Semi Chilly Bike Ride By Kid-Free Doctor's Splash Pad

Those are the handlebars of my backup bike you see above, aimed at the Hamilton Park Splash Pad, which was brought to Hamilton Park by the good folks at the Wichita County Medical Alliance.

My non-backup bike is still at the bike doctor awaiting treatment.

Methinks this town could use another bike store to compete with Bike Stop. When I brought the bike to the doctor, two Thursdays ago, I was told it could take a week to get treated, but probably it would be fixed before that.

So, last Thursday I called the doctor's office to ask about my bike's condition. I was told it would be treated that day, or by tomorrow. Thursday and Friday came and went, with no call from the bike doctor.

Last Saturday I dropped in at the bike doctor's to take the bike bag off the sick bike so I could use it on the backup bike. At that point I was told the bike would be operated on by Tuesday or Wednesday. The bike doctor's office is closed Sunday, and Monday was Labor Day, hence the no possible surgery til Tuesday.

Well. Tuesday and Wednesday came and went with no word from the bike doctor. And now it is Thursday again.

See why I think this town needs another bike store?

Today was the first time since it opened that I biked by Hamilton Park's Doctor's Splash Pad and saw no one getting wet. Hence why my handlebars are so close to the Splash Pad. I have seen kids getting splashed since school started up again. So, I think being in school is not the reason I saw no splashing today.

I think the reason I saw no splashing is because the outer world is being too cold for it to sound fun to get wet in a splashing fountain. 
 When I began rolling my bike wheels today the air was barely 70 degrees.

Brrrr...

Fishing Madness In My Old Home Zone

A couple days ago Linda Lou told me about a scene such as you are seeing above which has been happening on the Skagit River in Mount Vernon, with a throng of people casting lines into the river, hoping to hook a salmon.

Linda Lou told me she would send me photos of the Skagit fishing scene, but those have not yet arrived.

The above photos of fishing madness is taking place in the Samish River. Seen via Facebook's "You Know You're From Anacortes When" page.

The Samish is a much smaller river than the Skagit. If I remember right the Samish empties into Bellingham Bay. But, before doing so, passes through the booming Skagit Valley tourist town of Edison.

Edison is half of the name of the high school from which I long ago matriculated.

Burlington-Edison High School.

My Favorite Nephew Joey inherited the Jones family fishing gene. I think Joey is who ended up with Grandpa Jones' bamboo fishing pole. I may be wrong regarding that recollection. But I do know Joey likes fishing, and is a master at the art of smoking salmon. 

I have experienced Joey's mastery of smoking salmon in person, due to Joey packing some dry ice and mailing me some Joey smoked salmon. Best smoked salmon ever...
 

September Wall Calendar Takes Me To Fiery Furnace Elephant Arch

It has been a month or two since I flipped my National Park wall calendar to a new month and found myself looking at a sight I have seen in person, with me then wondering if I will ever see this again.

In August it was a National Park in Florida, the Everglades. I've never been to Florida, so I have never been to the Everglades.

I have been to Utah a number of times, including visiting all the National Parks in Utah, including the Utah National Park you see above. 

Arches National Park.

I am fairly certain the above is the arch known as Elephant Arch. If you look at it with your imagination turned on you can likely see why this would be named Elephant Arch.

Arches is one of my favorite places I have been to on the planet, but it is not my favorite Utah National Park. That would be Zion. Or Bryce Canyon. 

Arches has one of the best hikes I've gone on. It requires a ranger guide. The Fiery Furnace Hike. I've done this one twice. This hike requires a guide because it is easy to get lost in the maze of slot canyons. And Fiery Furnace gets real HOT. Hence the name.

Yellowstone Memories With Mom And A Bear

 

Saw that which you see above, yesterday, on Facebook, via Mildred Halbert's paternal parental unit, Jerry. 

Reading this brought about an amusing memory of my mom. 

In the above we read of the concern of a guest staying at one of Yellowstone's National Park Lodges, with that concern being "Our visit was wonderful, but we never saw any Bears. Please train your Bears to be where guests can see them. This was an expensive trip to not get to see bears."

It was either the summer of 1965, or 1966, that our annual vacation road trip took us to Yellowstone for the first time. Our 1964 Chevy Impala pulled an Arrowhead trailer. My two sister siblings slept in the trailer with mom and dad, whilst my little brother and I slept in the Impala. I got the back seat, Jake got the front.

We were camping in the huge Old Faithful campground. My brother and I were in the Impala, down for the night. Mom was still up, soaking her feet in a tub while sitting on the bench of a picnic table.

