At MPEC Day Before Wichita Falls Hotter'N Hell Hundred

Like I said in the Looking At Lucy Park Pagoda Focal Points Before Looking At Hotter'N Hell 100 blog post, which preceded the blog post you are reading right now, after doing some nature communing along the Wichita River in Wichita Falls' Lucy Park, I intended to make my way, via a confusing maze of roads, to the MPEC (Multi-Purpose Events Center) to see what there was to see of the Hotter'N Hell 100.

Well, I saw that which you see here, which I believe must be either the starting point, or finish line, or both of tomorrow's HOT race around Wichita Falls.

Before I saw that which you see above I saw a HUGE encampment of RVs, trailers and tents, set up on parking lots to the south of the MPEC.

I took several photos of the Hotter'N Hell encampment, but my photo skills do not render a photo worthy of showing how HUGE this conglomeration is of the Hotter'N Hellers is.

I saw a lot of vendors getting set up, likely opening later today, or maybe tomorrow.

The Hotter'N Hell 100 starts early Saturday morning. I expect to be at the MPEC before noon tomorrow, hopefully before the first rider rolls across the finish line.

I know only one person riding in tomorrow's Hotter'N Hell 100. He being the extremely speedy, Mr. Spiffy. Yesterday I learned Mr. Spiffy's doctor told him that for him to be in top shape for a 100 mile bike ride he needed to lose 20 pounds and start drinking red wine.

I doubt Mr. Spiffy has managed to lose the prescribed 20 pounds in the time since the prescription. I also doubt that enough time has passed for the wine to have had its salubrious effect.

Nonetheless, when I am at the finish line tomorrow, I fully expect Mr. Spiffy to be the first to cross it...

Looking At Lucy Park Pagoda Focal Points Before Looking At Hotter'N Hell 100

Til today I had not been back to Lucy Park since receiving an interesting blog comment earlier this month, part of which referenced that which you see here, that being the Lucy Park Pagoda.

Ann Arnold-Ogden has left a new comment on your post "Wichita Falls Creatively Covers Traffic Signal Boxes":

I'm the Community Marketing Director at the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, and I'm currently working on a video for Lucy Park! I asked the Parks Director, Jack Murphy about the pagodas a few months ago. In his email, he replied, "I thought it would be interesting to have some ornamental structures with an Asian flair. The blue roof Pagoda and the smaller shelter by the park road are meant to be focal points from each other along the open space axis between." 

Further information on Mrs. Saunders from her obituary: Mrs. Lucy O. Saunders, one of Americas foremost woman oil operators, died here today of Spanish Influenza. She amassed a vast fortune in the oil business, operating successfully in the Sour Lake, Batson, Tulsa and the Burkburnett fields. One of her most notable achievements was development of the Sunshine Hill, Texas field. 

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Today I wanted to check out the epicenter of tomorrow's Hotter'N Hell 100 at the MPEC (Multi-Purpose Events Center).

Since Lucy Park is near MPEC I thought a peaceful nature walk would be salubrious prior to getting Hotter'N Hell.

And at Lucy Park I could check out the Pagoda and see if I could figure out how the Pagoda and another structure were focal points from each other.

Figuring out that focal point thing proved to be a futile effort. My powers of imagination are quite weak.

After failing to find the focal point I continued on to something more tangible.

With that tangible thing being the Lucy Park suspension bridge across the Wichita River.

I wonder how long it took to build this Wichita Falls suspension bridge over the Wichita River? I suspect construction took way less time than the four years it took San Francisco to build a suspension bridge across the Golden Gate.

Or the four years it is supposedly supposed to take Fort Worth to build a bridge over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

I like the golden brown color of the Wichita River. I wonder if anyone inner tubes in the Wichita River? The Wichita River somehow looks more inviting to get wet in than the Trinity River as it flows through Fort Worth. The Wichita River looks like one would be taking a mud bath, whilst the Trinity River looks like one would be taking a sewer bath.

It also helps the Wichita River seem more appealing to float in due to the fact that, unlike the Trinity River, one is not also floating with a lot of litter of various unseemly sorts.

