Biking Lake Wichita Looking Out For Rattlesnakes & Brain Eating Amoeba

I have been trying to amp up my exercise regimen of late so as to prepare myself for the next time I am in Arizona so I can easily hike with my little brother to the summit of Camelback Mountain.

So, this morning I rolled many miles on my non-motorized mode of motion.

I headed south on the Circle Trail, crossed Lake Wichita Dam, also on the Circle Trail, then rolled off the dam, via that same Circle Trail, then got off the Circle Trail on an unpaved gravel trail which circles around the perimeter of Lake Wichita Park.

At the location you see above my handlebars are on that aforementioned unpaved gravel trail. To the left is a murky canal/creek-like waterway which feeds into the wetland marsh zone of Lake Wichita.

Of late the local Wichita Falls Times News Record USA Today tool of information has been informing us of the danger currently presented by the neighborhood rattlesnake population due to the rattlers trying to escape the unexpectedly early high HEAT by seeking cooling venues at unexpected locations, such as a shoe or inside a carport.

A couple days ago the Wichita Falls Times News Record USA Today tool of information also warned of the danger presented by brain eating amoeba which have been found to be living in Wichita Falls area waterways.

I assume those waterways are wet locations such as Lake Wichita, Lake Arrowhead and the Wichita River.

And that canal/creek you see my bike parked by.

What with these new worries to worry about I am extra cautious whilst wheeling where rattlesnakes might be congregating, and brain eating amoeba might be swimming.

So far I have seen nothing slithering whilst rattling or anything amoeba-like swimming...

Reported Mount Wichita Eruption Evidently Fake News

Chelsie Stillwater sent me that which you see here, this morning, and asked...

Is this Mount Wichita erupting?

Well, this sort of looks like Mount Wichita.

Perhaps someone blew up some fireworks atop Mount Wichita with the ignition getting out of control.

But I suspect such is not the case.

Mount Wichita is not an actual volcano, thus not able to erupt in the traditional sense.

Mount Wichita is made of mud sludged from nearby Sikes Lakes.

I suppose a decade or two of lake sludge fermenting could build up some sort of natural gas accumulation which could possibly erupt into some sort of explosion which could sort of emulate a volcano erupting.

If Mount Wichita were actually erupting in the manner we see here I would be able to see the ash plume by looking out the window I am looking out right now.

All I see is an almost clear blue sky. No plume of ash erupting from the one and only nearby semi-mountain.

Running the above image through mountain identification software I was able to determine for certain this is not Mount Wichita erupting.

This is Volcan del Fuego in Guatemala erupting, eventually spewing ash 4 miles into the sky. Some of that ash has fallen as far as Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. The ash has been so bad that Guatemala City's La Aurora international airport had to shut down its only runway.

Guatemala's president, Jimmy Morales, has activated the Guatemala National Emergency System and is considering declaring a state of emergency in the area of Chimaltenango, Escuintla, and Sacatepequez.

I doubt Wichita Falls' Mount Wichita will ever behave bad enough to cause the U.S. president to declare any sort of state of emergency...

Horsing Colorfully Around MSU Market Street Learning Commons Before Dodging Raindrops

On this cloudy, almost cold 4th day of June, my bike opted to roll me around Sikes Lake and then to the MSU campus where eventually we stopped at the location you see here.

No, this is not some sort of homage to the Horse of Many Colors in the Wizard of Oz. At least I assume such.

Mustang is the mascot for Midwestern State University. Hence seeing statues of same in various poses, in various colors, all over town.

I believe I previously came upon this particular colorful Mustang at a different location on the MSU campus. Either that or it has a twin.

I do not know the meaning of "MARKET STREET LEARNING COMMONS", that being the sign the Mustang is rearing up at, and pointing to.

Market Street is a grocery store here in Wichita Falls. I first experienced Market Street years ago when one opened in the D/FW town of Colleyville. At that point in time it reminded me of the now defunct Larry's Markets I used to frequent frequently in Washington.

I am not totally, 100% certain, but I think maybe the Market Street grocery store chain began here in Wichita Falls. Market Street has now been taken over by the Safeway/Albertsons growing monopoly.

Is operating a grocery store taught at this MSU Market Street Learning Commons location? Hence the name? Sponsored by the local grocery store? I'm sure someone knows the answer to this probing question.

Before I forget, I must mention, as I rolled around the MSU campus rain began to drip. Fearing getting wet in a downpour I opted to change my biking route and head back home via the fastest route, which meant returning for another roll around Sikes Lake.