Suddenly my brother and I were fully awake, looking out the car's window to see our mom standing on top of the picnic table, screaming "Jack, Jack, Jack". 

Jake and I had no clue why mom was screaming from atop the picnic table.

And then we saw it. A big black bear was staring at mom from a distance of about 10 feet. When dad opened the trailer door the bear turned and ran. We heard other campers screaming as the bear made its rounds through the campground.

We saw dozens of bears on that trip through Yellowstone. The bears caused traffic jams. 

Over the years since that first trip to Yellowstone I've seen bears in the wild in various locations, including Yellowstone, again, where I got a picture of a bear sticking its nose in my 65 Mustang's driver side window.

I think I used the photo of the bear sticking its nose in my car on my long dormant Roadtripping blog. I shall see if my memory is serving me accurately. 

My memory did not fail me. I used the below photo in a blog post titled A Bear On My Car In Yellowstone National Park.

The most bears I have ever seen in the wild, outside of Yellowstone, was during my one and only time staying in Stehekin in North Cascades National Park. We were barely arrived from floating in on the Lady of the Lake when the first bear sighting happened. It was climbing a tree outside the National Park Lodge in which we were staying.

Each night in Stehekin we would ride a bus to the Courtney Ranch for dinner. On the way the bus driver would take us through an abandoned orchard of heirloom Delicious apples. There were dozens of bears in the trees feasting on apples.

I made a couple webpages about that visit to Stehekin in which you will see a bear or two. Unfortunately back then, my digital camera did not take good photos, although once in awhile it would. 

I wonder if I will ever see a bear in the wild again. Or see Yellowstone again. I think my last time in Yellowstone was way back in 1989. I saw no bears, but did see a lot of mountain goats...

Texas Bans Abortions Whilst Allowing Texans To Openly Carry Guns Without Permit

 

The above is a screen cap from the top of the main page of yesterday's edition of CNN online. 

Over the years of my exile in Texas I've lost count of the number of times where this that or the other thing has caused Texas to be a national, or international embarrassment.

It has grown tiresome being asked by non-Texans, both west coasters and east coasters and between the coasters, how I can stand living in Texas with so many redneck right wing nutjobs.

It gets old explaining that not all Texans are right wing nutjobs. And that those who are, it really is not their fault. The schools in Texas are largely sub-standard, with kids not getting the quality education those of us who were educated in more, well, educated states.

There have been many Texans who have made an effort to improve the schools. The late Ross Perot comes to mind. He famously tried to get Texas schools to pay less attention to football and more to learning.

But, for me, Texas has hit a new low with this new law allowing idiots to openly carry a handgun without a permit, license or training.

And then Texas topped that embarrassment with an almost total abortion ban, even for rape and incest victims. 

I get asked why Texas elects so many morons, like the current governor. And the one before him. And the one before that one. Well, the entire country elected to a higher office the one before the one before the current Texas Governor.

I don't know what happened that changed Texas from the state which gave America Lyndon Baines Johnson. And Anne Richards as Governor. And Lloyd Bentsen as Senator. And Barbara Jordan as Congresswoman. And Sam Rayburn as Speaker of the House.

How did Texas go from politicians like those to the likes of Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton? The current Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.

All three embarrassments prone to saying incredibly stupid stuff, over and over and over again. Which the right wing nutjobs don't understand to be incredibly stupid stuff, because, well, that is what right wing nutjobs do, they misunderstand reality, and then get mad about that which they don't understand...

Space Needle Clarification From FNJ & Spencer Jack With Photo Documentation

A day or two or three ago I blogged that Madame McNutty Needles My Homesick Space Again. 

In that blogging I made mention of the fact that I was unclear regarding the status of the renovated Seattle Space Needle. With me a bit confused about observation decks and glass floors. And what revolves and what does not revolve.

Regarding my confusions I said I would likely be hearing from my relative expert on things like the Seattle Space Needle, Monorail and Ferry Boats. This morning my relative expert, my Favorite Nephew Jason, alleviated me of some of my Needle confusions via an email with a subject line of Needle Clarification, with three photos and clarifying text.

The email from Jason in its entirety, followed by two of the three photos. The first one is the one you see above. 

FUD -- 

SJ and I visited the Needle early last year to walk (or sit on) the new glass floor.

The top of the Needle has two floors. The top floor includes the outside promenade that is familiar.  The only changes to that over the years has been the all inclusive fencing to prevent someone from jumping. The fencing is hardly noticeable and does not block any views.

The lower level of the Needle formerly housed a restaurant.  It was removed and replaced with an inside observation room.  This room hosts the glass floor which is really unnerving to walk on.  Only small parts of this level have the glass floor.  The very outer perimeter of this level does still make an hourly rotational loop.  

