Tight Turn

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Interstate 68 aka the National Freeway has a 70 MPH speed limit until you reach a steep 6% descent and head down to Cumberland from Allegany Grove and then it makes a very sharp left turn to avoid the North Branch of Potamac River and downtown Cumberland on an narrow elevated highway, which was built to replace the old US 48 through Maryland. The speed limit is reduced to 40 MPH, and to a driver unfamiliar with this stretch, even 40 MPH seems fast, with 15 MPH exits that dump directly onto city streets.

This section of highway is quite infamous for serious crashes, including one that burned part of the downtown. On June 1, 1991, a gasoline tanker descending into downtown Cumberland from the east attempted to exit the freeway at exit 43D, Maryland Avenue. The tanker went out of control and overturned as the driver tried to go around the sharp turn at the exit. Gasoline began to leak from the damaged tanker, forcing the evacuation of a three-block area of Cumberland. Approximately 30 minutes later, the tanker exploded, setting eight houses on fire. The fire caused an estimated $250,000 in damages (equivalent to $590,000 in 2016), and prompted MDSHA to place signs prohibiting hazardous materials trucks from exiting at the Maryland Avenue exit.

Taken on Saturday October 21, 2017 at Cumberland, MD.

Moorefield WV

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Winchester Avenue in Moorefield. A town in West Virginia that smells a lot like raw chicken, like you might get from the store, as it's home to the Pilgrims' Pride factory that turns the many live chickens from local farms into the styrofoam and plastic chicken you get at the store.

Taken on Saturday October 21, 2017 at Moorefield, WV.

Paul Manafort Indicted In First Charges In Mueller’s Russia Investigation

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Paul Manafort Indicted In First Charges In Mueller’s Russia Investigation

"The Justice Department charged Donald Trump's former campaign chairman and a top aide with "conspiracy against the United States," "conspiracy to launder money" and other charges on Monday morning."

"Paul Manafort and his assistant, Rick Gates, turned themselves in to the FBI on Monday morning in response to the first charges in Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in last year's election."

October 30, 2017 9 AM Update

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Today is October 30th which means the month is almost done. Tomorrow is Halloween. Cloudy and damp around 56 degrees in Delmar, NY. Light breeze but it’s expected to pick up later. Clearing out later today with a slight drop in the mercury as the day progresses. Very windy, especially midday.

The sun will set at 5:50 pm with dusk around 6:19 pm, which is one minute and 20 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for partly clear conditions and 52 degrees. Breezy, 18 mph breeze from the west with gusts up to 31mph. Today will have 10 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 35 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 39 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Southwest wind 11 to 16 mph. In 2016, we had light rain in the evening, remaining overcast into the early morning. It got down to 29 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1988.

So today Trump campaign chairman Paul Manaford surrender to the authorities for some kind of crime. Partisans will celebrate but it rather sucks for him and our country as a whole. It sucks if corrupt acts lead to the election of the president, it sucks if people got government favors they weren’t supposed to receive. Nobody wins if the Russians unfairly influenced the election. I remember watching those debates, chomping down on peanuts, trail mix  and beer. I had an uneasy feeling about both of the candidates. Hopefully what our country will learn leads to sensible and reforms.

The bus ride downtown hasn’t been too bad but I took the later local because I didn’t quite make the earlier one because I got looking at my budget from my road trip. I got the unspent cash counted and will return to the bank today. I think the trip was under $500 all things said and done. Not too bad although I think if I did the trip again I would have changed my plans on where I was going to go — like the New River Gorge Bridge and more of the southern Monongahela National Forest and more hiking at Dolly Sods.

Made my appointment for Wednesday for the State Inspection, Oil Change and Tire Rotation. I am going to hold off on getting the bolts torqued on the lift kit until next week. I am hoping it will pass with the lose bolt, I’m not going to draw attention to it. If it has to get fixed there to pass, so be it, if not I am going to the off-road shop next week and have them re-torque the bolts or replace whatever hardware needs to be. The off-road shop is on Central Avenue, so dropping it off it next week isn’t a big deal. I am not planning on going over any rough terrain or driving very far within the week.

This weekend my aunt is coming up from Arizona, so I will be staying in town and going out with my family for weekend picnic. Sunday again doesn’t look all that nice. Maybe the following week I will head out camping somewhere if the weekend looks nice. That is a long weekend, with Veterans Day Observed on that Friday.  Next Tuesday is the Election Day. Maybe I will help with a local campaign, although I haven’t been that involved with things this year.

Looking ahead, there are 8 weeks until Christmas when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:59 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2016, we had drizzle, then mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 43 and 21 degrees. It was fun camping that night on Irish Hill. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1889.

October 30, 2017 Morning

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Good morning! After a wild and wet night, Monday’s come back around again. Occassional light rain and 54 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a west-southwest breeze at 14 mph. The dew point is 47 degrees. Not a lot of rain, the bulk of the rain came last night. Only 0.1 inches of rain is expected before it ends around 1 pm. Which is good because an umbrella is useless in this weather. Either wear a rain coat, stay inside or get wet. It’s that simple.

Today will rain likely before 10am, then a chance of showers between 10am and 2pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high of 54 degrees at 7am. Typical for today. Maximum dew point of 47 at 7am. Windy, with a west wind 14 to 19 mph increasing to 28 to 33 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph. Remember kids, that’s the State Speed Limit. Cuomo will send his State Troopers out patrolling the skies for excessive wind speeds. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies. The high last year was 60 degrees. The record high of 80 was set in 1946. 0.1 inches of snow fell back in 1925.