Is the Wichita River tested for bad stuff, like too much E.coli? I suppose if no one goes floating in the Wichita River there would be no reason to be testing it for E.coli.

Well, enough of that, it's time to head to the MPEC and Hotter 'N Hell 100.

Need For Changed Oil Eventually Takes Me To A Wichita Falls Dock On A Bay

When I ignited my motorized means of vehicular transportation this morning the dashboard told me something like I should change the oil soon.

I am a big fan of being right on top of vehicle maintenance, never procrastinating on these type issues.

So, since I was driving to Walmart, among other destinations, and knowing Walmart had an Auto Care Department, I figured what could go wrong with a Walmart oil change?

I figured right. It was an efficient operation. I walked in, said I needed an oil change, was told to park the vehicle at the first open bay, did so. A Walmart auto tech guy was quickly there with a high tech handheld device taking down all the vital information.

I was given a card to scan on the in store price check scanning devices, with the card scanning telling me the status of the oil change whilst I did my search for Walmart goods. The first time I scanned the card I was told "Waiting". The second time I scanned the card I was told "In Bay".

I did not scan the card a third time because the in store loudspeaker loudly told me that "Mr. Jones, your vehicle is ready."

The whole process took about 15 minutes.

Leaving Walmart I took the out in the country route, leaving Wichita Falls to make my way to Lake Wichita for some maritime refreshment via a location I'd not been to previously, that being the Lake Wichita Boat Launch and Dock.

Walking out to the end of the Dock was a bit of a rickety boardwalk experience that I liked.

In the  photo documentation above, way in the distance you can see Mount Wichita looming over the far side of the lake.

I had originally planned to do some mountain climbing on Mount Wichita today, But, with the temperature semi-hot in the mid 80s, and with no wind blowing, I opted not to overheat via mountain climbing and instead acquired endorphins via negative ions zapping from the slow moving waves on the lake.

In August Thinking About Climbing Snow Covered Mount Wichita

No, that is not snow covered Mount Rainier you are looking at here. What you are looking at here is snow covered Mount Wichita in Wichita Falls, Texas.

A day or two ago I opined that it would be a good thing for a chair lift to be installed to take people to the summit of Mount Wichita, obviating the need to do that vexing mountain climbing thing for those disinclined to experience vertical exercise.

It did not occur to me that a chair lift to the summit of Mount Wichita might facilitate downhill skiing.

I found the photo you see above on the Facebook page about Mount Wichita titled The Dirt Hill.

Calling Mount Wichita "The Dirt Hill" seems sort of rude to me.

Are those people in the foreground sliding on a frozen Lake Wichita? If so, apparently Wichita Falls has the capacity to become a bit of a Winter Wonderland.

You would need to click the photo to enlarge it to see the large number of people trekking their way to the summit of the snow covered Mount Wichita.

I can not imagine doing so. Climbing Mount Wichita is treacherous enough without the added treachery of ice and snow.

I suspect in a few months, weather permitting, I will be finding out how doable it is to ascend and descend Mount Wichita when it is in snow covered mode...

Tarrant Regional Water District Board Election Fraud

From the Wikipedia article about Electoral fraud....

Electoral fraud or vote rigging is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates, or both.

In Texas the government is very concerned about voter fraud, you know, people voting who should not be able to vote.

Even though there is no evidence this type fraud actually exists. But, in Texas some hoops were installed which voters had to jump through in order to vote, such as providing photo I.D.

Court rulings have recently ruled that Texas is in the wrong with this voter I.D. form of voter suppression, and must cease with the practice.

So.

I get annoyed at how backwardly twisted Texas can be at times. As in installing procedures to prevent imaginary voter fraud, whilst doing absolutely nothing about actual election fraud.

Such as.

The last time there was a Tarrant Regional Water District Board election the election fraud seemed to be so obvious that a blind person could have spotted it from the moon.

Jim  Lane and Marty Leonard were re-elected with a record number of votes, a huge number of votes, far in excess of the previous record number of votes, held by Mary Kelleher, as in, something like 10,000 more votes, give or take a vote, or two.

