Lucy Park Easter Bridge Suspense With Alligator Alley

 

It was back to Lucy Park I ventured, in the noon timeframe, on this Easter Sunday of 2022, joining throngs of fellow Easterites enjoying a perfect temperature in the 60s, with zero wind blowing.

In the above photo documentation we are standing in the middle of the renovated Lucy Park Suspension Bridge, looking south at the mighty Wichita River

Yesterday, at Lucy Park, I shivered as I fast walked trying to warm up. A day later and there was no shivering, whilst wearing pretty much the same outerwear.

For lunch today I made that Easter staple of chicken rice tomato soup, with whole wheat grilled cheese sandwiches. For dessert I had an orange.

After taking that photo from the middle of the bridge, I continued on to the east bank. 

From the east bank I eventually reached Alligator Alley and then found a trail to the edge of the river for a view of the suspension bridge as a couple kids tentatively made their way across, unnerved by the swaying bounciness.

When I made my way back to the bridge, to cross back into Lucy Park, there were four more people making the crossing. The semi-elderly pair of the four seemed real nervous, with grandma tightly clutching the top cable as she meekly made her way across. While they crossed I stayed stationary so as to not increase the swaying into even more of a Galloping Gertie mode.

Galloping Gertie was the nickname given the first Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridge. Bad design caused that bridge to oscillate severely when a strong wind blew through the Narrows. One day Galloping Gertie galloped so severely that it destroyed itself, crashing into the saltwater below.

I suspect the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge will never come to a tragic end like the first Tacoma Narrows bridge did...

Cold Saturday At Lucy Park With "Snow"

Yesterday was HOT, with the outer world heated into the mid 90s.

Overnight a cold front blew in, with a cool temperature in the low 60s when I communed with nature at Lucy Park this morning, an hour before noon.

I was not properly outfitted in sufficient outerwear to stay warm, what with a strong wind blowing that cold air.

So, I walked fast through the Lucy Park backwoods zone, hoping to warm up. 

Fast walking did not much help with that warming up plan.

But, as you see, via the photo documentation above, green has now replaced brown as the dominant color.

Walking along I was slightly startled when I saw what looked to be snow on the ground. I knew it was cold, but not a snow level of cold. And there is no way any snow could remain from the snow that fell in March, or so I thought.

I walked closer to take a picture of the "snow" on the ground. I am almost 100% certain this is some other white substance, other than snow.

I did not think it wise to touch the "snow" to see if it was cold...

Upgraded Lucy Park Suspension Bridge Open To Traffic

The Lucy Park Suspension Bridge renovation is completed, with the bridge now open to traffic wanting to cross over the Wichita River.   

I am not sure I like the new version of side rails, what with it being three cables about a foot apart.

The swaying on the bridge whilst crossing seemed more active than the pre-renovation version. Seems like a little dog could manage to fall off the bridge edge. Or a crawling toddler.     

Another extremely windy day today. Perhaps that added to the bridge's swaying action. Gusts reaching almost 50 mph. The temperature high today is predicted to be in the 90s. The wind should make 90 feel not so HOT. 

The spacebar on my keyboard went haywire this morning, making for an early visit to Walmart to get a keyboard replacement.  It did not occur to me I could use the laptop keyboard which is sitting right in front of me.

I worry these type incidents are indicative of developing dementia. ..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Wind Chilly Wichita Bluffs Nature Area High Speed Hill Hiking

With the wind blowing blustery powerful gusts, resulting in a wind chill causing this morning's temperature of 52 to feel too cool for what I chose to wear to the Wichita Bluffs Nature Area to commune with nature via some high-speed hill walking.

The Wichita Bluffs Hoodoo Cairn installation, today, was the tallest, most precarious I have seen at this location.

One would think this type of natural construction would not survive the high-speed gusting winds.

So far, I have not found the 20 pounds I lost last month. Not carrying those 20 pounds seemed to make the high-speed hill hiking much easier.

Shrinking to a new size should make stuffing myself into an airplane seat much more comfortable than the last time I subjected myself to that particular torture.

