Power Walking To Mount Wichita Too Much For Limpalong Slackluster

Today's events caused the thought to occurr to me that I may be being too gungho with this Power Walking thing I have been doing.

For today's Power Walk I opted to roll my motorized wheels to the east side of Lake Wichita to walk at high speed from the Lake Wichita dam spillway parking lot, all the way to Mount Wichita on the west end of the lake.

In the photo of the Lake Wichita dock bridge you can see Mount Wichita way in the distance, that little pimple on the horizon.

Today I was talked into bringing along a co-walker. I informed this co-walker that I walk fast, that I don't turn around if someone finds the walking too daunting.

The co-walker agreed to my terms.

I think it was some time after the two mile mark had been passed I began calling the co-walker Limpalong Slackluster.

The first leg of this walk is over the Lake Wichita Dam, a straight section of the Circle Trail. This is that which you see below, as seen from the Lake Wichita dock.

The Lake Wichita dock was rocking today, due to a strong wind blowing semi-big waves, almost to the point of waving in whitecap mode.

Eventually Mount Wichita came into closer view. Below is as far as the Power Walk walked today.

At this point Limpalong Slackluster indicated insufficient energy to facilitate a return to from whence we came. I suggested Limpalong limp to the Mount Wichita parking lot and I'd return to vehicle transport and then drive to pick up Limpalong.

Til today it had been a long time since I had this type incident. I think it was way back in 2002, or maybe 2003, that Gar the Texan had an attack of what I came to call "The Vapors" whilst mountain bike riding the Horseshoe Trails by Lake Grapevine.

When that attack came Gar the Texan could roll no further. I instructed the stricken Texan to slowly make his way down the trail til he came to a big open area, and that I would go get the vehicular transport and come rescue him.

Now that you are making me think about it, that Horseshoe Trails Gar the Texan vapor attack may not have been the last one I experienced.

It may have been after that that Gar the Texan had an attack of "The Vapors" during a trek to Oklahoma to go hiking around Turner Falls in the middle of winter.

One would think I would have learned my lesson a long time ago, that being to insist on some sort of doctor's report before I agree to take anyone with my on one of my strenuous excursions...

What Downtown's Eyesore Gets A New Owner?

A day or two ago I mentioned that Hoagie Jackson Led Me To Tour Eastside Wichita Falls Eyesore Infestations.

I posted that blogging on the Wichita Falls Rants & Raves Facebook page.

That posting generated a lot of feedback and page views.

Among the feedback was one feedbacker commenting about that which I had to say, ending said comment with "Can he mention Eyesore one more time?"

To which I replied "Eyesore" to almost universal amusement. Well, a few dozen likes, give or take a dozen or two.

So, what did my curious eyes see the very next day via the Wichita Falls Times News Record, as in this town's newspaper of record?

An article titled, as you see above, "Downtown eyesore gets a new owner".

I had made notice of this downtown eyesore the first time I walked around downtown Wichita Falls after going to the Saturday Farmer's Market. This particular downtown Wichita Falls eyesore is across the street from what seemed me to be another abandoned tall eyesore. A big blue building.

Subsequent to seeing the Big Blue building I learned it is being rehabilitated to its former glory as a local landmark.

And now the eyesore building across the street, known in its final iteration as the Century Plaza Hotel, is being remodeled into residential apartments.

Downtown Wichita Falls seems to be having some sort of renaissance.

Wichita Falls, like much of America, has gone through many boom and bust cycles.

Currently Wichita Falls appears to be heading into boom mode, recovering from the double whammy of the Great Recession and the Great Drought.

After I blogged about the motel eyesores I saw on Scott Avenue, and posted that blog on the Wichita Falls Rants & Rave Facebook page I learned a thing or two.

One thing I learned was the first eyesore motel I focused on was a Holiday Inn, with a popular restaurant.

I read that and wondered why a Holiday Inn would be located in such an isolated location, wondering the same about the other abandoned motels I saw on Scott Avenue.

And then the possible reason occurred to me, so I asked on the Rants & Raves page if Scott Avenue was the main entry from the east into Wichita Falls before the I-287 freeway was built.

Yes, was the answer.

With many locals having nostalgic feelings about that old entry to Wichita Falls, and who enjoy seeing the ruins as some sort of reminder of the past.

Those abandoned motels I saw on Sunday on Scott Avenue were not all of them. Turns out the old Century Plaza Hotel is also on Scott Avenue.

