Where In The World Are Ruby, Theo, David, Blue & Eddie?

Last night I got a text message on my phone asking...

Where in the world are your niece and nephews and poodles?

Along with the photo documentation you see here.

That would be Theo on the left, holding the poodle, Blue, David in the middle, and Ruby on the right holding the poodle Eddie.

I examined the photo documentation trying to determine the location. I was fairly certain it was not any location in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park. Goose Rock in Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey island? Seemed doubtful, as that would be a long drive from Tacoma. A location above Hood Canal on the Olympic Peninsula? Again doubtful because the body of water appeared to be too wide.

So, texted back with my guesses and soon received an answer...

Beautiful weather today, mid 60s. Kids had a day off school so we headed to Fort Worden, just outside Port Townsend. So much fun.

Well, Fort Worden would also be a long drive from Tacoma, but not as far as Goose Rock. Fort Worden is located at the northeast corner of the aforementioned Olympic Peninsula.

If I remember right the last time I was at Fort Worden and Port Townsend was with David, Theo and Ruby's cousin Joey, who is also Spencer Jack's uncle and my second oldest nephew. Joey and I took our bikes to Fort Casey, on the opposite side of Admiralty Inlet from the Fort Worden side.

We rolled our bikes on the ferry to cross over to Port Townsend and biked to Fort Worden. We were having ourselves such a mighty fine time we almost missed the last ferry crossing of the day.

By the time we got back to our vehicle parked at Fort Casey the park gates were locked with a note from the ranger telling us to come knock on his door and he'd let us out. And so that is what we did. Apparently this happened frequently, people crossing back to Whidbey Island after Fort Casey locks up for the night.

I was amused when I went to Google "Fort Worden". I typed "Fort" and got as far as "W" when Googled added "orth" making the search "Fort Worth". I backspaced and changed "Worth" to "Worden", and thought, now that is ironic.

Fort Worden was an actual fort. Fort Worth was never a fort. It was known as Camp Worth. I don't know what early local propagandist puffed up Camp to Fort. But, this may be the earliest example of Fort Worth hyping something into being something it is not.

Sundance Square where there was no square. Trinity Uptown to turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. Panther Island where there is no island. Panther Island Pavilion where there is no pavilion. An iconic downtown where there is nothing iconic. Well, you get the drift.

A town named after a fort where there has never been a fort.

From the Wikipedia article about Fort Worden we learn about three actual forts actually doing what real forts do, you know, guarding something...

In the 1890s, Admiralty Inlet was considered strategic to the defense of Puget Sound in the that three forts -- Fort Worden, Fort Flagler, and Fort Casey -- were built at the entrance with their powerful artillery creating a "Triangle of Fire" to thwart any invasion attempt by sea. Fort Worden, on the Quimper Peninsula, at the extreme northeastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, sits on a bluff near Port Townsend, anchoring the northwest side of the triangle. The three posts were designed to prevent a hostile fleet from reaching such targets as the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett.

Fort Casey on Whidbey Island is the biggest of the three forts. Massive bunkers built into a bluff, with huge guns at various locations. Dark tunnels leading to underground chambers to explore. Over the years I spent many hours exploring Fort Casey, with my siblings, and later with my four oldest nephews.

I think I would have myself a mighty fine time exploring Fort Casey with nephews David and Theo and niece Ruby. However I think David might get a big concerned in some of those dark, spooky tunnels. David is very cautious...

UPDATE: Three new incoming photos with explanation text explaining "as per your blog post"...

Ruby looking spooky in one of the Fort Worden underground bunkers. I think that is Theo behind Ruby.

Ruby, Theo, David and Eddie, with Mama Kristin behind them, in one of the Fort Worth tunnels. I don't know where Blue is. Likely with photo taker, Mama Michele.

In the blog post I mentioned that it would be fun to take David, Theo and Ruby to Fort Casey to explore that fort's complex of tunnels and underground bunkers. But that David might be a bit cautious, as is his nature. Above it appears David is being a bit cautious in a Fort Worth underground bunker, worried as to what he has gotten himself into this time...

UPDATE: Reading back I see I typed "Fort Worth" when I meant to type "Fort Worden". If David were in a Fort Worth fort bunker, if such existed, I think he would have good reason to be very worried...

Dana Loesch Top 5 Famous Mullets Gar The Texan Omission

Friday afternoon I saw that which you see here on Twitter.

