A Rare Visit To Fort Worth Takes Me Over A New Bridge Over Water

A couple times in the past week I think I made mention of the fact I was going to be in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone today.

I also mentioned that I did not think I would make it to the zone of America's Biggest Boondoggle to photo document the reports I have received indicating the area of former construction of the only one of The Boondoggle's bridges being built, is currently an abandoned ghost town.

Months ago, The Boondoggle's bridge project of building three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, had ground to a halt due to serious engineering design problems.

The Boondoggle claimed their bridge building was a four year project. Longer than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge, over deep, moving, water, and many other feats of engineering around the world.

None of which had as their project director the unqualified son of a local politician. Yes, you reading this in America, Fort Worth is basically a third world banana republic.

In many ways.

But, when you get a Fort Worth public works project out of the control of the local corrupt oligarchy, well, stuff gets built with an efficiency that matches the civilized parts of America and the world.

For instance.

Today I did end up in Fort Worth, near where I used to live in far East Fort Worth. When it came time to head back to the Northwest I opted to take Randol Mill Road west. For a little over a year now an upgrade to that road, between Oakland Boulevard and Beach Street has been underway. This project includes three bridges, with two of those bridges built over dry land which flooded a couple times during construction.

With the main bridge proving a bridge can be built over water in Fort Worth, In this case the Trinity River as it flows out of Gateway Park.

During the construction of this bridge the Trinity River went into major flood mode twice, with one of those floods rising suddenly, leaving heavy construction equipment stuck in mud and under water.

And yet, somehow, today, I was able to drive over that bridge, along with the now almost completed road upgrade, which I must say is going to be a HUGE improvement when completed.

The photo at the top is the view of my steering wheel starting to steer on to the new bridge.

After driving over the new bridge I headed to Watauga for lunch. Prior to that Elsie Hotpepper texted me about doing lunch. But, Elsie did not show up in Watauga.

After lunch I headed Northwest, back to Wichita Falls.

Slightly past Decatur all hell broke loose in the form of a thunderstorm with heavy rain causing a lot of flash flooding. I saw the thickest lightning strike I've ever seen zap down a slight distance to the north of me.

And then I was out of the storm as fast as I had entered it, back dry again.

When I got back to my abode and stepped out of my vehicle, into the HEAT, a pool dip quickly seemed like a good idea. And so it was. I am starting to like the saltwater pool. The saltwater seems to cause extra buoyancy.

Or maybe this is caused by all my excess adipose tissue.

The pool saltwater does not cause a Great Salt Lake type of annoying buoyancy where one feels like a salty cork that could not sink if it wanted to.

Anyway, it's been a tiring day. And now it's about time to watch the democrats being decent humans, as opposed to.....

HOT Walk Over Wichita Falls Sikes Lake Bridge Built Over Water

When I woke up this morning I found myself to be a bit in ache and pain mode. Why I would be in this mode? I don't know.

Did I over do swimming yesterday?

As the morning rolled along the aches and pains seemed to abate, so around noon I rolled my wheels to Sikes Lake to take a walk with the few Pokemon Go Zombies still wandering around this location.

Dead calm. No wind. HOT. I thought the slight cover of clouds might make for some cooling. I thought wrong.

I had myself a mighty fine time in the outdoor sauna, despite the HEAT.

Walking across one of the two bridges which cross Sikes Lake I wondered to myself how long it took to build these signature bridges over water?

I also remembered that I'd yet to hear any report about the current status of Fort Worth's stalled bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland  to an imaginary island.

I will be in the D/FW zone tomorrow. But I don't think I will make it to the location of America's Biggest Boondoggle to photo document the ghost town I have been told The Boondoggle's bridge construction zone has become....

Surviving Alligator Alley On The Wee-Chi-Tah Trail

Sunday I was in Lucy Park, walking beside the Wichita River on the Circle Trail. As I neared the swinging suspension bridge which crosses the Wichita River to an RV Park I saw a pair of mountain bikers on the RV Park north side of the river.

I thought to myself, that must be the illusive Wee-Chi-Tah Trail which I had yet to find, despite looking for it.

