Birch Bay Postcard Bandit Strikes Again

Last Saturday a reunion I thought I might be attending this summer, took place, at a reunion convention location in the Skagit Flats.

I also long thought that this summer I would be finding myself at Birch Bay with a select group of my siblings. But that Birch Bay plan never came to fruition.

Today the mailbox contained another Birch Bay postcard, unsigned, with no message text.

However, as you can see, above, this time the perpetrator drew what looks to be an arrow pointing from Texas to Washington.

Previously I said that I compared the print on these postcards to a collection of Christmas cards, and found no matching handwriting.

Today I again compared the printing on this postcard to printing on cards I received last December.

And this time I found a match.

The "W" in Moose Jaw on the postcard, appears to match the "W" in PNW on the card.

I have previously asked the person who wrote the card with the suspicious "W" if she was the Postcard Bandit.

This particular individual, over the past many months, has asked many times if I had yet learned when I was going to be heading to Birch Bay. No other person in contact with me has shown that level of interest in the Birch Bay visit.

This particular person knows that the name "Moose Jaw" is associated with my name. 

I am not naming the suspected Postcard Bandit, because there is a slight chance I may be wrong. I await hearing a confession from the culprit...

Whole Wheat Pepperoni Pizza Debacle

I made pizza from scratch on this next to last Sunday of the 2022 version of July. The result, which you see here, looks better than the result actually was.

I used the automatic breadmaker to make the pizza dough. I used whole wheat flour. Using whole wheat was a mistake. It made for an extremely unusual pizza crust.

On top of the pizza crust I spread a thick covering of pizza sauce, then black olives and a lot of pepperonis. And topped that with a lot of mozzarella, colby, monterey jack and parmesan cheese.

The pizza was rendered salvageable by sliding the topping off the woeful whole wheat crust.

This was my first cooking disaster in quite some time.

I also learned heating an oven to 475 degrees in not a real good idea when experiencing an extreme heat wave. The air-conditioner was not keeping the kitchen zone to a desired level of cool...

Geese Feeding Frenzy At Drought Shrunk Sikes Lake

With the temperature a few degrees less than 100 I opted to drive to Sikes Lake for a relatively semi-chilly walk around the lake.

Upon arrival I saw a large contingent of Sikes Lake geese and ducks surrounding a lady tossing them food from a big bag of bird seed.

There were two bird feeders. I talked to the one standing next to me, not surrounded by birds. She told me they come feed the birds every day. And the flock is so used to this that when they see them arrive, in their white vehicle, they come waddling towards them.

This explains why, on more than one occasion, when I have arrived at this location, driving my white vehicle, that the flock of birds starts coming towards me. A behavior I found slightly disturbing.

No, that is not Sikes Lake at low tide you see above. That is Sikes Lake in drought mode, drying up.

Years ago Sikes Lake was dredged, with the material which was dredged hauled to Lake Wichita where it was turned into the tall pile of dried mud we refer to as Mount Wichita, also known as Murphy's Hill.

Methinks Sikes Lake is due for a new dredging, with a new mountain made at Lake Wichita, to be called the Twin Peaks of Wichita Falls.

Cloudy Drippy Semi-Chilly Return To Lucy Park

I needed to refresh my supply of reading material, so it was to downtown Wichita Falls I ventured this morning, to that socialist operation known as the Wichita Falls Public Library.

After the library, since I was in the neighborhood, it was to another socialist operation, Lucy Park, I drove.

As you can see via the photo documentation of the sycamore tree in the middle of the photo, we are not seeing blue sky today at my Texas location.

Clouds!

With some raindrops dripping.

And a temperature of only 84 degrees. Not quite a sweater wearing chill, but much more pleasant than when the outer world is heated to more than 20 degrees warmer than 84.

It was seeming eerily quiet in here, with traffic noise being able to be heard. I wondered why the atmosphere was seeming so different. And then I realized, the air-conditioner is not running.

This cold snap will be short lived, with a quick return to being heated to over 100 degrees HOT. I shall be enjoying the respite while it lasts...

Record Breaking Temperature In Wichita Falls & All Over Texas

This morning CNN online had an article titled "Here are some US cities that set records Tuesday as temperatures soared to as high as 115 degrees".

I clicked the link thinking I was going to see record high temperatures set all over the U.S.

Instead the record breaking temperatures were mostly in Texas, with a couple in Oklahoma.

With the HOTTEST record breaker being the town I am in, Wichita Falls, which sizzled to 115 yesterday.

