Microsoft OneDrive Memory Takes Me To Wichita Falls Tulalip Casino Waterfall & Orcas

Interesting Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day showed up in my email this morning. Interesting due to being timely regarding news I read this morning about a similar thing in my current Wichita Falls location.

Wichita Falls is named after a waterfall on the Wichita River which disappeared way back in the late 1800s. Wiped out by a flood. One can walk by the location of the former waterfall via the Circle Trail. There is a sign letting you know you are at the location of the former waterfall.

So, after the Wichita River waterfall disappeared the town did not opt to remove "Falls" from its name, and just go by Wichita. Perhaps not wanting to be confused with the Wichita in Kansas.

After a century of visitors to Wichita Falls asking where the waterfall was the town decided to spend a few million bucks building an artificial waterfall. The artificial waterfall is prominently seen whilst driving by on the main freeway which passes through Wichita Falls.

However.

The artificial Wichita Falls waterfall is frequently turned off, which sort of defeats its purpose. The problem is the water for the artificial waterfall is sucked from the frequently super muddy Wichita River. The mud mucks up the pumping system, hence the frequent maintenance shutdowns.

So, the waterfall news referenced in the first paragraph above is the Wichita City Council is considering hiring some sort of engineering firm to analyze what needs to be done to renovate the Wichita Falls artificial waterfall.

Which takes us to the photo at the top which showed up this morning in my emails. That is a view of the entry to the Tulalip Casino Resort, in Marysville, in my old home state of Washington. The entry features a big realistic looking waterfall.

The Wichita Falls City Council should find out who built that Tulalip Casino waterfall and hire them to upgrade the Wichita Falls artificial waterfall.

Changing the subject, slightly, if you are ever in Washington, driving north of Seattle on I-5, it is well worth it to get off the freeway when you come to the Tulalip Casino exit, clearly visible from the freeway.

The interior of the casino is made to make it seem like you are underwater.

The exterior of the Tulalip Casino has water features in addition to the waterfall.

Such as Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, frolicking in the replicated sea. 

And a large statue of a Tulalip tribe member spearing salmon, by another waterfall.

There are a couple casinos a few miles north of my Wichita Falls location, on the north side of the Red River, in Oklahoma.

I have been to the closest one, the Apache Casino. There is a large parking lot in front of the casino, but nothing of the spectacular sort one sees at the Tulalip Casino in Marysville, Washington....

Tuesday Wichita Falls Public Library Visit Leads Me To Ultra Green Lucy Park

On this cloudy second Tuesday of the 2025 version of June I found myself needing to drive to downtown Wichita Falls, to the library, to replenish my supply of reading materials.

And, since it was nearby, and I was in need of some salubrious outdoor aerobic activity, to replenish my endorphin supply, leaving the library I headed west to Lucy Park.

I do not remember the outer world at my current North Texas location previously looking so lushly green as it currently looks. The past several years Wichita Falls, and the surrounding area, have been in dry drought mode. Resulting in a landscape shaded more towards brown, than green.

The above green view is looking north at the area of Lucy Park I call the Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle. Currently looking more jungle-like than I ever remember it looking.

Due to the jungle recently being flooded, mud remains, even though the flood has receded.

Hence, walking the Backwoods Jungle is not yet doable.

Continuing on I walked the Circle Trail, which runs parallel to the Wichita River at this location. The green landscape almost looks over saturated, almost not natural.

The river level has dropped significantly since my last Lucy Park visit. So, I was able to walk out on the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge without fast moving river water, below the swaying bridge, making me dizzy.

The bridge deck's wooden planks look to have been rendered a bit warped from being submerged under river water. Though the warped deck boards look a little dangerous, I carefully stepped on a couple warped planks and found them to be safely solid.

Saturday Morning Wichita Falls Horizontal Tornado Appearance

This first Saturday of 2025's version of June is starting off with some weird cloud action, looking like a horizontal tornado, as viewed from my kitchen window.

A thunderstorm was on the weather menu for a couple hours after the sun arrived to light up the day. But, no thunder was heard. Some rain did drop, soon after the above photo was taken.

It is now an hour after the above photo was taken, and the horizontal tornado has moved on. Or dissipated. 

Another thunderstorm is on the weather menu beginning the hour before noon. Which is my regularly scheduled endorphin acquisition time of the day.

The thunderstorm a couple days ago knocked out power to over 1,000 Wichita Falls homes. And one radio tower. 

My location has not suffered a serious power outage since the notorious multi-day outage a few Februarys ago, when the outer world chilled to below zero. 

I hope to not learn which is worse. No power, and thus no heat when the temperature is below zero. Or no power, and thus no air-conditioning, when the temperature is in the 100-degree zone...

Friday Sikes Lake Catfishing

On this first Friday of 2025's June, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured for some nature communing under a cloudy gray sky.

Of late the weather has been a bit frightful, what with random lightning bolts, hail balls, downpours and wind gusts with enough force to turn walking vertical to horizontal. Along with the need to dodge various projectiles sailing in the wind.

