Washington & Texas Are Mighty Fun States

I saw an amusing MSN article yesterday titled 11 States Americans Say Are the Most Fun which had my old home state of Washington and the #1 most fun state. You can click the 11 States Americans Say Are the Most Fun to see the other fun states, including the fun state I am currently located in.

This is the fun description of Washington...

Washington State was the top-voted most fun state in the United States. It is an exciting destination offering diverse attractions. Its natural beauty encompasses iconic sites like Mount Rainier and Olympic National Park. Seattle’s vibrant culture features the famous Pike Place Market and arts scene. “The food was great, the people were nice, and the weather was to die for,” said one recent visitor.

Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy hiking, skiing, and kayaking, while wine and craft beer enthusiasts can explore local vineyards and breweries. The state’s cultural diversity, water activities, music scene, and adventure sports provide ample entertainment. National parks, scenic drives, and seasonal events add to the charm, making Washington a fun state for various interests.

And then there is the state I am currently in and its fun description...

Texas offers a diverse range of attractions that make it a fun state to visit. In Austin, the vibrant capital, you can immerse yourself in live music, cultural festivals, and a thriving food scene. Houston boasts world-class museums, the Space Center, and diverse neighborhoods. San Antonio’s historic sites, like the Alamo, blend with the picturesque River Walk.

The Gulf Coast provides sandy beaches and water activities, while the Big Bend National Park showcases stunning desert landscapes. In Dallas, cultural districts, shopping, and renowned barbecue eateries await. Texas’s cowboy heritage comes alive in Fort Worth’s Stockyards National Historic District. The state’s vastness offers opportunities for outdoor adventures, from hiking in the Hill Country to exploring caverns. With its mix of urban experiences, natural wonders, and Texan charm, Texas promises an enjoyable and unforgettable visit.

Some of the 11 fun states seemed a tad dubious, such as Tennessee and North Carolina and Illinois.

As were some omissions of what, to me, are super fun states, like Utah and Oregon and Arizona and Wyoming and Nevada.

Oh, and South Dakota.

Late in the previous century I had myself a mighty fine fun time in South Dakota...

No Kayak Launching Today At Lake Wichita On Last Day Of Summer

On this last day of Summer it was to Lake Wichita I ventured for some breezy nature communing.

Since my last Lake Wichita visit a kayak launch has been installed, which is what you see sitting on dry land.

Someone must be optimistic that the ongoing drought will one day end, with Lake Wichita once again at full pool, and able to float kayaks.

Another look at the shrinking lake. I'd estimate that only about a third of the lake bed still has some water.

Mount Wichita is looking a bit dried up, as well.

With most of the mountain's vegetation dried and died, a heavy rainstorm will likely wreak a lot of erosion havoc on the only mountain in Wichita Falls.

Tomorrow Fall begins. I am looking forward to the upcoming chilly days requiring no air-conditioning...

Final 2023 Tuesday With Thunder & Rain

On this final Tuesday of the Summer of 2023 the weather predictors prediction was on target for the first time in day after day after day predicted rain and thunderstorms, with nothing much along those dripping lines happening at my location.

But, rain poured down this morning, as you can see via the scenic view from my kitchen window. 

Along with a couple lightning strikes so close the flash happened at the same time as the thunder boom.

It was loud.

By the time 11 in the morning arrived I had a dry drive to Walmart for some lightning-free nature communing and anthropological observationing. 

More rain and thunderstorm is on the menu for this afternoon. I suspect that likely will not happen, and that storming is done for the day...

Nature Communing Sikes Lake With Solo Blue Heron

With the temperature in the low 80s, with a steady breeze blowing, it was back to Sikes Lake I drove on this final Monday of the 2023 version of Summer.

There were not a lot of fellow nature communers communing with me today.

I saw a lot of ducks floating on the lake. Along with a few geese. And some seagulls.

And the solo blue heron you see above, standing under the shade of a little tree. Why this bird was not in the lake doing its usual fishing duty, I do not know.

It will be nice to see Summer of 2023 in the rear-view mirror. I hope the coming Winter is not of an extreme sort, like this Summer has been. 

I do not want to see an ice storm. Or feel sub-zero temperatures. Or a half foot of snow. Or a combo of all three...

Final Sunday Of Summer At Lucy Park Getting Bug Bites

On this final Sunday of Summer, it was back to Lucy Park I ventured for some totally cloud-free communing with nature.

Today I walked a trail in the Lucy Park backwoods jungle which I had not walked on since that windstorm a few weeks ago wreaked havoc with the Lucy Park trees.

I had more communing with nature than I wanted today. Nature in the form of bugs biting me.

I did not see the bugs on me doing the biting. It was only after itchy bumps appeared did I realize I had been attacked.

I assume mosquitoes were the culprit. But usually one hears mosquitoes buzzing when they are in attack mode.

The only bugs I eye witnessed today were the swarms of grasshoppers hopping when my walking disturbed them.

I do not think grasshoppers bite humans. I think they are vegetarians.

Even though the sun was not blocked by clouds the temperature did not go into too HOT mode during my time at Lucy Park. The temperature was in the low 80s.

Not chilly, not HOT....

Cloudy Thursday Sunflowers At Lucy Park

With rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, with the temperature barely in the 70s, it was back to the Lucy Park backwoods jungle I ventured on the morning of this second Thursday of September.

I did my nature communing with barely a drop of rain dripping, and no thunder booming.