I've taken you across the Lucy Park suspension bridge previously, via photo, text and video in a blogging titled Suspense On A Wichita River Suspension Bridge.

So, on Sunday I crossed the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge again, curious to see the trail those two mountain bikers were mountain biking on.

I walked west through the RV Park, looking for a trail. I found none. I walked to the road, thinking maybe the trail directs bikers to the road prior to returning to the dirt trail. I found nothing.

And then suddenly a grizzled old mountain biker popped out of the woods via a slender slice of single track I had not noticed. He biked to me, stopped a second, uttered "this trail is killing me" and then continued on to the east side of the RV Park.

I followed and eventually came to the sign you see above identifying a Wee-Chi-Tah Trail Head and something called Alligator Alley.

I walked a short distance in Alligator Alley. I saw no alligators.

Later, after returning to Internet Access I Googled "Wee-Chi-Tah Trail" and found a couple informative websites.

One was the Wichita Falls city website's Wee-Chi-Tah Off Road Trail page, where the information included...

LOOKING FOR SOME MOUNTAIN BIKE FUN!
Bring the family, friends, mountain bikes and safety gear and try the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail. You'll enjoy 13 miles of challenging twists, turns, descents and beautiful scenery

VOTED THE BEST IN THE STATE
The trail was voted the best urban off-road trail in the State of Texas and is used for the Hotter 'N Hell's challenging Wee-Chi-Tah Mountain Bike and Trail Run.

The Texas Mountain Bikers website had a lot of Wee-Chi-Tah Trail information, and a lot of photos, along with the following descriptive paragraph...

Take the best that every other Texas trail has to offer, throw a little bit of each into one trail system and you’ll end up with the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail. This trail offers everything that makes singletrack fun; narrow, winding, flowing, well-packed, tight sections that require grace to squeeze through, to sweeping sections that allow some nice speed before approaching the next tight switchback or technical feature. You’ll find yourself weaving up and down embankments, even wall riding at one point. You have a thing for whoop-de-doos? No problem. Switchbacks bring a smile to your face? You’re well-covered. Quick ups and quicker, steeper downs? You’ll find plenty. Roots? Log crossings? Sandy sections? Drops? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. You’ll even be crossing a suspension bridge! So what does Wee-Chi-Tah trail lack? Long downhills. But that’s ok; it just means that you won’t find any long climbs, either.

From the Texas Mountain Bikers I learned the Wee-Chi-Tah has several areas where the trail has challenging options, marked via the black diamond method. As in if marked with one black diamond the section of trail is challenging. Marked with two black diamonds the trail is even more challenging.

I long ago learned that when I come to a black diamond trail marker to take the wimp bypass option and avoid the humiliation of having to carry my bike back out from something impossible for me to roll on.

It is currently much too HOT to get adventurous on an unfamiliar mountain bike trail, particularly a trail which is a one-way loop of 13 miles.....

A Wichita Falls Discovery Seldom Found In A Fort Worth Park

This morning I had myself a mighty fine time pooling on this next to last Sunday of July.

Since moving to Wichita Falls I have sort of fallen out of my swimming habit. Why? I don't know.

I did not feel today's swimming gave me a sufficient endorphin dose, so, prior to today's birthday party scheduled for this afternoon, I rolled myself to Sikes Lake to walk with the Pokemon Go Zombies.

In the above photo we are in the sculpture garden zone, looking south. In the distance, under the tree, you can see some of the Pokemon Go Zombies.

Today I noticed something I'd not noticed previously, despite having walked by it multiple times.

That something I had not noticed was what you see above. A modern public restroom facility, with drinking fountains, in a public park.

What a concept.

Every Wichita Falls city park I have been to has had modern restroom facilities with running water. I have not seen a single outhouse.

What a contrast with the town I used to live in.

Fort Worth.

Recently America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle issued its eagerly anticipated quarterly update, letting voters, who were not allowed to vote on The Boondoggle, know what little has been done since the last quarterly update.

In the latest Boondoggle Update we were told about all The Boondoggle has done in Gateway Park, including new restrooms.