The TRWD board election did not produce a big turnout.

And yet, for some reason there were something like 10,000 absentee ballot requests.

10,000.

Now, please note the number of record breaking votes which re-elected Leonard and Lane.

10,000.

It is not easy to get an absentee ballot in Texas, unlike most other states. In my old home state of Washington one could be a perpetual absentee ballot voter. Meaning one could mail in ones vote each election.

So, how is it that this TRWD board election, with its bizarrely skewed results, did not come to the attention of any sort of election oversight board.

Surely, Texas has some sort of election oversight system. Doesn't it?

Does the upcoming General Election include yet one more TRWD board vote? I don't know. I have not made note of any hype about such. But, I no longer get mailed the Tarrant County election mailers.

Is the reason there has been no investigation of what seems to be obvious election fraud in the last TRWD board election due to this being considered a low level type election not worthy of any sort of oversight?

Anyway, I know I've blogged about this perplexing issue previously, but I thought I'd bring the subject up again, what with it being an election year...

Hostess Aunt Alice's Deep Fried Walmart Twinkies

A few days ago I found myself having the following exchange on Facebook with Aunt Alice, also known as Tootsie Tonasket....

Durango Jones Sounds like your new personal chef is working out for you, Aunt Alice. Getting you back on a healthy feeding regimen. Unlike your previous personal chef who had you eating way too many things like Deep-Fried Twinkies covered with hot fudge.....

Aunt Alice Personal chef? One could only wish sweetheart. You could be mine. I eat semi healthy. Love veggies. Deep fried Twinkies? Yum. Never had. Can I get your recipe? Not had Twinkies in years and years. Nor hot fudge. Making me hungry. Stop. Glad you worry about your Auntie.

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So, imagine my surprise yesterday, in Walmart, when walking by the freezer section I saw that which you see above.

Hostess Deep Fried Twinkies and Deep Fried Chocolate Twinkies.

Aunt Alice, these Deep Fried Twinkies may only be available in Texas, as part of the ongoing plot to try to get the Texas population to put on some weight.

But, next time you're in the Omak Walmart check out the freezer section and maybe you will find Deep Fried Twinkies....

I Am Soliciting Donations For Donald Trump & The Cult Of The Stupid

I hit the blog publish button yesterday to quickly find myself mortified to see that the blog had two Donald Trump Make America Great Again ads and one Only Trump Can Stop Crooked Hillary ad, soliciting donations to the campaign of the Great Embarrassing Orange Pumpkin.

I have no control over what ads appear. The ads are supposed to be content and user oriented. Sometimes this renders ads which make sense, and other times senseless ads, like finding myself being sort of a party to a con man conning confused simpletons into sending him money.

I do not remember ever so ardently wishing an election was over and done with. I don't remember an election where so many people opined so much stupid stuff based on nothing but their ignorant, ill-informed stupidity, reinforced by others sharing the same stupidity.

I blame the empowerment of stupidity on the rise of social media.

Before the rise of social media the stupid had no outlet where they could share their stupidity with other stupid people reinforcing each other's stupidity in a sort of Cult of the Stupid.

Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are two examples of locations where the Cult of the Stupid acquire much of their stupidity.

Go to FOX News online and read the comments to pretty much any article and you will soon develop a sick feeling regarding how badly educated the education system is educating way too many people.

Or go to Facebook.

I only have about 100 Facebook "Friends". I put "Friends" in quotation marks because only a few of the 100 are people I actually know. Even with only 100 Facebook "Friends" I manage to have several "Friends" who are charter members of the Cult of the Stupid.

I feel embarrassed for them when I read some of it. But, I long ago learned there was no cure for stupid. Stupid is like cancer, a disease in dire need of a cure, but with no cure in sight.

Hence the rise of Donald Trump and his Cult of the Stupid......

Finding Something On Mount Wichita Not Seen Previously In Wichita Falls

A couple weeks ago I blogged about my Fruitless Friday Wichita Falls Search For Litter, documenting my futile fruitless attempt to find litter littering like I saw so frequently at my previous Texas location.

