Saturday, November 26, 2016

Tyler long run

Occasionally I take a camera when I run, especially when I'm exploring a city and looking for curious and interesting things.  Time to check out Tyler, Texas!

Heading out from John's current work site at Texas Responsible Energy & Efficiency - see you later, John!


Some pretty foliage - finally seeing colors turn in east Texas:


Well, this is different!  Yes, THAT David Koresh, buried in a cemetery in Tyler, who knew?


I never would have found it without an exact lat/long location in the back of a large cemetery:


In another part of the same place, a howitzer (easier to find):


Moving on to downtown Tyler, this large water tower was apparently set up as a nuclear fallout shelter at one point:


One of many red brick streets downtown:


I had to go see what an "Earthkind Botanical Garden" is:


I'm not sure I found it.  But this garden sure is pretty:


Lovely bench:


This place nearby sure has seen better days - I just happened to notice it blocked off behind a gate as I was running by:


Barbershop pole = checkpoint!


I like the local bus design:


And the rose logo for the city:


I didn't find many murals, but the science center made up for that with several good ones.  Lots of detail here, planets and waves and layers of the earth:


Things that fly, including a butterfly for Mom  :)


Science on the smaller scale:


This probably isn't an official whaling wall, but I still like it:


I'm a fan of colorful utility boxes:


Peace through discovery - a wonderful concept.  It made me ponder why science and facts aren't more broadly used and appreciated when talking about important subjects, like climate change; is it possible that peace and saving humanity aren't desired by all people?  That thought made me sad.  Big thoughts for the middle of a long run, just bubbling up by looking at one mural.


On the lighter side - something pretty:


You have to be looking in the right place to find this sculpture:


Tyler City Square has a nice little fountain - I wonder if the water jets spray higher sometimes:


"Make Tyler a beautiful work of art" - first time I've seen such an elaborate print on a trash can:


I definitely had to find the grave for Shorty the Squirrel:


A bell that was used as a fire bell before being returned to the church:


The only statue I found while roaming around, here is Mr. R. W. Fair at a parking garage:


An important discovery - the Foundry coffeehouse, a most excellent (and warm) place, a little haven in the middle of downtown:


The warm spiced cider was most excellent:


One of many beautiful houses framed by lovely flower gardens, this one with all kinds of honors including a historical plaque and two types of medallions:


The Children's Park is a wonderful (and sobering) little place to walk through.  There are many sculptures honoring children, like the little kid playing with a frog.  Also a couple of large bears possibly tickling each other?


The butterfly garden, very nice:


Aaaagh!!  A giant ladybug, noooo!  You have to understand that ladybugs have been SWARMING in east Texas lately and I have spent many minutes hunting them down and removing them from inside our trailer.  So my reaction was a bit unusual as ladybugs go...


I've seen several Micro Family Farms in Tyler, finally got a picture of one.  I've not heard of this before, apparently they are helping people set up gardens in their yards in Tyler, Austin, and soon in Dallas:


Obviously it's the off season for a garden right now, but here's a brief glimpse of what they look like:


An impressive amphitheater in Bergfeld Park:


A really impressive gravestone in Rose Hill Cemetery:


I'll stop using the term "impressive" as this point and switch to "humorous":


The halls of Tyler Junior College:


I like this tower of books, called "Foundations", in a courtyard at the college:


Not quite sure what to think about the totem poles nearby:


Wonderful depiction of geese taking off from a pool:


A southern checkpoint:


Bubbly fountain at UT Tyler:


Brilliant red foliage on campus:


A tall tower with carillon bells:


I just happened to time it exactly right (got lucky) to hear the noon performance.  It went on for 10 minutes so I was able to get over there and capture just a bit of the very end of it:



This sculpture of (I think) a snapping turtle is called "East Texas Watch Dog" - love it!


I ran on the twisting, turning, switchbacking bike trails through the UT Tyler campus.  Only mountain bike trail builders can imagine just how much trail distance can be fit into such a small area.  I enjoyed running on it; biking would be more challenging for me with all the little dips and steep climbs.

One item of note was this sign on the bridge - "Bridge maximum capacity: 12 persons or 2000 pounds" - but did they really have to call it out?  I can imagine some people would consider that a challenge and would not be surprised to see a Facebook photo with 13 people standing on it:


A bit of the trail winding through the leaves:


Solar for John (and while it would have been a better picture if the sun were actually shining, I did appreciate the cloudy day for my run):


This one really made me wish we were going to the Bay Area for the annual Christmas decoration nighttime orienteering run next month - so fun!  The question for this checkpoint would be something like, "Who is standing on the left?  A) Santa  B) The Grinch  C) Dinosaur"


Second mid-run break - for a bagel and coffee.  Thank you, Einstein's!


This sign has made me laugh several times recently (see the part on the right), so I was happy for the opportunity to include it in this post:


Making my way back to the west, here's an interesting bunch of animals advertising the World of Wildlife Museum:


And the museum is actually free, so I poked my head inside.  I decided I wasn't really up for seeing a bunch of taxidermy that day, so I snapped a quick photo and went back out to continue my journey:


Running through Lindsey Park to see if I could find the bike trailhead, I happened to pass by this unusual disc golf goal - I daresay it could be considered "impressive":


An excellent sign about how long litter takes to decompose (plastic bottles = 450-1000 years) - please don't leave trash on the ground (obviously) - and maybe reconsider occasionally before buying a plastic bottle in the first place:


Wow, I have never thought about a disc golf course as meriting such a "Warning!" sign like this one.  Makes me want to check out the course and see if there are alligators out there or cliffs to scale or something:


Ah yes, here's the trailhead.  Not visible from the road, so I guess you need to know that it's here?  Maybe I missed a sign somewhere.  Anyway, I'd gotten enough miles for the day already, so I'll come back and check out the trail another time.  [UPDATE - yes, there is a sign across from the parking lot.  Don't pay attention to the mileage on the big map board - total trail length is about 13 miles.  And the trails are awesome!  Bring your bike!]


John, I'm back!


That was fun!  Thank you Tyler!

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