And I do think there was a very small cocktail lounge located in there.  SJ and I didn't partake that day, as this visit was in March, and SJ chose to give up hard liquor as a part of his Lent repentance. 

If you'd just come up and visit, it would be much easier to whisk you around to all these fun sights, rather than explaining the changes that have taken place over the last 20 years since your exodus.

Anyway, I have to get Spencer's breakfast ready. Today is his first day of high school. He is attending Lincoln Elementary School this year, right down the street from our town home.

FNJ    

________________

Til Jason informed me of such I did not know the revolving restaurant in the Space Needle was no more. Years ago a second restaurant was added part way up the Needle. The restaurant at the top was notorious for its high prices and spectacular views.

Apparently Mount Vernon High School has too many students so they have taken over one of the oldest buildings in town for the incoming freshman class.

I began my school years in Mount Vernon, attending kindergarten at Roosevelt Grade School. By the time I was in 1st grade we had moved north, to Burlington, where I then attended the Burlington grade school named after a Roosevelt. I think the Mount Vernon one was named after Franklin whilst the Burlington one was named after Teddy. I may have that backwards.
 
Below are the two aforementioned photos... 

I can see the arches of the Pacific Science Center behind Spencer Jack's left shoulder. Which indicates the view behind the boys is slightly to the southwest. That body of water is Elliott Bay. The land on the far side of the bay is West Seattle, where you will find Seattle's version of the Statue of Liberty. 

Here we see Spencer Jack sitting on the Space Needle's glass floor. I don't know if this is one of the revolving locations. 

I really don't get the attraction of glass floors like this. Or those glass pedestrian bridges China seems to have become fond of. Or that glass walkway which cantilevers out over the Grand Canyon.

I have only experienced a location with a glass floor once. And that also was in Seattle. At REI's corporate headquarters, which is not far, maybe a mile, east of the Space Needle. REI's is just a small section of glass floor. Walking over it is not too unnerving, because all you see looking down is the floor below you.

I have a tentative date next summer with Madame McNutty to get loopy at the Space Needle's Loupe Lounge, which, thanks to Jason, we have now learned is located where the restaurant used to be...

Have Gun No License Along With No Abortions In Texas

I saw that which you see above this morning in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Apparently the Texas legislature passed a new law which allows a Texan to carry a handgun without needing to get a license to do so.

What a relief. I have been without a gun for so long I probably don't remember how to pull a trigger.

I did not want to try to buy a gun and get a license in Texas, because, before this new law, I was afraid my extensive criminal history would prevent me from getting a license to legally pack heat. 

But, as soon as this new law goes into effect I will once again be able to be legally armed and dangerous, without needing a license.

And then, after learning I could soon be an armed threat in Texas, I learned the following via being the top story on CNN online this morning.

Way back in the 1800s Texas exiled most of its Native American tribes north to Oklahoma. Leaving only a couple tribal reservations in Texas. Texas prohibits commercial casinos.

Due to federal law allowing Native Americans to operate casinos, one of those remaining Texas tribes, the Kickapoo, operates the Lucky Eagle casino, offering only electronic gaming machines.

With electronic gaming machines meaning, I assume, those new fangled slot machine type things which cause me sensory overload and confusion. But no blackjack or poker or any other card games. Along with, I assume, no keno or bingo.

Due to Texas foolishly banning casinos of the sort one sees in all the states surrounding Texas, when leaving Texas, via whatever direction, one soon comes to a casino resort.

Head north on I-35 and soon after you cross into Oklahoma you arrive at the world's biggest casino, or so it claims, the Winstar World Casino & Resort. 

At my location in Wichita Falls I am close to two casino resorts a short distance after one crosses the Red River into Oklahoma. 

Head east to Louisiana and soon you will be in Shreveport and Bossier City where you will find riverboat casinos floating on the Red River.

Head west out of Texas to New Mexico and you will soon see casino resorts.

One can assume the majority of customers in casinos close to the Texas border are Texans. Thus a lot of money flows from the pockets of gambling Texans into the pockets of the Native American tribes which own the casinos.

Which, if you look at it that way, one can say the Texans are doing a good thing, helping the tribes make money.

My old home zone of the Skagit Valley has a large Native American population, consisting of several tribes with their own reservation land. A couple of the Skagit tribes have built casino resorts, those being the Swinomish Casino & Lodge and the Skagit Valley Casino Resort.

The Skagit Valley Casino had my favorite buffet to go to when I lived in the neighborhood.

So, why, one can not help but wonder, is Texas not okay with casinos operating in the state?