By the time I exited the Sikes Lake zone rain was dripping copiously. I made it back to rain-proof shelter before getting totally drenched.

Cool Sunday Rolling Lake Wichita Circle Trail With Indians

Yesterday I was way too bloated with blackberry cobbler to give any thought to possibly rolling my bike wheels anywhere.

That and I had other things to do.

And I was in no mood for any additional  excessive high humidity heat exposure.

But this first Sunday morning of June I was in the mood to do some wheel rolling, what with the outer world temperature plummeting overnight to almost winter-like levels in the low 70s.

And with a chilling wind blowing.

So, I headed south on the Circle Trail, well before noon so as to avoid the post-church throngs. Even so I counted almost 50 Circle Trailers this morning, wheeling on various devices, jogging, walking, mountain climbing and fishing.

At the location you see above that is Mount Wichita in the distance, and the shore of Lake Wichita on the left. At this location if one is moving fast and not paying attention and misses the turn one might find oneself rolling into the lake. But I doubt such has happened too often.

At the informational sign atop Lake Wichita Dam today I exchanged pleasantries with a couple Indian natives.

Not Native Americans, natives of the nation Indians are named after.

This had me wondering why there is no Indian restaurant in this town. At least I am not aware of such.

I can't remember when the last time I had myself a mighty fine feeding at an Indian restaurant. But, I do remember where it was. Tandoor in Arlington....

Wichita Falls Farmers Market Blackberry Day Cobbler Bliss

I have already returned to air-conditioned comfort from this morning's trek to downtown Wichita Falls where I joined throngs of blackberry aficionados cobbling to BLACKBERRY DAY at the Wichita Falls Farmers Market.

Today's was the biggest crowd I've seen at the Farmers Market since last summer's Watermelon Festival.

I will admit right now I was a pig with the BLACKBERRY DAY blackberry cobbler. It was just like at the Watermelon Festival, as in way too easy to indulge more than once in the sweet delicacy.

And since anything blackberry is among my favorite things, I may have over indulged in the blackberry cobbler.

Today's Farmers Market produced a plethora of free samples in addition to the blackberry cobbler. I had myself some tasty tamales, jalapeno fudge, salsa and other stuff I am forgetting. Dozens of vendors were vending their wares. Some homegrown, some homemade.

The Wichita Falls Farmers Market today very much reminded me of Seattle's Pike Place Market,  but on a much smaller scale. And no nearby ferry boats and cruise ships.

Wichita Falls does a lot of things well, but does not seem to brag about such in any venue I am aware of.

Unlike the Texas town I previously lived in which regularly annoyed me with bragging about some lame thing, touting it as being something it was not remotely close to being.

Such as this pitiful little food court-like thing called the Santa Fe Rail Market, which was touted as being modeled after Seattle's Pike Place and public markets in Europe, when it bore no resemblance to either, and was such a lame operation it quickly failed.

And then there is the Fort Worth version of a Saturday Farmers Market. Just as pitiful as the failed Santa Fe Rail Market, and not remotely as bustling as today's Saturday Farmers Market in Wichita Falls.

Maybe the Downtown Fort Worth propaganda purveyors and their Chamber of Commerce cohorts could send a task force to Wichita Falls to see how to run an actual Farmers Market, and then tout the Fort Worth version as being modeled after the Wichita Falls Farmers Market, finally recognizing something like Seattle's Pike Place is way too impossible a target for a town like Fort Worth to hit...

Saturday June 2 Is Blackberry Day In Wichita Falls

I really do live a magically charmed existence.

Sort of.

Just a couple days ago I was lamenting to a fellow former Pacific Northwesterner about missing being able to pick blackberries, free for the picking blackberries, growing like weeds, all over Western Washington.

And now, just a couple days after lamenting the blackberry lack at my current location, what do I learn?

This Saturday, as in June 2, from 7:30 in the morning til 1 in the afternoon, in downtown Wichita Falls, at the Farmers Market, it is BLACKBERRY DAY!

An advertisement type blurb from the BLACKBERRY DAY people...

This Saturday is Blackberry Day at The Market! We will be serving over 200 pounds of FREE blackberry cobbler between 9 and 11am! Plenty of fresh blackberries will be available for purchase as well as other seasonal and local vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, a variety of greens, radish, cucumbers, local honey, pecans, fresh baked breads and pies, jams, jellies, fresh seafood, and a variety of handmade items such as soaps, lotions, and jewelry. Additionally, there will be live music by Hazel and kids will be able to color a picture of the market at the free craft table! We'll see you Saturday! 8th & Ohio • Downtown Wichita Falls

So, BLACKBERRY DAY begins at 7:30, but the blackberry cobbler does not make its appearance until 9am, and exits at 11am. I can work with that time frame.