I had thought our high here yesterday was 113, and said as much to a friend from high school who was visiting Tonasket in Eastern Washington and had posted on Facebook how he was on the edge of suffering heatstroke due to the temperature being 90.

I proceeded to inform this person that he was a temperature baby.

Today is scheduled to be cooler, a predicted high of only 107, with a chance of some rain and thunderstorming. 

During yesterday's sizzler a wildfire erupted just out of the eastern border of Wichita Falls. The wildfire forced the closure of Highway 287, the freeway route between Wichita Falls and DFW. 

I do not think I have ever been so eager for summer to come to its end as I am currently.

From the CNN article...

Here are some US cities that set records Tuesday as temperatures soared to as high as 115 degrees--

Here are some of the record highs for July 19 that were set in Texas and Oklahoma:

• Wichita Falls, Texas: 115, breaking a record of 112 set in 2018.

• Borger, Texas: 111, breaking a record of 109 set in 2018.

• Abilene, Texas: 110, breaking a record of 108 set in 1936.

• Oklahoma City: 110, breaking a record of 109 set in 1936.

• Amarillo, Texas: 108, breaking a record of 105 set in 2018.

• San Angelo, Texas: 108, tying a record set in 2018.

• El Paso, Texas: 107, breaking a record of 105 set in 1980.

• Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas: 106, breaking a record of 105 from 1914, 1923 and 1951.

• Midland International Air & Space Port in Midland, Texas: 105, tying a record from 1981 and 2018.

• Houston: 100, tying a record set in 2000.

And there is this I saw a few minutes ago on Facebook. This version has the Wichita Falls temperature record being 113...

Sizzling Tuesday At 113 Degree

The temperature forecast for today, Tuesday, July 19, 2022, is what you are looking at.

113 degrees Fahrenheit.

This morning I saw it suggested that the elderly stay indoors in an air-conditioned space today, and the following days, until natural air-conditioning returns.

So, I will not be going outside today, or tomorrow, but maybe I will do so on Thursday, with the current forecast predicting the high on Thursday will be a relatively chilly 98 degrees.

Grass at my north Texas location is no longer green. Green has turned brown.

Rolling my bike north on the Circle Trail on Sunday I came upon an area where the brown grass had caught fire. For about 100 feet the brown had been turned to charred black, from beside the Circle Trail down the slope to now, mostly dry, Holliday Creek.

Sizzling Sunday At 109

Screen shot from my phone this HOT Sunday afternoon in Texas. The A/C seems to be running almost nonstop to keep the abode cooled to 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

Before it got too HOT I went on a bike ride this morning. It was more enjoyable than yesterday's bike ride. I think pumping up the tires helped.

The coming week is predicted to be the HOTTEST yet. It really does get a bit tiresome...

Rolling In The HEAT To Sikes Lake And Beyond

My bike rolled me around Sikes Lake and some other locations this HOT Saturday in July.

I don't know why, but I am not enjoying the bike riding like I used to. The HEAT is easier to take whilst bike riding, compared to fast walking. Rolling through the air creates a cooling wind chill, adding to the chill factor of the wind speed.

But, as soon as I stop rolling I quickly overheat and become a sweaty mess, which adds to the cooling as soon as I begin rolling again.

The bike's speedometer/odometer device malfunctioned today. It would not let me reset the distance. As in resetting the miles rolled back to zero. Instead, it added today's rolling to the previous distance rolled. Which forced me to use my limited mathematic skills to calculate how many miles I rolled, and how long I rolled, because it also would not reset the timer to zero.

Looking at the temperature forecast, starting tomorrow, through Wednesday, we are about to be our HOTTEST yet.
 

I do not recollect previously experiencing 110 degrees in Texas. In California and Arizona, I have been hotter than 110, over 120 in both states, with the hottest being in Death Valley in California.

So, it looks like Tuesday the Texas grid is going to be facing its biggest challenge yet, during this ongoing day after day after day after day over 100 degrees...

Today Lucy Park Falls Signage Did Not Help Start My Dead Vehicle

Today's warmly HEATED visit to Lucy Park turned into the longest Lucy Park visit ever.

But, before we get to that let's talk about the signs directing Lucy Park visitors to The Falls.

On my first visit to Lucy Park there were no directional signs. An event was taking place in the park, with the Texas Visitor's Center having an informational booth. It was at that informational booth I got the information needed to find The Falls.