Knowing, now, that Scott Avenue used to be the main drag through town explains the other closed, rundown former businesses one sees on that road, like restaurants and bars which long ago saw better days.

I admit I am a nerd, and that I have always been a history buff, so this is being a pleasant experience for me, learning the history of this new town I am living in.

Creepy Clowns Creeping In Skagit County & Fort Worth

This Creepy Clown thing creeping up across America has been something I've not paid much attention to, figuring it's kids having fun, and not giving any thought to it other than that, that I recollect.

It seems like there have been some mentions of the Creepy Clowns having knives or other attributes making the Creepy Clowns appear to be a bit malevolent.

Then yesterday, via Facebook, I saw, via the Skagit Breaking News Facebook page, that the Creepy Clowns have now invaded Skagit County.

I do not know how the photo of the Skagit County Creepy Clown was obtained. But I must admit that is one creepy looking clown.

Skagit County is not anywhere near recovering from the trauma of having the usually pastoral valley's peace disrupted by the multiple murders at the Cascade Mall in the town I grew up in, Burlington.

And now Creepy Clowns have come to town? That just ain't right.

So, that was yesterday I learned Skagit County has a Creepy Clown infestation, and then this morning, via the often maligned Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I saw that some in Fort Worth are claiming to have seen Creepy Clowns in town.

Apparently those claiming to have seen Fort Worth Creepy Clowns have not managed to photo document such, except for the pair of shoes which illustrated the Star-Telegram front page link to their Creepy Clown story.

Those Star-Telegram Creepy Clown shoes look like Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price's biking shoes, to me.

Is Betsy Price putting on a little extra make up and making like a Creepy Clown to give usual backwater Fort Worth some Creepy Clown cred in the current Creepy Clown frenzy?

I guess time will only tell with the American Creepy Clown mystery coming to some sort of fruition....

Did Fort Worth Ever Get Payback For Being A Sucker For Cabela's Con Job?

Yesterday Elsie Hotpepper sent me a link along with a question.

I had already seen that to which the link pointed.

That being the fact that the Bass Pro Shops were buying Cabela's.

Elsie figured I must have something to say about this latest iteration of the Fort Worth and Cabela's romance.

However, it had been so long since I was disgusted and appalled by the way Cabela's seduced Fort Worth into an unseemly marriage based on lies and hyperbole, that my memory of that wedding was not clear.

With no pre-nuptial agreement, as far as I know. Well, there were some performance clauses applicable during the course of the marriage, but I don't know how applicable those performance clauses are with this divorce and marriage to the Bass Pro Shops.

So it took Elsie Hotpepper sending me a link to my own blog to a blogging titled A Second Cabela's Opens In Allen In The Dallas Metroplex for me to remember just how absurd this ridiculous affair has been between Fort Worth and Cabela's.

Basically Cabela's came to the homely bride known as Fort Worth and told her if she agreed to marry Cabela's, the sporting goods store would make Fort Worth the #1 Tourist Attraction in all of the state of Texas.

You reading this in other parts of America who think I must be making this up. No, I am not. Those who run Fort Worth in the corrupt way known as the Fort Worth Way fell all over themselves to rush into what amounted to a sleazy marriage to Cabela's, based on lies and obvious nonsense about being the top tourist attraction in Texas.

Fort Worth fell for promises of millions of visitors visiting a sporting goods store. Resulting in Fort Worth giving Cabela's a valuable tax break package dowry to seal the deal.

And then, six months later, Cabela's cheated on Fort Worth by opening another store in Texas, down south by Austin, in the town of Buda.

Fort Worth moved on from its shame, full bore, to embrace another con job full of empty promises, promising the still homely bride she could be pretty.

The Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

More commonly known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

The notorious Fort Worth Star-Telegram, chief cheerleader for Cabela's running its top tourist attraction in Texas scam, yesterday shared with its few readers the news about the Bass Pro Shops taking over Cabela's in an article titled Bass Pro to buy rival Cabela’s in $5.5 billion deal.

The Star-Telegram article made no mention of its previous role in misleading the Fort Worth locals about what a great deal Cabela's would be for Fort Worth, drawing in millions of tourists, thus justifying the tax breaks and other incentives given to Cabela's.

The Star-Telegram article did include the following gem of a paragraph...