The last blackberry I had the pleasure of having was last summer, up northwest in the aforementioned Western Washington, picked by me along with help from David, Theo and Ruby. The twins and David had planned on making me a blackberry cobbler with our pickings before I flew south, but time ran out on that endeavor.

Early last month when I found myself in Arizona, in Chandler, for reasons unfathomable to me at the time I found myself at a Dairy Queen. When asked if there was anything I wanted I said I wouldn't mind a blackberry milkshake, due to having enjoyed such multiple times in Washington Dairy Queens.

Well, there were no blackberries anywhere on that Arizona Dairy Queen's menu. Maybe delicate blackberries are a no-no in the HOT desert. I have never had the, uh, pleasure of being in a Texas Dairy Queen, so I do not know if blackberries are on Texas Dairy Queen menus.

By tomorrow afternoon I should be able to tell you whether a Wichita Falls blackberry tastes as good as a west coast blackberry. I suspect it will....

Apparently This Summer In Texas Is Gonna Hurt Like A Mother Trucker

Yesterday on the next to last day of May we hit 100 for the first time this year at my location on the planet.

On this, the last day of May, we have gone to 101, as you can see via the screen shot I shot of my phone a couple minutes ago.

I was hotter earlier in May, in Arizona, where a record breaking temperature was reached. 106 was the number, if I remember correctly.

101 in Texas feels way HOTTER than 106 in Arizona, due to that vexing humidity thing which causes the Texas air to sort of feel like one is getting swatted with wet hot cotton.

I started up my abode's air-conditioning for the first time this year the night I got back here from Arizona, due to the relatively cool Texas temperature in the high 70s, at that midnight time frame, felt so HOT, due to that aforementioned humidity, I flipped on the A/C as soon as I got my hand's on my thermostat.

I fear, to paraphrase Adam Levine, taking out his bad taste profanity, that this summer is gonna hurt like a mother trucker. I do not remember many, if any, 100 degree plus days last year. And now, with summer still three weeks distant we are already hurting like a mother trucker...

Rolling Wheels To Lake Wichita Finds Big Caterpillar Dredging Lake Sludge

I took the first photo you see here a couple days ago at a point in time when there were a few clouds in the otherwise clear blue sky.

I parked my bike and took this photo because it seemed to me someone was making some sort of subtle political statement, what with someone moving a "SUPPORT LAKE WICHITA" banner and a "VOTE YES" sign at a location quite visible atop the Lake Wichita Dam, at the point where the Circle Trail reaches the top of the dam.

VOTE YES turned into a NO VOTE on May 5, failing to pass the two bond proposals which would have finished circling the Circle Trail and would have finally funded the revitalizing of Lake Wichita.

I have not heard if there will be another attempt to get Wichita Falls voters to vote YES, or not. It would seem a better job could be done of convincing voters it is in their interest, and for the betterment of their town, to vote to support returning Lake Wichita to its historical former glory, that and finally completing the Circle Trail.

So, this morning I opted to do my semi-regular bike ride to Lake Wichita via that aforementioned Circle Trail. Upon arrival on top of the dam I saw the sign you see above is still there.

Looking up, from the banner sign, across the lake, at Mount Wichita, I saw that a piece of heavy equipment which I have been seeing stationary for over a week, was, on this day, in full action mode.

I figured by the time I got to Mount Wichita I would be getting an up close look at what this heavy equipment operation is doing.

And now we are at that location, sort of in the shadow of Mount Wichita. A fellow biker bikes towards the Caterpillar dredger dredging mud sludge from Lake Wichita.

And then I rolled on for a closer look. Is this a stage of the Lake Wichita Revitalization underway? If not, what is going on here? There were several City of Wichita Falls dump trucks parked a short distance away, engines running, headlights on, manned with drivers, waiting, I assume, to haul away that which is being dredged.

I thought the plan for revitalizing Lake Wichita called for the lake to be drained and then the sludge dredged, in order to render, eventually, a deeper lake.

Has enough money been raised by the car washes and other somewhat pitiful Lake Wichita Revitalization fund raising efforts to pay for some dredging?

I first learned of the plan to revitalize Lake Wichita soon upon arrival in this town in spring of 2016. Learning the details of this plan it seemed like a good idea. And the informational website devoted to this project, when I first saw it in 2016, indicated the project would be underway by 2018.