As you can see, via looking behind the big yellow sunflower, the clouds do look a bit threatening. 

For several days now the weather predictors have been predicting rain and thunderstorms, with barely any of either actualizing.

I did see a lightning flash a couple nights ago, with distant thunder rumbling. And yesterday, leaving Walmart, I did feel a couple drops of rain. But not enough to get anything even close to being wet.

Maybe this afternoon's predicted thunderstorm will happen. Likely not, though...

Semi-Chilly Hill Hiking The Wichita Bluff Nature Area

What you see here is the picnic pavilion located at the highest point in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

Today was the first time in months I have been back on the Wichita Bluffs.

I have avoided this location ever since Lucy Park's Blue Man reported seeing two rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the paved Circle Trail in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

The temperature was in the low 70s when I did my nature communing today. That chilly temperature slows down cold-blooded things which slither.

So, I saw no snakes of any variety today, not that I was much expecting to. 

I did see multiple mammals in the human form.

Including one group with two moms pushing two-seater baby strollers, with each mom also holding one kid, with three small kids walking. It was quite an adventurous operation.

I came upon a woman carrying a big bunch of what looked to me to be dried out weeds. I complimented her on the beautiful bouquet she was carrying. She thanked me for the compliment, along with saying the bouquet was going in a vase.

It was nice being back on the Wichita Bluffs. My other hiking locations pretty much have no elevation ups and downs...

Microsoft Remembering Me Hiking To Mount Rainier

Yesterday, September 11, Microsoft's OneDrive email, with supposed memories from that day, managed, once again, to come up with memories which I, once again, actually remember.

Which is easy since these memories are all of the same thing.

Mount Rainier.

However, Microsoft is off by a month. It was on August 11, 2008, that these Mount Rainier memories were made, not September 11.

On that August day, way back then, I drove my sister-in-law, Kristin, and her mom, Janet, to Mount Rainier.

It was a busy day at Mount Rainier. Lots of tourists. We eventually found a place to park at Paradise and proceeded to hike towards the Mountain, eventually reaching the Myrtle Creek waterfall.

I'd been to Mount Rainier several times, but this was the first time I have been in the National Park with a clear enough sky so that the Mountain was actually out and easily seen, though it got cloud covered and uncovered several times as we hiked towards it.

Mount Rainier is sort of like San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. It took a couple visits to San Francisco before I saw the Golden Gate Bridge not shrouded in thick fog.

Microsoft's OneDrive repeated one of the memories, twice. I don't know why they would do this, as there were dozens upon dozens of Mount Rainier memories to remember.

I wonder if a day will come where I get to see Mount Rainier up close and personal once again...

Nephew David's Happy 9/11 15th Birthday

That is my Favorite Nephew David, you see here, with his girlfriend, Marilyn, at, I think, some sort of art park in the National Harbor zone of Maryland.

David turns 15 today, on the 21st Anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

I have not seen David, or his brother and sister, Theo and Ruby, since March of 2019.

I was almost 100% certain I was going to see David, Theo and Ruby, this summer, in Washington, where we were scheduled to build sandcastles at Birch Bay.

But, multiple events prevented that from happening.

Maybe, next summer...

Arlene Clara Slotemaker Barry Ernster---April 20, 1929 - September 9, 2023

Sad news.

The matriarch of the Slotemaker - Jones clan passed away Saturday after a brief hospital stay.

Aunt Arlene was my Dad's big sister. That is Dad and Aunt Arlene you see above, at Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party, on August 11, 2001. Mom and Dad's actual anniversary date was August 6, but for some reason, on more than one occasion, their anniversary party took place on my birthday.

Well, the reason is actually no mystery, if August 6 fell on a weekday, the next weekend was when the anniversary party took place. I recollect that only happening twice.

Aunt Arlene was a school teacher. High school. An English teacher, I think, for the most part. At Snohomish High School and Sultan High School. And maybe some other schools I am not remembering.

Aunt Arlene got her teaching degree from Western Washington University, where she was on the school newspaper, and at one point in time got to interview Eleanor Roosevelt.

Aunt Arlene had flawless cursive handwriting.

In the Slotemaker - Jones clan it is an odd fact that the oldest in each family group is left-handed. Which made Aunt Arlene left-handed, as am I.

I treasured getting letters from Aunt Arlene. Along with news clippings.

In the past year Aunt Arlene subscribed me to the Hightower Lowdown. Along with the majority of Americans, Aunt Arlene was appalled at the Trump embarrassment.

Aunt Arlene was a bit surprised that I can tolerate living in Texas, after having spent the majority of my life living in one of the nation's more progressive states, to now be living in a state which no one would accuse of being progressive.

Just recently, well, a month or so ago, Aunt Arlene had Cousin Linda, her daughter, Facebook message me asking how I was handling the heat. Apparently, the news was making the Texas heat seem real HOT. 

The news of Aunt Arlene passing hit me hard today. All my siblings have always had Aunt Arlene on a pedestal. She was so smart, funny, easy to talk to. And so kind and loveable.

When I got a text message last month, or was it the month before that, time flies so fast, with that text message, from sister Jackie, telling me she was now a Granny. I reacted to that news in a way which surprised me, as in I suddenly felt real happy. The news about Aunt Arlene also struck me in a way which surprised me, but it was the opposite of real happy.

The older I get the more it seems that time is fleeting, quickly melting away...