Hiking the Wichita Bluffs today had me thinking it sure would be fun to hike a real mountain trail. Maybe if I make it to Washington this summer I can find myself a real mountain to hike on...

Celebrating Easter In Fort Worth With Jesus & The KKK

The screen cap from today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which you see above, is a variant of our patented theme of seeing something in an online west coast news source that one would not expect to see in a Texas online news source.

Usually, the west coast news source is the Seattle Times, with the Texas news source being the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

In today's case it is seeing something in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, about something in Fort Worth, that one would not expect to see in the Seattle Times about a similar thing in Seattle.

If I remember correctly, the Ku Kluz Klan was active in Fort Worth as recently as the 1960s. 

Methinks finding oneself seeing a group like this in person would be scary, almost as scary as finding oneself facing a group of Nazi Gestapo.

Or a group of Putin Russians...

Happy Birthday Sister Michele

 

UPDATE REPOST: Another year has been added to my baby sister's accumulation of time spent revolving around the sun. The following is a repeat of last year's happy birthday blogging...

On this day, many decades ago, my youngest sibling was born.

I have been extremely distracted for a few days, with those distractions causing me not to remember til now that on this day, many decades ago, my youngest sibling was born.

Happy Birthday Sister Michele

I talked to my sibling who was born seven years before Michele, this morning. That would be Sister Jackie.

Sister Jackie was back in Arizona after spending 10 days in Washington, where she got to spend time with Sister Michele, Mama Kristin, David, Theo and Ruby.

And got to meet Hank Frank and Hank Frank's Mama Monique, for the first time.

Jackie had herself a mighty fine time in Washington this visit, particularly enjoying meeting Hank Frank and his Mama.

It is looking increasingly unlikely I will be having myself a mighty fine time this coming summer in Washington meeting Hank Frank and his Mama, along with having fun with David, Theo, Ruby and Spencer Jack. Among others.

But who knows? Circumstances can quickly change...

Skagit Valley Tulips Looking At Mount Baker With Chris & Sheila

I saw that which you see above on Facebook, this morning, via the "You know you're from Anacortes when..." Facebook page.

It is the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival time of the year. During the month of the festival more than a million visitors descend on the Skagit Flats to view the flowers and visit the various Tulip venues. On weekends this creates epic traffic jams.

I have not been in the Skagit Valley whilst the tulips are blooming since April of 2006. Since that time a Jones Family Compound has been established on Beaver Marsh Road, near the Roozen Garde epicenter of the Tulip Festival.

A couple months ago the elder Jones Boy told me I could stay in one of the unoccupied houses in the Jones Family Compound if I wanted to visit the valley during Tulip time. This seemed tempting, but I am not quite ready to resume flying, yet.

The past couple days I have been seeing non-Tulip photos of the Skagit Valley zone, on Facebook, via the Washingtonians known and Chris and Sheila. Chris and Sheila have been at the RV Park at the Swinomish Casino Resort.

The Swinomish are one of the Skagit Valley's Native America tribes. The Skagit tribe also has a casino resort. I do not know if the Samish tribe have built a casino since I left living in the valley. My favorite buffet whilst living in Washington was the one found at the Skagit Casino.

One of the Chris and Sheila photos showed me that Mount Baker is back fully covered in white. During last year's drought Mount Baker, and the other Washington volcanoes lost most of their snow covers.

At the above location we are looking east. Anacortes is behind us. To the right are the Skagit Flats, where one finds the Tulips. The town I grew up in, Burlington, is on the other side of that slight hill you see in the middle of the photo, covered with trees. Mount Vernon, the town I lived in before moving to Texas, is to the right a couple miles.

This view of Mount Baker gives on an inkling as to why it might be a bit problematic if Mount Baker decides to erupt again. The last time Mount Baker blew its top was back in the 1860s, if I am remembering correctly.

Back when Mount St. Helens went active and eventually blew up, Mount Baker also got active, blowing off way more steam than it usually blows. It got bad enough that all the recreational land around Mount Baker was closed til the mountain calmed down.