Somehow I do not think this Caterpillar dredging on the shore of Lake Wichita indicates the lake's revitalization is underway. But, if not, why is lake sludge being dredged?

Rolling Wheels Over Wichita Bluff Nature Area Circle Trail

Til today I  had not been back to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area since this natural area opened at some point in time last year. Late spring of 2017, if I am remembering correctly.

Til today it had not crossed my mind that it might be mighty fun to roll my bike wheels on this only section of the Wichita Falls Circle Trail which has elevation changes sufficient enough to cause a high speed descent and an aerobically stimulating ascent.

Well, slightly aerobically stimulating ascent. The ascents are not all that steep. But one does go fast on the downhill sections.

As you can see the Wichita Bluff Nature Area is green with foliage. This may later turn a bit more brown as the heat of summer arrives.

Above you see my bike taking a rest on one of the side trails off the Circle Trail, with the side trails affording views and benches, with several of the side trails also providing picnic table pavilions, shaded from the HOT sun.

Above my handlebars are high atop a Wichita Bluff overlooking the Wichita River.

Here we have a more natural bluff overlook, without any bike or fencing blocking part of the view.

And then, turning around from that Wichita River overlook we see the current end of this section of the Circle Trail.

I am assuming this missing section is one of the sections voters did not vote to fund finishing in the recent May 5 bond vote.

So foolish. The two Circle Trail & Lake Wichita Revitalization proposals were to pay the required 25% of the project's total, with the 75% made up of grants, with the granting of those grants predicated on Wichita Falls coming up with 25%.

Like I said, so foolish. And sadly short sighted....

Memorial Day MSU Bike Ride Remembering Seattle's International Fountain With Overpriced Space Needle

This Memorial Day morning I had myself a memorably long bike ride north, taking my rolling wheels first around Sikes Lake, then to the MSU (Midwestern State University) campus, which is currently abandoned.

And then further north, eventually getting lost on Speedway before finding my way to the Circle Trail via Holliday.

At MSU I stopped the bike at the location you see here. A fountain spewing jets of water.

Refreshing on a HOT day, such as is the case today.

The MSU fountain brought to mind my longtime favorite fountain, that being the fountain known as the International Fountain at the Seattle Center. That fountain came into existence at the Seattle World's Fair, which was known as the Century 21 Exposition. The International Fountain is about 100 times bigger than this fountain I got cooled by today at MSU.

Googling International Fountain Seattle Center brought up multiple websites, including a Wikipedia article about the International Fountain, which included some statistics giving one an idea how big this centerpiece of the Seattle World's Fair is...

• 56 "Micro shooters" arrayed as a ring buried in the granite blocks of the fountain floor, on the outer perimeter surrounding the dome. These shoot straight up.
• 77 "Fleur-de-lis" - plate-sized nozzles on the dome, shooting medium-high arcs.
• 4 "Super shooters" - four nozzles on the top of the dome capable of shooting up to 120 feet (37 m) high. Each "super shooter" peak shot uses 66 US gallons (250 l) and is driven by 120 pounds per square inch (830 kPa) of air pressure.
• 137 "Mist nozzles", each with an opening the size of a pinhead to generate fog
• There is an additional ring of floodlights between the "micro shooters" and the dome.

I do not know if the current iteration of the International Fountain still plays music timed to the fountain spouts. Playing dodge the fountain is a popular pastime for kids of all ages on a hot day at the Seattle Center.

Speaking of the Seattle Center. A couple days ago that location came to my mind for another reason.

The Space Needle.

I was reading an article about the newly re-opened re-modeled observation level atop the Space Needle. In the article I read that the elevator ride to the Space Needle observation deck now cost $26. I found that hard to believe, figuring this must be a mistake.

Trust me on this, even with its new glassed over look a visit to the Space Needle observation deck is not worth $26. If I remember right the last time I was at the top of the Space Needle was with Spencer Jack's dad, Jason, and his uncle, Joey. Both were younger than Spencer Jack is now. I don't remember how much it cost to get on the Space Needle elevator at that point in time. But I doubt it was more than a couple bucks. Maybe five at the most.

What does it cost to ride the Seattle Monorail in 2018? Last time I took that short ride I think it was 50 cents each way.

When the giant observation wheel opened on the Seattle waterfront a couple years ago I recollect reading the fee to ride was $13. That seemed reasonable. But, $26 to ride to the top of the Space Needle? That's ridiculous...