When I read that I thought to myself I need to see that to believe it. If new restrooms have been added they sure were constructed quickly. The Boondoggle constructs nothing quickly. I saw no sign of any such thing being built the last time I was in Gateway Park, back in May.

I am going to be back in the D/FW zone on Wednesday. I don't know if I will be able to make it to Gateway Park to see if there are new restrooms. If such a thing does exist I suspect what the "restrooms" actually are are more outhouses, with The Boondoggle's patented cement enclosures, such as The Boondoggle installed at the world's premiere urban waterfront music venue.

It is nice to be back living in a modern American city....

It's The Goober Twins Happy Birthday

Three score and three years ago a Kansan Dust Bowl escapee who eventually landed in the State of Washington brought forth on this continent the two boys you see here, known, by some, as the Goober Twins.

Big Ed and Bigger Wally.

Happy Birthday, Goober Twins!

102 Degrees HOT With Miss Linda Vibrating Me

I knew this day would come. It always does. But this year that day came later than I have come to expect during my time in HOT Texas.

The first 100 degree day of the year.

This afternoon, arriving at Walmart, I saw a time and temperature sign telling me it was 3:22 and 102 degrees.

I then looked at my vehicle's temperature monitoring monitor and saw what you see above, that I was heading east and a confirmation of that 102 degree temperature.

My vehicle's temperature monitoring monitor is part of the rear view mirror. That would be my cell phone and hands you see reflected in the mirror. How the rear view mirror takes the temperature I have no clue.

Speaking of my cell phone, and who isn't? Today I was enjoying being outdoors in a noisy venue when I felt a strange vibration. I ignored the vibration, which was of short duration. Several minutes later it happened again, also of short duration.

An hour or so later I felt the vibration again, of much longer duration. This vibrating instance I was able to reach in my pocket and pull out my cell phone to see that Miss Linda was calling me, and had called twice previous, vibrating me. I did not get control of my phone fast enough to answer Miss Linda's call.

I don't know how I put my phone in vibration mode. It was not too difficult to figure out how to restore it to normal ring mode.

After I took the above temperature direction photo I called Miss Linda back, and got her voice mail.

I suspect Miss Linda was calling to chat about the recent Republican convention embarrassments. Miss Linda and I share a strong aversion to right wing tea bag nut job types and the ignorant nonsense way too many of them spew.

Miss Linda is a lifelong Washingtonian and pretty much my acquaintance of longest duration, going all the way back to first grade. We did grades one through twelve together and the first two years of college.

Not Rockin' Fort Worth's Imaginary Capitol Hill Island

No, Capitol Hill is not the latest name of Fort Worth's Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle.

But, when I saw that which you see here, this morning in the Seattle Times, Rockin' the River was the first thing which crossed my mind when I saw this picture.

In Seattle they call the music playing venue you see here a "Stage". In Fort Worth, a town prone to shallow pomposity, this stage would be called a "Pavilion".

I don't know if exaggeration prone Fort Worth would stretch reality far enough to mislabel a location like Capitol Hill as Capitol Hill Island.

Even though I think maybe Capitol Hill is more of an island than Fort Worth's imaginary Panther Island, where there is no island, but where three bridges used to be under construction, hoping to one day connect the Fort Worth mainland to the imaginary island.

I will be returning to the Dallas/Fort Worth zone on Wednesday. I may make it to Fort Worth's Boondoggle zone to snap some documentation of the ghost town which that bridge building project has apparently become.

Hot Mount Wichita Summit Hike With Buzzing Bugs

Swimming has not been doing it for me, of late, in the endorphin acquisition department, due to not enjoying the new pool as much as the old pool. The new pool does not have much shade, rendering the water and the area surrounding the pool HOTTER than if the majority of the area were under the shade of trees.

And then there is the water temperature issue. I think the temperature of the water has now moved north of lukewarm.

The cold option of tapwater is now lukewarm. Drinking a glass of water now requires ice to be inserted into the glass, unless one likes lukewarm water.

I don't recollect the piping in the previous location getting heated to this degree. And we've not yet even hit 100. Though that is currently predicted to happen today.