Soon upon beginning my high-speed walk around Sikes Lake I came to the scene you see above. Three kids fishing. Hoping to hook a catfish. For dinner. 

The three kid's means of motion, to bring them to the lake, was three scooters. Modern day scooters are a huge upgrade from the scooters which existed way back when I was a kid.

I took the above photo of Sikes Lake a minute before I came upon the three kids fishing. In this view we are on the rocky shore at the east end of the lake, looking west. The three kids fishing were about 50 feet to the left, or south, if you prefer compass type directional information.

That gray sky looks a bit menacing. Looking like lightning bolts or a tornado could come from those clouds.

Thunderstorming is on the weather menu for later today... 

Linda Lou Takes Me To Spencer Jack's Scholarship Award

Incoming text message this morning whilst I was driving.

When I got to my destination and pulled the phone from its pocket location I soon saw it was a message from Linda Lou, currently residing in Mount Vernon, in the Skagit Valley of Washington.

Linda Lou and I both originally came from another Skagit Valley town, a couple miles north of Mount Vernon, called Burlington.

The text in Linda Lou's message said she had had the opportunity to be on a committee choosing scholarship recipients.

And, that yesterday was Mount Vernon High School's Scholarship Awards night.

Followed by saying, "This is who I saw, had to take a photo and send it off to a proud uncle."

The who who Linda Lou saw (in the above photo) was my Nephew Jason's first born, Spencer Jack.

I can never remember if Spencer Jack is my Great or Grand Nephew. Or if I am Spencer Jack's Great or Grand Uncle.

What I do know is recently Spencer Jack's dad told me that in the Fall Spencer Jack will be attending Flight School at Central Washington State University. I assume this is what the scholarship is for.

I have not seen Spencer Jack since August 13, 2017. If I remember right, and seldom I do, at that point in time Spencer Jack was 10 years old. Maybe 11. Which would seem to make Spencer Jack around 18 years old now. 

I met Spencer Jack for the first time in August of 2008, at Bay View State Park, in Washington. I next saw Spencer Jack in, I think, March of 2012, at his Aunt Jackie's in Chandler, Arizona. It took me some looking to find a photo from that day...

We did not get in Aunt Jackie's pool that March Day back in 2012. A March Day, five years later, I did get some nephew and niece pool time. But, not with Spencer Jack, but with Nephews David and Theo, and my one and only Neice Ruby.

Kids sure do seem to grow up fast nowadays...

UPDATE: I forgot to add the link to the blog post where I found the photo of Spencer Jack. That blog post had multiple photos. And marked the final time Spencer Jack was with his Great Grandparents, also known as my Parental Units. 

Friday BBQ In Arizona With Spencer Jack, Super Hot Potato Chips & Refrigerator Slide Shows

The Anonymous comment on this blog post is amusing. I had to read the whole post to understand where the comment was coming from...

Tuesday Hails Wichita Falls Wild Windy Thunderstorm

Today's, third day of 2025's June, also known as Tuesday, is being stormy, as was predicted. 

HOT muggy heat was the primary feature from the time the sun arrived, til about 5 this afternoon. At that point in time the sky darkened, wind began to gust, lightning began to bolt and thunder began to roll.

So far, none of the predicted hail.

The view you see photo documented above, is the view looking west from my living room's large window which faces that direction.

The photo documentation does not quite manage to document how strong the wind is blowing. Or how loud it is due to the rain being blown at the window at high speed.

During my regularly pre-noon endorphin acquisition time I opted to avoid the hot humidity and instead do my high-speed walking in air-conditioned Walmart. 

Currently we are scheduled to continue being stormy, off and on, all night long. And into tomorrow.

The tornado warning sirens did their first noon-time Monday testing yesterday for the first time in several weeks. Apparently testing the tornado sirens is not done when we are under a possible tornado warning, as doing such would create a false alarm situation.

During the short course of time typing this short blog post the storm has settled into constant downpouring, not as windy, total cloud cover, not hearing thunder. 

But, hail has now loudly arrived. I will go see if I can get a photo which at all captures what the hail looks like....

Well, above is the current view out my kitchen window. A wall of hail obstructs the view. This is looking south. The hail has now calmed down...

HOT First June Monday Walk Around The Sikes Lake Prickly Pear Desert

On this second day, a Monday, of the 2025 month of June, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured for some salubrious endorphin acquisition in an outer world heated to almost 90 degrees, as measured by the Fahrenheit method.

After several years of drought at my North Texas location, the last couple months of copious amounts of rain has caused the landscape to be a lot greener, and more colorful, than has been the case for a long time previous.

As you can see, via the above photo documentation, the Sikes Lake Desert is blooming with bright yellow Prickly Pear Cactus flowers.

Pink Evening Primrose continues to color the ground. In the above view we are looking north, at a tree's remains, a patch of wildflowers, a blue lake and a blue, cloudless sky.