Cabela’s has other Texas stores in Buda, League City, Lubbock and Waco, while Bass Pro has stores in San Antonio, Round Rick, Pearland, Katy and Harlingen.

How can the Star-Telegram print the above list of all the towns in Texas in which Cabela's has opened a store, with no mention made of the con job pulled on Fort Worth claiming Cabela's in Fort Worth would be the #1 tourist attraction in Texas? And the Star-Telegram neglected to include in that list the second Cabela's store in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, that being the one in the Dallas suburb of Allen.

Shameful and shameless....

Hoagie Jackson Leads Me To Tour Eastside Wichita Falls Eyesore Infestation

Last May, soon after my arrival in Wichita Falls, I was exploring around my new  town. On that day I had checked out the World's Littlest Skyscraper and then the Wee-Chi-Tah Sculpture.

Soon after checking out the Wee-Chi-Tah Sculpture I found myself heading south on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

MLK Jr. Boulevard turned into Scott Avenue where I soon found myself looking at one of the worst urban eyesores my eyes have ever beheld.

I returned to that particular eyesore on Sunday, for reasons made apparent later in this blogging. Above you are looking at a tree growing from the roof of this eyesore. My previous time seeing this I was in drive by mode. This time I stopped to do some photo documenting.

In drive by mode I had not been able to tell if this was an abandoned school or an abandoned motel. In photo documenting mode it was easy to see this was an abandoned motel and restaurant.

A more expansive view of the eyesore, with the tree growing from its roof. This view is from the south side of the ruins.

The below view is from the north side, looking at part of the eyesore which was a restaurant. I was able to tell such due to a faded sign at the top of the structure, with the only word I was able to make out being "RESTAURANT".

After photo documenting this eyesore I headed back towards downtown Wichita Falls, via Scott Avenue. Soon I found myself surprised to be seeing even more abandoned eyesores. But, before I get to that, first that which prompted yesterday's return to the above ruins.

Recently I posted a post on the Wichita Falls Rants & Raves Facebook page about the quick cleanup of litter on Sikes Lake after a HUGE storm. That posting prompting multiple comments including the following exchange between myself and Hoagie Jackson...

Hoagie Jackson: The litter pickers have not been to North side or east side or in the avenues. Thay want the rich folk to look good and hell with the other parts of town. Hell we see a street sweeper maybe 2 times a year. Ya my tax dollars don't mean as much as there's do, but never the less I still pay taxes to have the same services delivered less often.

Durango Jones: I dunno Hoagie Jackson I've been all over Wichita Falls in the past few months and I have remarked more than once that this town is the most litter free town I've been to in Texas. Then again, I've not been to all that many Texas towns, with my sampling weighted way too heavily to the DFW Metroplex towns....

Hoagie Jackson: Well go through the Eastside hell, there's more grass growing in the cracks in the streets than there is in yards. Storm drains have trees growing out of them.

Durango Jones: I see what you mean. When I have driven in the Eastside zone I have opined more than once that the streets need some serious upgrading. But I have not made note of much litter. I liked the community garden at the MLK Center. Thought that was impressive.  I recollect seeing what looked like a bombed out former school or motel, looking like something from WWII and wondering why the city does not have ordinances in place which require such be cleaned up.

Hoagie Jackson: They do have.

Durango Jones: Hoagie Jackson But no one enforces these ordinances?

Hoagie Jackson: Right.

Durango Jones: Hoagie Jackson I think maybe I will take a drive through the Eastside zone for blogging purposes, focusing on that bombed out school or motel or whatever it is. Sometimes towns ignore stuff til people start making a fuss about it.

________________________

Like I already said, yesterday I took  that drive through the Eastside zone which I told Hoagie Jackson I would take.

I really did not see all that much litter as I drove around the Eastside of Wichita Falls. But, I saw plenty of what Hoagie Jackson mentioned. Roads in dire need of being worked on. A lot of urban blight. Businesses long out of business with their buildings falling apart. Lots of weeds. I don't think I saw any sidewalks. The only paved trail I recollect seeing was the Circle Trail as it circles through the Eastside of Wichita Falls.

The lack of sidewalks in the Eastside of Wichita Falls is very similar to the lack of sidewalks in the Eastside of Fort Worth.

After the close up look at the above abandoned motel eyesore I wondered why the city does not have who ever owns this property clean the mess up? Soon thereafter I headed west on Scott Avenue to find myself asking that same question multiple times.

