Lucky for me, it happened to be the 4th of July. Old Glory was out in full force around town today. Props to Wichita Falls for showin' some Patriotic Love!
I even wore my fanny pack so I could run with my camera. Sweeeet! I'm always reminded of Seinfeld's remark, "It looks like your belt is digesting a small animal." But they sure are handy. This is where my run begins...behind the tennis courts. 
One of the things I love about this bike trail, is that there are always fellow extremers running or cycling, and there are ALWAYS golfers out. There's a ravine that separates the trail from the golf course. In some places the walls of the ravine are pretty steep. Guaranteed, any time of the day I'm out there, there's a golfer stomping around the ravine picking up stray and abandoned golf balls. I have a nice vantage point from the trail and can actually see a lot of the balls hiding in the tall grass. I'm waiting for the day when a golfer asks for my assistance in locating their dimpled man-treasures from across the ravine. Anyway, this trail winds around underneath the overpass in this picture. On the other side of the overpass, I'm always hit by the smell of a pungent rotten fart from the stagnant water in the ravine. This is the only spot that smells, and it usually isn't that bad on the way out. It is, however, quite awful on the way back when I'm sucking wind and desparately trying to keep moving.
One of the things I love about this bike trail, is that there are always fellow extremers running or cycling, and there are ALWAYS golfers out. There's a ravine that separates the trail from the golf course. In some places the walls of the ravine are pretty steep. Guaranteed, any time of the day I'm out there, there's a golfer stomping around the ravine picking up stray and abandoned golf balls. I have a nice vantage point from the trail and can actually see a lot of the balls hiding in the tall grass. I'm waiting for the day when a golfer asks for my assistance in locating their dimpled man-treasures from across the ravine. Anyway, this trail winds around underneath the overpass in this picture. On the other side of the overpass, I'm always hit by the smell of a pungent rotten fart from the stagnant water in the ravine. This is the only spot that smells, and it usually isn't that bad on the way out. It is, however, quite awful on the way back when I'm sucking wind and desparately trying to keep moving. A little further along the trail, there is a small grove of these tennis ball producing trees.
Now don't quote me on this, but I believe this one is a male tree. Just past this tree grove is a nice mile long stretch of the trail.
Personally, I think it's the hardest stretch to run because you can see quite clearly how close you aren't. I've only added on the next section this week and I was so pleased to learn that:
1) There is a water fountain just before the last steep incline. God Bless you Wichita Runners Club.2) At the top of the hill, the trail continues right alonside the lake.
I did not know that. I always turned around at a particular point of the trail because I knew that the world on the other side of that last overpass was dark and scary with meth labs and needles strewn along the way.....a-hem, so wrong! There is a private airport not far from the trail, and on the way back, I was thrilled to see an old-timey airplane performing outstanding acrobatics back and forth across the sky!
When it completed a loop de loop I was so impressed that I found myself "woot-ing." I took a couple of pictures. If you'll please take out your microscope, you might be able to spot the plane in about the middle of the picture. Very exciting. And then in my last leg, I had to stop and snap a shot at this pretty little magnolia bloom.
There are magnolia trees all along the trail, but not many blooms right now. I spent the rest of the day running errands and sweating. It was hot today...hot like, wow! Case in point, while sitting at a stoplight at a busy intersection, I watched a piece of paper singe to ashes on the hot asphalt right in front of my eyes. That's hot, baby. Now I'm listening to the remainder of the day's fireworks, as I'll no doubt have to continue listening to for at least the next 2 days or however long it takes for the neighbor hoods to deplete their supply of artillery shells. Altogether I had a glorious day.