Well.

Today, on the summit of Mount Wichita, I saw that which you see here.

Litter.

This was not the only litter. I always saw. Several beer cans, fast food wrappers and other usual litter suspects.

Why would anyone drop litter on one of the most scenic locations in Wichita Falls?

I suspect out of towners are the culprits. Maybe Fort Worth litter buggers in town getting ready to ride their bikes in the HOTTER than HELL 100.

Next time I climb to the summit of Mount Wichita I will do so with a garbage bag stuffed in a pocket.

On a non-litter note, whilst on the summit of Mount Wichita today something happened which had not happened before. Two text messages. One from Miss Linda, one from Elsie Hotpepper.

One of the messages was a woeful litany. You have a 50/50 chance of guessing from whom the litany of woe came....

Striking Similarity Between Mount Rainier & Mount Wichita

No, that is not an early morning look at Lake Wichita you are looking at here, with Mount Wichita looming in the distance.

What you are looking at here is Lake Meridian in the town of Kent in the state of Washington.

And that mountain looming in the distance is a volcano known as Mount Rainier.

I believe it was in the year 2005 I was in Washington, staying at my ex-wife's house in the aforementioned Kent.

My ex-wife and my sister had taken off to do their daily delivery duties when soon thereafter one of them, I don't remember which, called me to tell me "the Mountain is out and looking beautiful."

In Western Washington the phrase "the Mountain is out" is universally known to mean that Mount Rainier is cloud free and visible.

When the Mountain is out it is visible from a long distance. For instance, when the Mountain was out I could see it whilst driving on the Skagit Valley flats, about 100 miles north.

So, after I got the call telling me the Mountain was out I walked the short distance to Lake Meridian to take some photos and shoot some video of the exposed Mountain.

Looking at the above photo of Mount Rainier it sure is easy to see why I say that Mount Wichita looks like a mini-volcano, which you can see via the photo I took yesterday of Lake Wichita with Mount Wichita in the distance....

Come winter I wonder if Mount Wichita develops a snow cap?

I suspect not.

A chair lift to the summit of Mount Wichita would be a very cool thing. There would be nothing like it for hundreds of miles in any direction....

Blazing A Trail Around Lake Wichita While Exhausted

I am exhausted. A storm stormed into Wichita Falls around three this morning. I have been awake ever since.

The storm dropped a lot of water along with delivering some lightning strikes.

Around noon I took off to Lake Wichita for some water based scenery, along with a good dose of humidity.

In the picture you are looking west from the east side of Lake Wichita. Mount Wichita, looking like a volcano, is in the distance on the west side of the lake.

The picture does not picture what looks like much wave action. However, when I got on the floating dock it surprised me by how much rock and rolling it was doing.

A surprisingly large number of people were enjoying the cooler temperature and respite from rain. Lots of bikers and joggers.    

After I had myself enough lake time I decided to see if I could drive all the way around Lake Wichita. I'd looked at maps previously and saw no obvious road choice that went around the lake. Which I found to be the case when I tried to drive around the lake.

On the south side of Lake Wichita one finds the small town of Lakeside City. I thought maybe a road out of that town would take me back to the Mount Wichita side of the lake. I thought wrong.

Eventually I came to a freshly blacktopped new looking road heading west. Eventually that road came to a road heading north. On that road heading north I came to a sign which said "Trail Crossing Ahead".

Trail Crossing Ahead?

What could that mean? A Cattle Trail? A spur of the old Chisholm Trail? What?

Turns out the trail ahead was the Wichita Valley Rail Trail. When I got back to a Google enabled device I learned this was a converted old railroad track, now a hiking biking trail, running from Wichita Falls to the town of Holliday.

Soon after crossing the trail ahead I was back in familiar territory, heading east towards home on Southwest Boulevard.

So, fact of the matter is I did manage to drive all the way around Lake Wichita. But the route turned out not to stay too close to the lake shoreline.

I think I need to try to take a nap. That rarely works out. But, like I said, I am exhausted.....