A volcano blowing up is one thing I do not need to worry about at my current mountain free zone location. Today all I have to worry about is keeping cool with the outer world temperature going into the 90s...

Multiple Monday Lucy Park Bridge Closures

It was back to Lucy Park my motorized motion device took me on this second Tuesday of April, a day destined to be heated into the 80s.

As you can clearly see, above, the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge remains closed. The bridge deck has been totally replaced. After new side railing is installed, the bridge should be back open to traffic.

With the Lucy Park bridge across the Wichita River, closed, the Circle Trail which passes by the west entry to the bridge has also added a closure since the last visit to Lucy Park.

It is easy to get around the CLOSED TRAIL. The closure was caused by damage to a wooden bridge which crosses a shallow gulley. The railing on the left, which inhibited falling into the Wichita River, is missing. The bridge deck also looked in need of replacement.

From the TRAIL CLOSED sign it is about a half mile to Wichita Falls, that being the manmade waterfall, made by man to provide an answer to tourists asking where the waterfall in Wichita Falls is located.

Making an artificial waterfall is sort of a version of what Fort Worth did after decades of confusing that town's few tourists with signage pointing to Sundance Square, where there was no square, til finally turning a parking lot into a little square, called Sundance Square Plaza.

So, that has been my exciting Monday, so far...

Vancouver Of The North Has A New Riverwalk

I saw that which you see above Saturday in the Seattle Times. A link to an article titled With new options for food, wine and walks on the Columbia, the Vancouver waterfront is buzzing. 

The first two paragraphs of this article...

Sawmills, shipyards, breweries and a paper mill once lined the north bank of the Columbia River in the “Other Vancouver,” the Washington town across the water from Portland that thrived with industry in the late 1800s.

Fast-forward to a post-pandemic 2022. People walk their dogs and kids play in a waterfront park flanked by restaurants, wine tasting rooms, a gourmet coffee “gastro” cafe, and, coming later this year: two hotels; an El Gaucho and 13 Coins restaurant; a brewery; and another taproom.

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Looks like Vancouver has built itself a Riverwalk, of sorts, on the banks of the mighty Columbia. How did this come to be I wondered? The answer came in the next paragraph...

“It intrigued me from the beginning,” said developer Barry Cain, who spearheaded Waterfront Vancouver, a mixed-use project with office buildings and residences, for the Gramor Development company. When Boise Cascade decided to close its paper mill in 2006, leaving dormant 35 acres of prime waterfront property just south of downtown Vancouver, Cain saw the opportunity “to take a situation like that, and do something that could change the face of the city.” 

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So, it appears private developers are the ones developing some prime Vancouver real estate, land which had previously served an industrial purpose, and is now being re-imagined. The next paragraph tells us how this land is being re-imagined...

Tying everything together is a 7-acre city-owned park connecting to the 5-mile Columbia River Renaissance Trail, popular for jogging and biking. Open-air patios stand on the half-mile paved path at Waterfront Park, lined with granite benches, play areas and water features, separated by the Grant Street Pier, an overlook suspended 90 feet over the river.

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That all sounds quite nice. And, what with this land only becoming available in 2006, rather quickly developed. Apparently without begging for federal funding. Or hiring a local politician's son to be part of the project to motivate that politician to secure federal funds.

What a concept. A big city wearing its big city pants.

And then there is this paragraph...

“Vancouver has always lived in the shadow of Portland,” says Seidy Selivanow, owner of Kafiex Roasters’ Gastro Café, which opened on the waterfront last April. “Now it’s taking on an identity of its own.”

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A city living in the shadow of a bigger, more well known city. Now, what does that remind me of? Oh, yeah, Fort Worth living in the dark shadow of Dallas.

When I saw this article referencing Vancouver I thought back a couple decades to that Sunday morning when I read a blaring headline in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram screaming "TRINITY UPTOWN TO TURN FORT WORTH INTO VANCOUVER OF THE SOUTH".