Today's walk around Sikes Lake was just on the near edge of being too HOT.

As the HOT time of the years progresses, I gradually acclimate to the HEAT. Eventually 95 won't feel too oppressive. As long as humidity stays low...

First June Day Back To Lucy Park Not Getting Dizzy On Swaying Suspension Bridge

On this first day, and first Sunday, of the 2025 version of June, it was back to Lucy Park I ventured for some nature communing with the outer world pleasantly temperatured into the upper 70s, with a cooling breeze blowing.

As you can see, via the photo documentation of the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge over the Wichita River, the river is still running high. What you cannot see, in a still photograph, is that that high water is flowing fast.

I did not walk out onto the bridge today. I learned a couple weeks ago, with the river high and moving fast, the swaying of the bridge causes me to get dizzy, like being on a bad carnival ride. The younger version of me likely would have enjoyed this sensation. But, elderly me does not enjoy any sort of vertigo sensation.

Today Lucy Park was having the most visitor action I have seen so far this year. I suspect this being the first day of June, coupled with being borderline perfect weather conditions, made it appealing to visit the best park in Wichita Falls.

May zipped by fast. I suspect the same for June. The 4th of July will soon arrive. I think I shall go to the downtown 4th of July Parade. Have not done so for a few years. It is an entertaining parade.

Ferry Through San Juan Islands Takes Me To Fort Worth

Saw the photo you see above, on Facebook, yesterday. Motivated me to blog about it on my Washington blog. Did so in Ferry Friday Harbor to Anacortes Looking at Mount Baker. 

For Texans reading this, let me explain what you are looking at. That big white thing is a volcano. Its name is Mount Baker. Mount Baker is part of what is known as the Cascade Mountain Range.

Those little mountains surrounded by water are what are known as islands. In this case, the San Juan Islands, an archipelago of a lot of islands, most small, but several large enough for habitation, and needing a ferry dock.

That little white thing you see in the water, is actually not small at all. It is a Washington State Ferry, photographed soon after leaving Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, on its way back to Anacortes on the mainland. 

When I saw this photo of the San Juan Islands yesterday it brought to mind a conversation I had had the day before, when someone asked me if I knew what the current status was of Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision.

I replied that as far as I knew Fort Worth's supposedly vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme is still stuck with only three little freeway overpass type bridges, built over dry land, in anticipation of one day a cement lined ditch being dug under the bridges, with Trinity River water diverted into the ditch, creating an imaginary island, to be known as Panther Island.

Fort Worth's vitally needed project, sold as such by its incompetent advocates, has been limping along since this century began.

Just one fact alone has bugged me from the start. As in, what sane city would name something an island, when the creation of such is due to a cement lined ditch diverting river water? Having grown up in a state which has oodles of actual islands, this was a hard bit of nonsense to try and swallow.

During the same time frame, as in, during the years of this century, whilst Fort Worth has not managed to see hardly anything of its embarrassing Trinity River Vision, other parts of America have seen all sorts of things.

The town I moved to Texas from, Mount Vernon, Washington, has built an actual vitally needed flood control development. Which turned a stretch of the Skagit River, as it passes by downtown Mount Vernon, into what basically is a mini-Riverwalk.

This century Seattle has built two downtown ballparks, re-built its waterfront, built a tunnel to replace a waterfront viaduct, and more, like, well, the entire Amazon complex.

All over America, other than Fort Worth, major projects have been proposed and come to fruition, during the same time frame in which Fort Worth has been unable to get water to flow under those three bridges built over dry land.

Los Angeles built its huge So-Fi Stadium.

Arlington built the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

New York City re-built the site of the Twin Towers. 

Fort Worth began to perplex me soon upon my arrival in Texas. There were so many things that just were not right. And now, all these years later, still the same.

Why? It is perplexing....

Cool Sikes Lake Museum of Art Nature Communing With Vinculum

An almost totally blue sky has returned to my North Texas location on this final Friday of the 2025 version of May.

The clouds were blown away by a cold front which blew in yesterday, dropping the temperature into the 60s, as measured via the Fahrenheit method. It was so chilly I wore long pants, for the first time in a long time, when I ventured to Walmart after the cold front blew in.

The temperature had climbed out of the 60s, into the 70s, when I ventured to Sikes Lake, an hour before noon, for some nature communing, endorphin acquisition and art appreciation.

My current Sikes Lake walking route takes me through the Wichita Falls Museum of Art's Sculpture Garden.

That is one of the works of sculpture art you see above.

Inset is the signage telling you that you are looking at something called "Vinculum".

And that Vinculum was created by Jonathan Hils, in 2009, by welding with powder coated steel. 

In the inset photo of the signage, you can see Vinculum in the background. Obviously, I got closer for the close-up photo documentation.

Perhaps I shall remember to do a blog post of all the works of art in the Wichita Falls Museum of Art's Sculpture Garden...