So, with the temperature a relatively chilly 95 I rolled myself to Lake Wichita Park to do some mountain climbing on Mount Wichita.

A semi-good breeze blew, which helped provide a little wind chilling.

In the first photo you are looking at the southeast trail route to the summit of Mount Wichita. This is a route less traveled. Not due to added difficulty, but due to this trail being on the opposite side of the mountain from the more visible trails.

As I reached the summit of Mount Wichita I found myself startled to be hearing what sounded like the buzz of a motor. Very loud.

I stood on the Mount Wichita summit perplexed as to where the buzz sound was coming  from.

And then I saw it. The bush you see in the center of the above photo was abuzz with a swarm of a flying insect of some unknown, to me, variety. The bush was literally shaking from the buzzing bugs.

Nervous that the buzzing bugs might go into swarm mode, with me their sweaty target, I quickly made an exit from the summit via one of the trails on the west side of the mountain.

It has been so many weeks since I have been subjected to a bug bite I figured the bug bite time of the year was over, with the biting bug population dried out from too much HEAT.

I don't think I got bit by today's buzzing bugs.

So far I have found no bite wounds.

Not of the bug variety....

Birch Bay Driftwood Confirmation From Lynden Via Tacoma

Exactly a week ago today I blogged about being Awakened By A Thud Before Finding Photo Of Birch Bay Driftwood.

On that day I blogged about being haunted by the memory of a big chunk of driftwood at Birch Bay, in my old home state of Washington.

Over the years I have asked various people if that chunk of driftwood was still there, or not. But received no confirmation one way or the other.

Til last Thursday via a photo sent via phone by my little brother, Spencer Jack's grandpa, Jake.

From that photo I could not tell, for sure, that it was the same chunk of driftwood I played on, time and again, decades ago.

Then this morning Spencer Jack's great aunt, my little sister, Michele, emailed me the photo you see above, gleaned from our Aunt Judy's Facebook page. My best guess as to the identity of the two little kids is that those are my cousins Jeff and Sheryl.

As soon as I saw this photo I knew it was the chunk of driftwood about which I have long inquired. And that it confirmed that it is the same chunk of driftwood of which my brother sent a photo, last Thursday.

So, all these decades later the funnest chunk of driftwood ever to drift to the Birch Bay shore is still there providing a climbing venue for kids of the 21st century.

I shall sleep better tonight knowing this....

Eliminating Racist Texas Idiots From Facebook One By One

Way back in November I was appalled to be seeing appalling idiotic racist hate speak on post comments showing up on my Facebook timeline, or wall, or whatever you call it.

The person making the racist hate speak comments about our current president was among those on my Facebook friends list.

I blocked this person and eventually removed the racist from my Facebook friends list.

I blogged about being appalled that such idiots still exist in America, but more than that fact, the fact that multiple other Facebook "friends" of mine had this racist among their Facebook friends.

I blogged about this on two occasions last November in...

No More Mr. Nice Guy Regarding Pseudo Conservative Reactionary Racist Republican Right Wing Nuts and Before Facebook I Had No Idea How Scarily Stupid The Racists Are

Well.

A couple days ago the racist idiot showed up on my Facebook timeline again, for the first time since last November.

That is a screen cap of this which you see above.

How anyone can find this type verbiage acceptable is not comprehensible to me.

Last November various of my Facebook "friends" defended the indefensible. One suggested the racist had a drinking problem, which exacerbated thought process problems caused by Vietnam War injuries.

Another excused the racist idiot's racist rants by saying this person has always been kind and helpful to her. Which had me wondering what behavior would this person find excusable, as long as the guy was nice to her? Yes, I know he's a murderer, but he's kind to me. Yes, I know he's a child molester, but he's kind to me.

Well, you get the drift. I hope.

There are twelve people among my Facebook "friends" who are Facebook friends with this reprehensible racist.

Of the twelve, I am going to un-friend the people on this list who I do not actually know and have never actually met or interacted with, separate from Facebook, via email or other message method.

That eliminates six of the twelve. The other six may be eliminated later....