I remember reading that and thinking what fresh ridiculous nonsense is this gonna turn out to be? Little could I realize how totally absurdly ridiculous Trinity Uptown would become over the following decades, eventually morphing into the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Riverwalk Vision, proudly, after years and years of construction, managing to build three pitiful freeway overpass type bridges over dry land, hoping one day to see a water filled ditch go under the bridges, thus creating an imaginary island.

I remember when I read that Star-Telegram article about Fort Worth being turned into the Vancouver of the South, wondering which Vancouver they were talking about. The Canadian Vancouver, or the Washington Vancouver? The Canadian Vancouver is surrounded by water, with mountains looming in the background, and a big river, the Fraser, passing by. The Washington Vancouver also has a big river, the Columbia, and mountains visible, such as the Mount Hood volcano in Oregon.

Fort Worth has zero of these attributes both Vancouvers possess.

Turns out it was the Canadian Vancouver Fort Worth was destined to become like. 

When this Star-Telegram Fort Worth nonsense happened I was early on in experiencing what I came to see as the town's, well, tendency to delusion, as reflected in its leaders and its one and only newspaper.

Trinity Uptown turning Fort Worth into Vancouver happened before the Santa Fe Rail Market was supposedly modeled after Seattle's Pike Place and public markets in Europe, when it turned out to be nothing more than a soon to fail lame mall food court type thing.

And then after that there was the time the Star-Telegram trumpeted that the Cabela's sporting goods store opening in far north Fort Worth would become the #1 tourist attraction in Texas. Has the Star-Telegram ever apologized for misleading its few readers over that nonsensical nonsense? Even after a second Cabela's opened in DFW?

One more blurb from this article about this actual Vancouver development...

Fodor’s Travel took note, naming the Vancouver waterfront to its 2021 list of the nation’s 15 best river walks.

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I wonder if Fodor's Travel book will ever find itself adding Fort Worth to its list of the nation's 15 best river walks?

I suspect that will never happen, but if it does, Fort Worth will likely have a city wide celebration whilst bragging such is making towns, far and wide, green with envy...

Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival Is Back With Sasha Bass Threatening To Ruin Everything

The Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival is an event the likes of which I have never seen done better, anywhere.

I was so impressed with the Main Street Arts Festival, way back when I first attended it, the following year I made a Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival webpage.

This event takes place in downtown Fort Worth. Well, there was that one year around the turn of the century when a tornado wreaked havoc in downtown Fort Worth, causing the Main Street Arts Festival to move off Main Street to head a couple miles west to what is known in Fort Worth as the Cultural District.

So, this year a civil war of sorts has broken in downtown Fort Worth caused by Queen Sasha Bass.

We have blogged about this ongoing debacle a couple times, in...

Upcoming High Noon Shootout Between Sundance Sasha & Reata Micallef and in Time To Worry About Sundance Sasha With Lady Whistleworth.

Apparently, Queen Sasha got into some sort of turf war with the Main Street Arts Festival.

Sasha initiated a competing arts festival featuring local artists, with the local artists showing their arts in the area known as Sundance Square Plaza, that being the little square built on parking lots after years of confusing Fort Worth's few tourists with signs pointing to Sundance Square, where there was no square, til the parking lots were turned into one.

A lifelong DFW native sent my phone that which you see above, with the text about Queen Sasha ruining everything, along with photos of the Main Street Arts Festival, which opened on Thursday and runs through Sunday.

That same lifelong DFW native also asked me if I was Fort Worth Duke, a new entry on Instagram, doing the same, I assume, well written snarkiness about Queen Sasha and the ongoing downtown Fort Worth debacle, currently on Instagram as Lady Whistleworth and Fort Worth Confidential.

I blogged about Lady Whistleworth in Time To Worry About Sundance Sasha With Lady Whistleworth, but do not remember if I blogged about Fort Worth Confidential. I do remember that I had intended to do so, after getting a blog comment pointing me to Fort Worth Confidential.

Oh, and I am not Fort Worth Duke...