A Twitter Tweet where someone Dana Loesch via something called Dana Radio ranked the Top 5 Famous Mullets, along with Honorable Mention Mullets.

I know who a few of these mullet heads are, well, actually, all of them, except for Dog the Bounty Hunter and Danny McBride.

What appalls me is why is the most famous Texas mullet head is not on either the Top 5 or Honorable Mention mullet list?

I refer, obviously, to Gar the Texan, the famous West Texan who sported one of the most elaborate mullets in mullet history, a mullet which lasted for years after mullets passed their prime way back in the previous century.

I used to have an illustrative photo of Gar the Texan in long haired mullet mode, but I don't know where it is. If I find it I shall be sure to share it...

How Cool Forbes Ranks Fort Worth With Molly The Trolley

I saw this Seattle ranked nation’s No. 2 coolest city — just behind this West Coast rival article this morning in the Seattle Times, which I found amusingly interesting.

Now, if the Texas town I lived in previous to the Texas town I currently live in had been ranked #2 in anything a city wide celebration would be declared by the town's mayor, which is what happened earlier in this century when some obscure Washington, D.C. lobbying group listed Fort Worth as being a Top Ten Most Livable City, with the criteria being something to do with having neighborhoods develop as urban villages, or some such thing.

Tacoma also got this imaginary prestigious "award". Soon there after I had reason to visit Tacoma's then deputy mayor. I told him Fort Worth had a city wide celebration after receiving this prestigious award. The deputy mayor laughed and said you're kidding, aren't you?

Nope, I'm not making this up. Are you saying Tacoma did not have a city wide celebration?

No. said the deputy mayor, we just politely thanked them and then forgot about it.

Now, should Fort Worth be ranked #2 in anything the town's propaganda purveyor known as the Star-Telegram would headline an article full of embarrassing puffery touting their imaginary iconic town, such as what happened a couple weeks ago, which we mentioned in a blogging titled Imaginary Iconic Fort Worth Downtown Opens New Little Hotel With Molly The Trolley.

Now, when you think about it, shouldn't a town  be considered one of the coolest towns in America when its downtown public transit consists of a bus made to look like a trolley, then called Molly the Trolley?

The first few paragraphs of the Seattle Times cool town article are instructive as to how a big city newspaper, wearing its big city pants, covers such a thing, as opposed to Fort Worth's embarrassing excuse for a newspaper of record...

What a bummer, Seattle; we’re No. 2.

San Francisco is officially cooler than Seattle, according to Forbes and Sperling’s Best Places, which found that the former was “crushing” the competition when it came to restaurants, world-class museums, sports teams, good hiking and reliable mass transit.

Seattle, however, trumped all other contenders when it came to, yes, coffee and beer.

“Seattle won on this front with 83 coffee shops, coffee roasters & craft beer breweries per 100,000 residents,” according to the 2017 edition of America’s Coolest Cities, published on Thursday.

The article also had a graphic showing the location of the top 10 coolest cities in America.

Shocking. No Texas town is in the Top 10 coolest. Not even Austin.

Austin does show up on the full list of Top 20 coolest towns, coming in at #13 coolest.

According to Forbes, the west coast dominates in coolness, which is not too surprising to me, having been in all those towns and finding them all quite cool.

Dallas has always seemed sort of west coast cool to me. Making me surprised Dallas is not on this list of cool American towns.

The entire list of 20 Coolest American towns...

1. San Francisco
2. Seattle
3. San Diego
4. New Orleans
5. Portland
6. San Jose
7. Los Angeles
8. New York
9. Boston
10. Denver
11. Charleston, S.C.
12. Honolulu
13. Austin
14. Miami
15. Madison
16. Houston
17. D.C.
18. Las Vegas
19. Orlando
20. Tampa, Fla.

Throwing Thursday Back To Burlington June 1997 With The Jones Boys

Or was it June 1998?

I do not remember for sure, but my limited mathematic calculating skills tilt the year to being 1997, due to the nature of the occasion of the picture, and who is in the picture, and the year that particular person was born.

The particular person in question was born in 1979, in June of that year. That particular person would in the following decade become the proud papa of Spencer Jack, which renders that particular person my nephew Jason.

Who would have thought when this picture was taken that a decade later I would be returning from Texas to find myself chasing a toddler named Spencer Jack around Bay View State Park?

Those are the Jones boys lined up in the backyard of 1027 Washington Avenue in Burlington, Washington, the backyard of the house I grew up in.