As for this new Texas banning of most abortions. Are abortions legal in Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico? If so, will clinics be opening near the Texas border providing abortions to desperate Texans?

Madame McNutty Needles My Homesick Space Again

Madame McNutty posted the above on Facebook yesterday. The McNutty comment accompanying the photo said...

"Beautiful! Seattle is such a fun city to visit with so much to see and do. Don't you think so, Jonesy? I've got to get back to Pike's Place Market next time I'm in Seattle!"

To which I replied...

"The out of control homeless problem is depressing to see, at least it was the last time I was in Seattle in August of 2017. The encampments along the freeway were shocking. But, other than that, downtown Seattle is like a theme park. Pike Place, Seattle Center, Pioneer Square, the Seahawks stadium, the Mariners Ballpark, the Monorail, multiple vertical malls, Chinatown, Uwajimaya, a transit tunnel zipping you from one end of downtown to the other, the waterfront, hop a ferry, ride the giant waterfront wheel. I was shocked at what it costs now to take the elevator up the Space Needle. Something like 27 bucks. It was under 5 the last time I visited the Needle. The changes wrought by Amazon at the north end of downtown are sort of shocking. Multiple skyscrapers and those cool Amazon spheres. The SLUT (South Lake Union Trolley) is a cool looking transit addition. I am looking forward to seeing the Seattle Waterfront without the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and driving through the new tunnel under Seattle. And I like the Independent Republic of Fremont. It's outside of downtown, but still adds to the theme park, and it's got cool relics of the Soviet Union, along with the Fremont Troll under the Aurora Bridge..."

I was wrong about how much it costs now to ride to the observation deck of the Space Needle. It costs more than I thought. An illustrative screen cap from the Space Needle website...

Yikes! And the price goes up during peak visiting hours from 11 AM - 8 PM.

The Space Needle has undergone a big renovation since I last rode to the top. If I remember right the renovation cost more than the original Needle. A blurb from the Seattle City Pass website details some of the Space Needle upgrades which I have not experienced...

Discover unparalleled views of Mt. Rainer to the south, the Cascade range to the East, and the majestic Olympics to the West from two levels, one with an all-glass floor and the other an open-air deck.

Float over Seattle as you sit back on one of the inclined glass benches in the open-air observation deck. Step out onto The Loupe, the world's first revolving glass floor, with Seattle at your feet.

The restaurant part of the Space Needle has always revolved, one time around per hour. But two observation levels is a new thing I did not know about. And one of those revolves, with, if I am understanding it correctly, both with see through glass floors to make acrophobes nervous. 

The new revolving lounge sounds fun. But, I am not understanding the name. Loupe Lounge? The descriptive text describing the Loupe Lounge, which I screen capped above, along with the Space Needle admission info, makes the Loupe Lounge sound fun...

"Orbit a while on the world's first and only revolving glass floor. Rotating between futuristic signature cocktails and twists on the classics, explore a new world of mixology high above Seattle at the Loupe Lounge."

I hazard to guess that those signature cocktails are likely costly, and consuming one or two would likely make one a bit Loopy, hence, maybe, the new version of spelling Loopy to name this lounge?

Exploring deeper into my revolving Space Needle floors confusions I found a couple illustrative photos, which, though illustrative, don't really resolve the revolving glass floor confusion. I expect I will be getting clarification from my relative Space Needle expert, Spencer Jack's primary paternal parental unit.

The above photo looks like how I remember the interior part of the Space Needle, but with the new glass floor. Is this the level with the Loupe Lounge? The windows also look different than I remember. 

In the next photo we step outside to the open air deck, which we can see does not have a glass floor.

The open air deck is sort of how I remember it. Except it looks like a glass wall has been added. I do not remember what the barrier wall used to be, but I know it was not a glass wall.

There had been a slight problem early on with the Space Needle with suicide jumpers. If I remember right that ring of cable you see outside the glass wall was added to make jumping difficult. And now, with a glass wall, pretty much impossible.

Seeing these photos of the view from the top of the Space Needle I'm guessing there are a lot of people who have seen plenty of photos of the Space Needle, iconic image of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, that it is, but have not seen what it looks like when you are the top of the Needle.

Well, now you have.

I wonder what Madame McNutty is going to homesick me with next...

Wichita Falls' Crepe Myrtle Sculpture & Fort Worth's Homage To An Aluminum Trash Can

This Monday morning I delivered a senior citizen to his appointment with his nephrologist. Since I was in the neighborhood I thought I'd go take some photos of one of Wichita Falls art installations. Which is what you see above, and below.

This is known as The Crepe Myrtle Sculpture.

