opening restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses.

The last time I had to renew my driver's license, back in August of 2012, I waited in line for hours behind a funny Vietnamese lady. She was one of the Boat People who made it to America back in 1974. She was very young when she left Vietnam, leaving her mom behind. She has made it back twice to Vietnam to visit her mom and other relatives. And her mom has visited once in America.

It works out best for America when we welcome new people, no matter how they get here, with open arms, not demonizing them as illegal aliens. Or so it seems to me.

Another thing. Arlington's new Vietnam Memorial was built very quickly. It seems like only a month ago, or so, I saw the foundation work underway. Clearly no unqualified son of a local congresswoman was in charge of getting this project finished.....

Is Spencer Jack Learning Spanish On His Way To Texas?

Incoming email from my favorite great nephew and nephew, Spencer Jack and Jason, this morning.

Subject line: Spencer Jack learning Spanish whilst traveling.

It appears Spencer Jack is onboard an airplane, holding a book with the book's title being "I'm Going To Texas" which apparently translates into Spanish as "Yo Voy A Texas."

Now, had my mom not called me yesterday while I was walking the aisles of Albertsons, I might be thinking Spencer Jack and his dad were making a guerrilla visit to Texas, with me getting no fair warning and instead getting a phone call asking me to come get them at the airport.

Well.

Mom told me that Spencer Jack and his dad were currently in the Southern California zone, not North Texas.

Spencer Jack and his dad are once again visiting Disneyland. I think this makes the third visit with Mickey Mouse this year.

Mom told me that last week my favorite sister, Jackie and my favorite brother-in-law, Jack headed west from Arizona to Disneyland to visit Mickey Mouse with Jackie's youngest sister and her brood of three.

My last visit to Disneyland occurred on Christmas Day of 1994. If I remember right it cost $29.95 to get into Disneyland on that day. Currently it costs around $100 to get into Disneyland. And another $100 to get into Disney California, that being the new theme park adjacent to Disneyland, built where the Disneyland parking lot used to be.

I really don't know if I could get myself $100 worth of fun by going to Disneyland, nowadays. I remember my last visit, over two decades ago, wore me out by closing time. Wore me out even with a mid day break back to the motel for resting purposes.

What I  found much more enjoyable than Disneyland on that visit to the Los Angeles zone was going to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. Mr. Nixon was still alive at the time, while Pat Nixon was not. Visiting Pat Nixon's gravesite was oddly melancholy. Mr. Nixon joined her there soon thereafter.

The Nixon Presidential Library has so many interesting elements. For one thing the building is like a palace, with the most deluxe restroom facilities I have ever seen. One area has life size statues of all the world leaders Nixon had known. One area has a large section of the then newly crumbled Berlin Wall. As you walk through the Library it is arranged like a timeline walk through Nixon's life. You hear the Checker's Speech as you walk by the area devoted to the 1952 election. Eventually you come to the dark Watergate Tunnel of Shame. The Tunnel of Shame ends with a room where you can ask questions of Mr. Nixon in a pseudo press conference. I imagine new technology has made this even more impressive than it was in 1994.

In Mr. Nixon's gift shop I got myself an official White House bath towel. I still have that towel. It  has never been used.

I think something like the Nixon Presidential Library is a Disneyland for Adults. And not nearly as exhausting as Disneyland....

Last Sunday Of October Only 25 Degrees Above Freezing In Texas

I do not recollect previously ever seeing that which you see here.

With that thing you are seeing being my computer based temperature monitoring device showing the same temperature as my old home location, Mount Vernon, located in the far northwest state of Washington, is showing, this morning, in the online Skagit newspaper.

57 degrees.

Even though my established criteria for going swimming in the morning requires that the 24 hour average temperature has to be 50 degrees, or above, I decided to fore go the likely too cool pool this morning.

I have not yet felt cold enough to turn the interior climate control device to HEAT mode. That may change as the day progresses.

I suspect the only locations available today for my almost daily bout of hiking, biking or walking would be Mallard Cove Park, Oakland Lake Park or Quanah Parker Park.

Mallard Cove Park went under the last time we got into flood mode, but I've not heard, yet, that the Trinity has risen to that level of flooding.

I suspect this bout of chilling will soon switch back to something more reasonable, in the 80s, I hope.....

Overnight Dog Dispute Little Girl Shelby Corker Turns Into 25 Year Old Woman

Yesterday afternoon Elsie Hotpepper pointed me to a case of what seemed to be total police incompetence, which led me to blog Fort Worth Police Take Down Little Girl Saving Puppy.

After I blogged about this Elsie Hotpepper asked me why this isn't news? As in why isn't this being reported by local TV news and the Star-Telegram.

Well.

This morning's Star-Telegram online front page is telling the story of the police taking down a little girl who saved a puppy.

Overnight the "little girl" has turned into a 25 year old woman.

I do not know if the above was the little girl's mugshot, or not. According to the Star-Telegram Shelby Corker spent Thursday night in jail, before being bailed out on Friday.

Usually the Star-Telegram does not let me read anything but the front page and the weather, but I was allowed to read the article about the Doggie dispute.

The Doggie dispute is a bit more complicated than I thought it was yesterday. But it still seems way too extreme to arrest and jail someone for something like what happened in this instance.