That above abandoned motel eyesore I saw yesterday was the only one I saw without a name.

The  La Posada Motel on Scott Avenue looks like it may be open. But it is not. It was in the best condition of any of the abandoned motels which I saw yesterday, but still appeared to be an unfixable ruin in need of being torn down.

And then there was the OOO Motel. That is the best I can come up for the name, via the sign. As you can see this abandoned Scott Avenue motel is surrounded by cyclone fence with barbed wire at the top, just like the first ex-motel eyesore I saw yesterday.

The closed and crumbling Bel-Air Motel on Scott Avenue is not surrounded by cyclone fence, but instead a wooden fence which made it more difficult to see that it was also a deteriorated eyesore needing to be demolished.

The Budget Inn on Scott Avenue did not need a cyclone fence to keep anyone from trespassing. A solid wall and boarded up windows did the job.

Now, what is going on here? I don't get it. In so many ways so many things are so well done in Wichita Falls.

The Parks.

The Directional Signage.

The Road Landscaping.

The Festivals.

The Circle Trail.

The Multi-Purpose Events Center.

So, why does Wichita Falls allow a collection of ruins which creates the illusion that some sort of disaster occurred here?

Very perplexing....

Captain Andy Reports Fort Worth Boondoggle's Bridge Construction Still A Ghost Town

Last night, Streetcar Pilot and Surveying Savant, Captain Andy, told me, via Facebook, that he "Drove by the trashcan on panther trinity island uptown. No sign of construction. No rebar in the forms. How long before they start up again? How much money is being wasted? Ugghh...."

The trashcan Captain Andy mentions I blogged about back last December in America's Biggest Boondoggle's Million Dollar Wind Roundabout Ridiculousness.

The Roundabout Ridiculousness, that being the trashcan to which Captain Andy refers, is near something even more ridiculous, to which Captain Andy also refers, that being the stalled construction of America's Biggest Boondoggle's bridges being built over dry land to connect Fort Worth's mainland to an imaginary island.

Built over dry land because the funds are not available to dig the ditch to go under the bridges, after which water could be diverted to flow under the bridges. The Boondoggle claims the stalled bridges are being built over dry land to save money. Which is ridiculous. There will be no water under those bridges until the Trinity River is diverted to flow under them.

I have been blogging about these Phantom Bridges for years. The three bridges were initially scheduled to begin their construction phase way back in 2011. I blogged about this in Has Anyone Seen The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Bridges Under Construction Since 2011?

Way back in 2014 an absurdly explosive ceremony was staged to celebrate the late beginning of the construction of the three bridges. I blogged about this in A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.

About a year after that explosive non-start The Boondoggle was touting the amazing feat that V Piers for one of the bridges were now rising from the ground.  The Boondoggle propagandized about the V Piers finally appearing as if it were a major accomplishment. I blogged about this in Beautiful Fort Worth V Piers The Likes Of Which The World Has Never Seen.

About a week later I blogged about Star-Telegram propaganda on the bridge subject in Star-Telegram Propaganda About Trinity River Vision Moving Forward Slowly.

And then, back in March of 2016 the construction of those amazing V Piers ground to a halt, with The Boondoggle claiming construction would resume in about a month. I first blogged about this latest Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision embarrassment in Fort Worth Star-Telegram Thinks Someone Goofed On The Panther Island Bridge Design.

Also back in March, regarding The Boondoggle's bridge design problems, I blogged Design Woes Are Not The Only Problem With Fort Worth's Panther Island Bridges.

And then in July, when the aforementioned Captain Andy previously told me he saw The Boondoggle's bridge construction zone looking like a ghost town I blogged about this in Are America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Dust In The Wind?

So, now we are in the 8th month since construction of The Boondoggle's bridges has been halted due to design errors. These three simple bridges being built over nothing had, originally, an astounding four year project timeline.

Longer than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge, over water, and longer than it took to build many other actual feats of engineering, including the Eiffel Tower.

Has anyone noticed any reporting in Fort Worth's imaginary newspaper of record, the Star-Telegram, about the halt in progress in what that newspaper has helped propagandize is a vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme?

Vitally needed, yet built in slow, and now, stop motion, with no project timeline, relying on J.D. Granger's mother, Fort Worth's congresswoman, Kay Granger, to bring home some pork attached to the water bill currently stalled in Congress.