We were in that backyard near the end of the event which saw Jason graduate high school, which took place outdoors, at the B-EHS football field. Jason's family sat in what was/is known as the visitor's grandstand on the north side of the field. I remember this as being one odd graduation, what with it being outdoors, and yet still noisy.

Though my memory of this day does not recollect it, due to the photographic evidence you see below, mom and dad were among us graduation attendees.

At that point in time mom and dad lived half the year in Arizona, in Yuma, and in Washington when it got too hot in Arizona. In Washington mom and dad's summer residence was at Lake Cushman, in a deluxe cabin on a golf course, which their eldest daughter, Clancy, built for them.

By the mid 1990s Jason's dad, my little brother Jake, bought the house we grew up in and lived there, with Jason and his little brother, Joey. That all soon was to change for a variety of reasons.

I forgot to mention, that line up of Jones boys at the top is the aforementioned Jake on the left, with Jason next to Jake, with me next to Jason, with Joey next to me on the right.

I did not see Joey this past summer when I was up in Washington. When we were in Lynden, saying goodbye to dad, Joey was up in Canada catching salmon. Joey's grandpa would have approved of Joey fishing rather than being in Lynden, what with Joey being the one who has embraced the family fishing gene he inherited from his grandpa.

I last saw Joey in October of 2015, at a McDonald's in Grapevine, Texas. In 1997 had you told me that in 2015 I would be seeing Joey at a McDonald's in a town in Texas my feeble imagination would not have been able to conjure a scenario where that made any sense. And yet such is what came to pass.

And still really makes no sense...

Visit To DFW & Arlington's Little Vietnam Listening To WBAP Hate Radio Morons

Today was the day of my regularly scheduled doctor visit to the DFW Metroplex.

The drive from Wichita Falls to DFW and back was a mighty fine one today. Except for driving into the blinding bright early morning early rising sun.

Not a single cloud did any sun blotting today, that I saw.

It had been two months since I'd been to Little Vietnam in Arlington. Needing fresh supplies of Asian necessities, such as hoisin sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, chili sauce, rice noodles, jasmine rice, bok choy, ginger, mint, sesame oil, jicama, dragonfruit, and other stuff I am not remembering right now, I got my vittles at the Saigon Cho Market, and then drove to the heart of Little Vietnam a short distance east, to pay my respects at the Buddhist shrine you see above.

For awhile, whilst driving 360 from Hurst to Arlington, I listened to an insane talk radio moron on WBAP named something like Chris Salcedo. He comes on before the King of the Hate Radio nonsense spewers, Rush Dimbulb.

Today I could only listen to a few minutes of the guy who comes on before Dimbulb. He was literally screaming hissing nonsense, rattling on about the great divider, resident Obama, he can't force himself to call him President Obama, refers to Obama as the Occupier of the Oval Office. This guy is so dumb and spews so much idiotic nonsense. It's appalling.

Listening to this miscreant today one got the idea he doesn't understand Obama is no longer the American president, has not been for something like ten months. Replaced by a moron who is an embarrassment to most American's. And the World.

I think it is trying to defend the indefensible, that being Trump, which is making the right wing nut job radio hate speaker spewers spout even more idiotically than their moronic idiotic norm.

Ten minutes, of the local DFW WBAP hate monger, then Dimbulb came on, ranting more coherently, with a more original, literate mastery of the English language than the idiot who comes on before him, who bills himself as a "Liberty loving Latino, unlike those left wing Latinos, he loves this country."

See what I mean. Total idiot. Over compensating for something. Insulting the majority of American Latinos. I don't know what the Mexican/Latino term would be equivalent to being an Uncle Tom type, but that's what crosses my mind listening to this guy for the short durations I can stand it. That and classic Little Man Syndrome.

What is WBAP's excuse for airing this type idiotic hate speak? Does it bring in a lot of local advertising dollars? Are there actually a sufficient supply of ignorant morons out there who listen to this type nonsense without being offending by the wanton stupidity?

Sadly, real sadly, after years of exposure to the Idiot Class, via Facebook, it is all too painfully obvious to me that America's Idiot Class is BIG, hence us currently living in an Idiocracy. Until, hopefully, Trump is removed, but even then, all these idiots will still be among us.

Some with radio talk shows...