It is rather easy to find The Falls in Wichita Falls, from Lucy Park. Simple follow the Circle Trail next to the Wichita River and you will soon come to The Falls.

About one out of every four Lucy Park visits I am stopped by a visiting tourist and asked how to get to The Falls. I never rudely say, "Just follow the signs." I politely provide the needed information in the same way it was related to me on my first visit to Lucy Park.

Above and below you see examples of the Lucy Park signage which now exists which make it easy to find your way to The Falls. And yet, I still get asked for directions.

The above sign even includes a map to make finding the correct direction real easy. This sign is a the Lucy Park entry to the Lucy Park suspension bridge across the Wichita River.

The above sign pops up at a trail junction a semi-short distance from the sign by the suspension bridge.

The signs really seem easy to follow, to me. 

Now, on to why I had such a long Lucy Park visit.

I arrived at the park before 11 this morning. I finished my fast walking exercise bout before noon. Went to start my vehicle and it would not cooperate. It had had the same problem a month prior, and had been fixed, supposedly, by an auto mechanic at a place called Alley's. It was a simple fix. Corroded connections. 

When the same thing happened today, I took off the connections, to see if they looked corroded. They didn't. But, I scraped them anyway. Put them back on, still did not start.

Called AAA. Was told help would arrive by one in the afternoon. One in the afternoon arrived, but no AAA. And then AAA called to say that it would now be three in the afternoon that help would arrive in the form of something called Pigg's Towing.

Every morning I hear an ad on the radio for Mike's Towing. It is a memorable ad. So, I called Mike's Towing. About ten minutes later Mike's Towing arrived to tow my dead vehicle back to Alley's where it had been supposedly fixed a month ago.

The Mike's Towing guy then deposited me back at my abode, where I was starving hungry and semi-dehydrated.

I guess I will now cancel AAA, since their road assistance appears to be worthless...

With Linda Lou Visiting Mount Vernon Farmer's Market & Hank Frank

Late yesterday afternoon, Mount Vernon's Linda Lou went walking with me in Walmart.

During the course of our walk talk Linda Lou told me about a Mount Vernon Farmer's Market she had been to that day. 

Linda Lou described to me the location of this Mount Vernon Farmer's Market, at the west end of Blackburn Road. So, this morning I used Google Earth to visit Mount Vernon.

I believe that is the Mount Vernon Farmer's Market Linda Lou told me about, above. Linda Lou described a big variety of Farmer's products at the Farmer's Market. Three types of cucumbers, the greenest parsley she'd ever seen, bright ruby red radishes. And more, much much more. 

Including a walk-in cooler with various Farmer's meat products.

And shopping at this Farmer's Market used the honor system. As in, no checkout with a clerk. You pick the products you want to buy, estimate the total, and then insert the right amount of cash into a secured container.

I would have trouble shopping at this Farmer's Market, due to needing cash. All my transactions are made using a debit card. I suppose if I were in Mount Vernon I could get myself some cash to get myself some fresh products from this Mount Vernon Farmer's Market.

This type food shopping is something I miss at my current location, where no such similar thing exists.

Mount Vernon also has another produce selling location that I wish existed here. That being the Skagit Valley Co-Op.

The Co-Op is located in downtown Mount Vernon, in the old Penney's building. I could find just about any food product I wanted to find, at the Skagit Valley Co-Op. Including things like candied ginger. I've never been able to find candied ginger in Texas.

The Skagit Valley Co-Op also sold products other than food. Things like clothes and homemade soap. And there is a restaurant. I remember going to Friday night spaghetti and garlic bread at the Co-Op's restaurant.

And now I suspect a product has been added to the Skagit Valley Co-Op product line up which I definitely can not find in any Texas store.

As in various cannabis-based products. The Skagit Valley Co-Op likely now has entire section devoted to pot products. I must remember to ask when next I talk to a Skagit Valley local.

Since I was in Mount Vernon, via Google Earth, I decided to make a quick visit to Hank Frank's place on Beaver Marsh Road.

I am just about 100% I found Hank Frank's house. This is where Google Earth took me when I entered my Favorite Nephew Joey's address.

Someday, hopefully sooner than later, I will find myself visiting Hank Frank in person...

UPDATE:  Via Linda Lou we have now learned the correct name for the aforementioned Mount Vernon Farmer's Market is Waxwing Farm. And that Waxwing Farm has a website where you see how their organic farming operation works, along with a KING5 news video story about the farm.