How come the Star-Telegram has not looked into how Kay Granger's cronies might profit if The Boondoggle ever comes to any sort of fruition? How come the Star-Telegram has no problem with the obvious corrupt nepotism involved in hiring the congresswoman's son to run this project?

A project of the sort that the former low level prosecutor had zero qualifications? Except for being his mother's son.

With the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision now having turned into America's Biggest Boondoggle, is it not time for an intervention? Is it not time to relieve J.D. Granger from having anything to do with this project?

Doesn't the buck with this embarrassing Boondoggle stop anywhere?

Methinks J.D. Granger should have been fired simply for coming up with the absurd idea of encouraging people to get wet in the polluted Trinity River, with Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube floats at an imaginary pavilion on an imaginary island.

How about it Star-Telegram? Do you have any actual journalists still in your employ who might look into what's up with The Boondoggle's bridges?

There are a lot inquiring minds wanting to know....

Aerobic Yoga Followed By Power Walking Wichita Falls Circle Trail North With Birds

The first day of October and day two of my new fall regimen of excessive power walking and aerobic yoga.

Yesterday I walked fast to the south, hoofing the Circle Trail all the way to Lake Wichita and back to my abode.

Today I headed north on the Circle Trail, hoofing it all the way to the north end of Hamilton Park and then back to my abode.

Somewhere around six miles of hoofing it.

It is the suddenly cool temperatures which makes walking the Circle Trail appealing. When the air is HOT, with little wind and no shade, the Circle Trail is not appealing for a middle of the day walk. When it is HOT I need some shade and a breeze blowing over a cooling body of water.

I was barely into the first mile of power walking when I saw that which you see above. A golfer hunting for his ball. I saw dozens of white golf carts rolling around the Weeks Park Golf Course, with only one bad golf ball hitter chasing his ball to the banks of Holliday Creek.

Acquaintances from the Pacific Northwest who look at my blog at time or two have verbalized surprise regarding how green the topography appears to be in what they had always thought was dusty, brown, desert covered Texas.

Geographically ignorant Yankees.

In many way at many times in the year much of Texas is much greener than the Evergreen State, particularly when the western half of Washington is in drought mode, which it was the last  time I flew up north.

When I hoof the Circle Trail there is no need to carry a water bottle with me.

No need to carry a water bottle because there are water fountains along the Circle Trail. One steps on a pedal on the ground and soon cool water burbles forth.

Below is the most disturbing thing I saw today, looking like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds.

I have no idea why these birds were congregating on this one roof of a large apartment complex near Weeks Access Road and Midwestern Boulevard. I took the above picture when I was heading north. The birds were still there an hour later when I was heading south.

This bird behavior seems disturbing to me. I would not want to be living in the apartment below.

Tomorrow for my power walk I think I will roll my mechanical wheels to the north parking lot at Hamilton Park and walk the Circle Trail north from there.

Litter Free Wichita Falls Walk With Rapid Mystery

This morning due to the natural air conditioning occurring in the outer world I opened my windows, causing fresh air to flood my interior space, along with noises I don't hear with the windows closed.

Such as the sound of what sounded to be the sound of roaring rapids.

A usually sedate creek flows through a green canyon in my backyard, on the east side of the Circle Trail which circles around Wichita Falls.

An hour before noon I left my abode, initially intending to find the source of the roaring rapids sound. It did not take much walking to discover the rapids, a photo of which you see above.

This usually sedate creek is named Holliday Creek. Holliday Creek is the primary source of the water which makes up Lake Wichita, a short distance upstream from this rapids.

Last Sunday morning, after heavy rain had caused flooding all over Wichita Falls, I checked in on Holliday Creek expecting it to be running high and wild.

At that point in time the creek pretty much looked its usual sedate self. This perplexed me.

But I was even more  perplexed today when I saw way more water moving in Holliday Creek than I saw last Sunday. I thought maybe there is another water source between my location and the Lake Wichita Dam spillway that I did not know about.

Yesterday when I saw Lake Wichita from high atop Mount Wichita the lake did not look any fuller than it usually looks.

So, I decided to walk the Circle Trail upstream, towards Lake Wichita, to see if I could find where all this water was coming from.

This turned into an interesting walk.

Eventually a bridge came into view, which I figured had to be  Kemp Street, which is due east of the Lake Wichita Dam.