Wichita Falls Halloween Nightmare On Ellingham Street

A few days ago I was returning from the downtown Wichita Falls library, heading south on Taft Boulevard, when I came upon a Halloween scene the likes of which I do not remember previously seeing.

On Saturday I rolled my bike's wheels to that aforementioned Halloween scene intending to photo document that which I had seen whilst driving by.

However, it should have occurred to me, what with a strong wind blowing, on Saturday, and a predicted incoming severe storm, that that Halloween scene would be deflated and stored safely from the wind. Which is what I saw when I rolled to the Halloween scene location.

Then yesterday on my way back from ALDI, driving my motorized means of vehicular motion, I drove by the Halloween scene again, saw inflation was back in force, so I took the picture you see above through the driver's side window.

Then, an hour or two later, having not liked the vehicle based photos, I rolled my bike back to the Halloween scene location hoping to do some better photo documentation. Which is what you see below.

The photos do not do justice to this Halloween scene. My camera could not capture all of it in one shot.

Where does one find a giant inflatable black cat such as we see above?

I think the orange trailer had some sort of motion detector, because when motion was detected the trailer's door opened and a ghoul poked its head out the door.

I have seen other elaborate Wichita Falls Halloween displays, but none as big and varied as this one. The others I have seen seem to stick to a theme. Such as a GIANT spider crawling off a roof to an elaborate GIANT web.

I think the year was 2005, October of, I was up in Washington, staying at Clancy & Fancy's in Kent. Clancy & Fancy's next door neighbors at that point in time were a pair of fun loving gals named Mo and Margo.

Mo and Margo went all out for Halloween, with an elaborate themed display in their front yard. Sort of pirate themed, with skeletons, some of which moved when motion was detected. If I remember right there was a screaming sound effect, a big spider that dropped suddenly near the front door, a treasure chest which mysteriously opened out of which an eerie fog spewed and a skeleton glowed.

2005 is a long time ago, over a decade, so my memory of Mo and Margo's Halloween scene may be a bit faulty, with pieces missing. I remember taking video of it, but due to the darkness, that video did not turn out well. The video may still exist on this computer. But, I do not feel too motivated to look for it. That always turns into taking way too long due to finding multiple other videos to look at that I barely remember.

A few more looks at the Wichita Falls Halloween Nightmare on Ellingham Street...

If you want to see the Wichita Falls Halloween Nightmare on Ellingham Street with your own spooky eyes, you will find it at the intersection of Taft Boulevard and Ellingham Street, a short distance north of the MSU (Midwestern State University) campus.

One Degree Above Freezing Friday In Wichita Falls Texoma Zone

It appears that Fall sweet spot of no longer needing air conditioning to cool the air to a comfortable temperature, or the reverse of A/C to warm the air, is about to end, if the prediction for Friday is correct.

33 degrees.

Math and arithmetic is not one of those things I excel at, but I am almost 100% 33 degrees is one chilly degree above freezing.

I guess it is that time of year I go on my annual hunt for where I stored my long underwear...

Wichita Falls Circle Trail Opens Up Wichita Bluff Nature Area

On Friday an incoming email told me the long awaited completion and opening of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area had arrived and was ready for its closeup.

And so, yesterday, that being Saturday, with thunderstorms and possible tornadoes, along with grapefruit size hail and gusty wind on the potential weather menu I decided to check out the new scenic extension of the Wichita Falls Circle Trail.

Let's just get my take on this new development out of the way before we proceed.

I give this addition to Wichita Falls a big thumbs up, four stars and job well done to whoever designed and executed this.

The email I got on Friday told me the newly opened section of the Circle Trail was about 1.5 miles. I think it was longer than that, judging by the hour it took to walk to the trail's current termination.

The entry sign you see above is at the east end of the newly opened trail. The trail terminates a quarter mile, or so, from this eastern entry. You can see where preparations are being made to continue the Circle Trail extension to connect to Lucy Park.

In the next photo we are at the west end entry, seeing a group heading towards the Nature Area's parking lot.

A surprisingly large number of people were checking out the newly opened Nature Area, what with it being a blustery threatening weather type of day.

This new trail section is unique to the Wichita Falls Circle Trail in that the trail  in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area has elevation gains and drops.

Today was the longest I have walked in months. I think my ankles and feet may be complaining soon. In the above photo we are near the entry, on one of several side trails from the main trail, with one of the ubiquitous Wichita Falls swinging benches. That is one of two covered areas you see on the left, which one comes to whilst walking the trail. Providing protection from sudden inclement weather. And the sun.

