Good Morning! Happy Wednesday. Today is Hump Day, halfway through the week. Kind of a cloudy morning to start out the day, but the humidity was low. Walked down to the Park and Ride, a delightful 14 minute walk. Don’t really have any weekend plans, as it looks like I will be stuck in town, as I have to return my loaner car on Friday, and I don’t think I will have Big Red back for the weekend. I am hopeful that alternative arrangements can be made with the shop, if I don’t get my truck back soon.

That said, tomorrow marks 6 weeks since I was rear-ended on the expressway, so something has to get done sooner or later. I am saving a ton of miles on my truck, but I still want it back. I can put off the lift kit until November or December, which is a good thing, because the tires aren’t getting any wear and tear on them. That said, once I get the truck back, I will take it somewhere to get the tires rotated, and change the oil out my parents, as it’s due for an oil change at this point. Might finally get the new air filter in it too.

Still hoping to get up to North Lake in August and maybe Moose River Plains. I might do the traditional Moose River Plains trip during Labor Day Weekend, which is really only 5 weeks away this year. Endless summer came to and end before it ever really got underway. It’s been a busy summer with work and basically no vacation time, so I really haven’t gotten away much. But once I get my truck back, hopefully I’ll get some long weekends and be able travel once again.

Good Evening! Happy Tuesday. A nice day out, decided to walk down to the Park and Ride and catch the express bus into the city. I’ve kind of grown tired of taking the local, but the Express bus doesn’t go past my house anymore in the morning, so I either have to walk or drive down to the Park and Ridge. On nice day like this, it’s definitely worth the 15 minute walk. I do have to be up and ready about 15 minutes before I would for the Route 18 local, but you get some fresh air this way, and avoid the crowded city bus.

The nice weather continues today. It is supposed to be clear and low humidity through the rest of the work week, at least not until Friday. It might get more stormy and humid for the weekend. But not bad for the summertime.

This past weekend I got up to Piseco-Powley Road for camping at Campsite #1. I’ve never camped at this large campsite, which is right on the East Canada Creek, a bit on a high bank over it. It was 8 PM by the time I got up there, as I had to go home first and load the loaner truck up. 8 PM is tough when you have to get wood gathered, a fire started, and a tent set up, and make sure food is secured before dark. I ended up setting the tent up around 9 PM – and I didn’t realize until after I was in bed, that the fly wasn’t properly attached, and I could see the stars. At least it didn’t rain on Friday night, and there wasn’t a heavy dew.

I drove down to Dolgeville on Saturday to check my phone and to pick up some night crawlers, then tried my luck at fishing at the Stewart Landing Dam. Got a few bites, but nothing to stayed on the many lures and night-crawlers that I tried. I think it was from the heat and being the middle of the day, but I thought I would have had better luck there. Maybe next time I will have to camp at the Stewart Landing with the truck, and hike down to the dam to do some evening fishing.

Spent sometime listening to podcasts and reading while drinking beer at the campsite int afternoon. Some guy with an old early 1970s-era F-150 and a cowboy hat stopped by and dropped off a whole bunch of brush and firewood he cleaning out. He noted that there was a lot of bears and other wildlife up there, and I probably should keep a sidearm on me, especially in the tent, to scare off wildlife if need be.

I never bought the .22 I was going to buy nor the pellet gun, first because of my concerns with the ammo shortage, and then because I got rear-ended and was kind of freaked out about driving the high-traffic roads to get to the gun store. Plus it’s not hunting season for anything yet, so I wouldn’t be able to use it for much of anything besides shooting beer cans and paper plates in the woods.

Went down Potholers in the evening, but they were pretty darn cold because the sun wasn’t out and it was a pretty mild evening. At least I got cleaned off, then I went back to the campsite, and made dinner – a mixture of rice and lots of fresh veggies from the farmers market. Sunday morning, I got up and started making coffee, but ran out of fuel. I hadn’t picked up additional Coleman fuel and I’ve been burning a lot of lately camping, as I’ve been using the camp latern, and burning it clear of fuel every night prior to breaking camp, to ensure I don’t leave fuel in it – should it sit for a number of weeks.

I started taking down the campsite and packing my loaner truck. It started to pour and thunder loudly before I got the tent down, so I hid in the truck cab for a bit. I tried to wait out the worst of the storm for 45 minutes, before finally tearing down the tent in the rain. Got home, put the tent on the blacktop, and it dried out in about an hour.