Soon I found myself under the Kemp Street bridge over Holliday Creek. That would be part of the aforementioned Circle Trail, with rail, you see on the right. That slice of white you see in the distance is the Wichita Dam spillway, spilling water, which is something I'd not seen before.

Let's get a closer look.

So, that explains the roaring rapids in my backyard. But the source of this excess water flowing out of Lake Wichita remains a mystery.

Another thing I made note of today was the fact that I saw absolutely no litter today. Not a single piece. Such is a claim I could never make any time I was out and about in my former Texas location.

Cool Fall Climb To The Summit Of Mount Wichita

It seems like weeks, like way back last summer, when last I climbed my way to the summit of Mount Wichita.

Today's climb to the summit was made in cool air for the first time, air conditioned to a comfortable temperature somewhere in the 60s.

As you can see, via the person slowly ambling his way up the mountain, I was not the only person enjoying cool mountain climbing today.

Last Saturday's rain deluge did some eroding to Mount Wichita. I have long wondered how this mountain came to be.

I know it was made from dirt dredged from Sikes Lake. But how did the dirt get piled up into mountain mode? Before that dirt solidified into adobe-like hardness, with a vegetation covering, it would seem that any heavy rain would have washed the mountain into Lake Wichita.

I have asked multiple Wichita Falls locals if they knew the means by which Mount Wichita was built, to no avail.

The Lake Wichita Revitalization Plan includes another mountain rising near Mount Wichita, with that new mountain being shorter but bigger in circumference. Methinks the volume of dirt which will be dredged from Lake Wichita would likely be enough to make an entire Wichita Mountain Range of multiple mountains.

Multiple mountains in a Wichita Mountain Range would be a real good thing. Maybe mountain bike trails could somehow be incorporated. Which would also be a real good thing.

Walking Past Dry Wichita Falls I Learned How To Stop Aging

This morning I woke up with a bit of a hitch in my get-along. Not a bad hitch, but a hitch nonetheless.

Around noon I opted to try and work out the kinks of my hitched get-along and get myself to Lucy Park to walk to what I figured was the still dry Wichita Falls.

Figured to be dry due to the copious amounts of rain which flooded the Wichita Falls zone on Saturday.

Soon upon arrival at Lucy Park it was obvious, due to a mud line left behind, that the Wichita River had risen high.

At some points the river had flooded over the Circle Trail.

When I go to the location of Wichita Falls, like I already said I thought it would be, it was dry. Since the last time I walked to dry Wichita Falls I have been told the falls gets turned off when the river runs high due to muddy water wreaking havoc with the pumps which cause the water to fall over the falls.

Critters which live near the falls seem to be adjusting to the lack of falling water. Such as the cute little guy you see below.

This green little reptile was sunbathing on the dry falls ground at the south side of the Circle Trail bridge which crosses the dry falls.

Continuing on past the currently dry falls I opted to walk the Circle Trail under the I-287 freeway. And continue on towards the MPEC (Multi Purpose Event Center).

Along the way I came upon a series of inspirational signage of the sort I have not been inspired by previously.

A few examples.

This sign told me that working out looked good on me. Seems sort of Orwellian to me. How did the sign know this?

From this sign I learned that exercise prevents the signs of aging. I sort of already knew that. I am something like 70 years old and only look around 40 years old, when I look in a mirror whilst not wearing my glasses.

So, this is why I am so smart. Exercise improves brain performance. I did not know this until today. Walking the Wichita Falls Circle Trail really is a learning experience.

So, that is why I am so skinny. More muscle mass burns more fat. I need to eat more.

I can not remember the last time I was sick. Apparently those who exercise get sick less often. Does having a hitch in ones get-along count as being sick?

Work outs can improve the look of ones skin? Does going on a long walk count as a work out? Months ago Fort Worth's Miss Julie commented that judging from my skin I must be part dolphin. I was not sure what this meant but decided to think this was a good thing to have skin which looked dolphin-like.

This inspirational signage all took place in a distance which was likely less than a tenth of a mile. I don't know how many people jogging  and biking by stop to take the time to get inspired.

One thing I noted today which was interesting to me. The Wichita River rose high on Saturday. When the river retreated it did not leave a deposit of litter in its wake. All I saw today was one styrofoam container stranded in mud, mud which kept me from rescuing it.

When  the Trinity River runs high through Fort Worth the tons of litter left behind when the river retreats is a spectacle to behold.

I must go get some more exercise now that I have learned there are specific benefits from engaging in such behavior...