Eventually the Wichita River comes into view. Several overlooks, with benches, provide rest stops with river views.

Such as the Wichita River overlook you see above.

Above is the second covered weather protector structure. This one is near the east entry to the Nature Area.

One of the aforementioned side trails, leading to yet one more swinging bench overlooking the Wichita River.

And yet one more example of swinging benches accessed by a side trail from the Circle Trail, with these two looking in opposite directions.

And here we are heading up the trail to the parking lot at the west end, Seymour Highway, entry to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area. As you can see, the sky is a bit threatening. Though no actual threat materialized during the time period I experienced this new Wichita Falls Nature Area.

I'm hoping the success of this new section of Circle Trail instigates an impetus to close the couple gaps remaining which keep the Circle Trail from being a true circle.

Mom Takes Virtual Trip To Thailand

Checking email this morning I saw that which you see here, incoming from Arizona.

Message in email...

Took mom to Thai food for lunch. She loves it.

David, Theo & Ruby's maternal parental unit, my little sister, Michele, left the kids behind in Tacoma to fly south to see mom for a few days in the Phoenix zone of Arizona.

David, Theo & Ruby will be flying south to the Phoenix zone next month during the Thanksgiving time frame, to spend some time with their grandma. There is some talk of myself also being there.

I was last in Arizona on August 22. That day, prior to taking me to the airport, mom asked where I would like to go for lunch. I said, I don't care, McDonald's is fine with me.

No, said mom, let's go to a restaurant with a printed menu. How about Chinese, mom suggested. I then said Thai sounds good.

What? Tie? Mom replied.

Yeah, Thai, said I.

To which mom replied again with a variation of what's Tie?

To which our chauffeur, my second littlest sister, Jackie, explained to mom I was referencing Thai food, as in Thai food like you find in Thailand.

Oh, said mom, I don't know of such a place here.

Nor did my sister Jackie.

But, somehow sister Michele found a Thai restaurant in the Phoenix zone and took mom there, where mom learned she liked Thai food.

I am thinking that maybe if I do go to Arizona next month there might be a chance I would get to go to a Thai place, in addition to having turkey...

Creepy Elsie Hotpepper Message About Fort Worth Slaughterhouse Hotel

The creepy message you see here was sent to me via Miss Elsie Hotpepper.

Apparently a deal has been finagled between the city of Fort Worth and a hotel developer to develop a new Fort Worth Stockyards hotel on the site of the long closed Swift Armor slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant.

I do not know if it is Elsie Hotpepper who thinks it sounds creepy to stay at a hotel built on a slaughterhouse grounds, or if someone sent Elsie this message, which she then forwarded to me.

However, due to the well known delicate nature of Elsie Hotpepper I suspect it is she who finds this hotel to be potentially creepy.

Personally, I don't find this all that creepy and I don't think it would bother me to stay in this hotel.

Now if this had been the location where Fort Worth conducted its hangings back in the days when locally such punishments took place, well, that might be a bit creepy.

Ever since my eyes beheld the location of the former Swift Armor operation I thought it to be one of the most interesting things I have ever seen in any town anywhere, wondering what caused this? And why has this rubbled mess not been cleaned up, what with it being at the location of what I thought then was the town's only tourist attraction?

I long ago made a webpage about that rubbled mess which I called The Stockyard Ruins.

When I first saw that which I came to call The Stockyard Ruins I thought they looked like what photos of Berlin looked like at the end of World War II.

A day or two ago I asked someone if they knew how these buildings came to be such ruins. Not realizing til a few minutes ago that I had already asked that question and years ago got an answer, from someone named CM Waring, which I then added to the info on the webpage about The Stockyard Ruins...

The Stockyards Ruins were victims of arson fires, 2, in 1971 and 1973. The amount of animal fat in the buildings left the fires unable to be extinguished. They just let it burn out. I was long interested in how the ruins got in the state it's been for decades. I had to do plenty of digging to get that info, and I couldn't tell you where I finally found it. It was not easy.

A few years ago a FOX TV show called Prison Break used part of The Stockyard Ruins, turning one of the ruins into a Panama prison, complete with barbed concertina wire, guard towers and military vehicles. This is also photo documented on my The Stockyard Ruins webpage.

I wonder if the Armor Hotel will actually get built on the site of The Stockyard Ruins. Or will it turn into yet one instance of Fort Worth vaporware?