I learned of this sculpture soon upon my arrival in this town. I think I learned about it via brochures I picked up at the Texas Travel Center. I thought I remembered reading this sculpture was controversial due to what was thought to be an outrageous price tag of $25,000

I Googled "Wichita Falls Crepe Myrtle Sculpture" to see if I could get accurate info about this work of art. 

Well, there was a lot of info, including the following paragraph I got from an article titled 10 Things in Wichita Falls That Need to Just Go Away...

The late George Sugarman was a somewhat controversial artist. One of his many works, The Crepe Myrtle Sculpture, has served as a fixture in Harold Jones Park since 1980. It’s given many a drunk a fine place to urinate. It is, quite possibly, the biggest waste of money ever spent by a city council in the history of Wichita Falls. Rumor has it that we paid in excess of $100,000 for this monstrosity. Surely there’s a better way to artistically represent our city’s most durable plant. Perhaps a real Crepe Myrtle would make a better choice? They don’t’ look too bad and you cannot kill them. Trust me, I’ve tried.

$100,000? The locals thought that was a waste of money?

Another website, in an article titled Crepe Myrtle - Wichita Falls, TX - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures , a source which seemed more likely to be closer to the truth, knocked down the cost of The Crepe Myrtle Sculpture by half, with the money coming from a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. That article had the following descriptive paragraph...

Abstract cut-out shapes of crepe myrtle, painted red, blue and green, with three surrounding benches. Sculpture: approx. 15 x 25 x 25 ft. Funded with a National Endowment for the Arts, Art in Public Places grant of $50,000 given in 1981 to the City of Wichita Falls.

What would the people of Wichita Falls think about spending $1,000,000 for that which you see below?

Some think the above looks like a giant cheese grater. I have long said it looks like an abstract Homage to an Aluminum Trash Can.

Fort Worth's million dollar work of art was not paid for by the National Endowment for the Arts. It was paid for by America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision. It sits atop a mound of weeds at the center of a roundabout near two of Fort Worth's bridges which have been being built over dry land since 2014.

America's Biggest Boondoggle is a pseudo public works project, which the public has never approved of via the process normal towns use. You know, voting to approve of a project and the funding mechanism to pay for it. 

This Fort Worth Boondoggle was touted as being a vitally needed flood control project and economic development scheme, where there had been no flooding for well over half a century, due to levees already bought and paid for. With many asking if this was such vitally needed flood control, why has the fix not been actualized in a timely function?

The brilliant schemers behind this Boondoggle hoped to fund the project via federal handouts secured by local Congresswoman, Kay Granger, motivated to do so because her son was given the job of being Executive Director of the project, for which had zero qualifications, with many thinking the incompetence and malfeasance of J.D. Granger is largely to blame for this ineptly implemented project's Boondoggle status. 

Many also think it is absurd to think Congress will agree to send pork to Fort Worth for a project the public has never sanctioned, which has wasted funds on things like the Homage to an Aluminum Trash Can, while paying J.D. Granger over $200,000 for year after year after year after year as this project limps along, with some saying the limping will likely continue til J.D. Granger reaches retirement age.

Searching this blog for the image of the Homage to an Aluminum Trash Can I soon realized I have blogged about this multiple times, including a Walk By Wichita Falls Trash Can Art Thinking About Fort Worth's Waste.

Well, I guess some things are worth repeating. Over and over and over again...

Day After Wichita Falls Hotter 'N Hell 100

What you are seeing above is a screen cap from Sunday morning's Wichita Falls Times New Record showing the start of yesterday's Hotter 'N Hell 100 bike race event.

Can you see me? Probably not. 

A few weeks ago a town in South Dakota had its annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. There was some concern prior to the rally that it would be a COVID super spreader event. I have seen a news report, or two, that that indeed has happened, with a COVID spike hitting those attending the Sturgis Rally.

I know many precautions were taken for yesterday's Wichita Falls bike rally. I drove by the staging area on Friday and saw RVs of various sorts as far as I could see. I do not know if there were various people pleasing venues at the MPEC such as I greatly enjoyed my one and only time experiencing, up close, Hotter 'N Hell 100, including watching the racers make it to the finish line. 

I remember being surprised by what looked to be a MASH-like triage tent where injured bikers were being treated. I don't remember ever seeing so much blood before that occasion. COVID would seem to present all sorts of challenges treating injuries in a triage tent. But, I assume there must have been such a thing in play yesterday.

The temperature did not get to 100 yesterday for the Hotter 'H Hell 100. I think it barely managed to get into the low 90s. You can almost feel a chill in the air, a harbinger of the arrival of Fall in a few weeks.

This coming week I should be getting my bike back from the bike doctor, if the surgery is a success...