Good afternoon! Partly sunny and 71 degrees in Stratford. There is a southwest breeze at 9 mph. The dew point is 56 degrees.

This afternoon will be mostly sunny, with a high of 78 degrees at 4pm. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 58 at 6pm. Southwest wind around 9 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies and a high of 74 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 2008.

The sun will set at 8:38 pm with dusk around 9:13 pm, which is 33 seconds later than yesterday. At sunset, look for partly clear conditions and 70 degrees. The dew point will be 62 degrees. There will be a southwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 19 minutes of daytime, an increase of 42 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 60 degrees at 4am. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 62 at 8pm. Southwest wind around 7 mph. In 2016, it got down to 45 degrees with thunderstorm and thunderstorm rain and rain and fog and shallow fog and mist and cloudy skies. The record low of 36 occurred back in 1980.

On this day in 1964, United States Senate breaks a 75-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, leading to the bill’s passage.

As previously noted, next Saturday is Eat Your Vegatables Day when the sun will be setting at 8:41 pm with dusk at 9:16 pm. On that day in 2016, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 81 and 56 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 79 degrees. We hit a record high of 94 back in 1994.

So far it hasn’t gotten real hot yet, I am prepared. I’d rather spend my weekends in the potholers then basically anywhere else. I am at a nice shady campsite with a breeze, so I don’t expect it too get hot up here today. It will also help with the bugs which remain fairly bad because everything is so darn wet. But not as bad as Memorial Day Weekend when everything was saturated in the woods. 

I drove down to Powley Place to see if the campsites were available. I didn’t really want to camp down there as I wanted my space and privacy so I can shoot guns and listen to music as loud as I want, and honestly the bugs were bad. The campsite framed by the pines was open, which would have been nice but in the hot weather probably would have proven to be quite hot. With the full moon it would have been nice but I decided against it due to the bugs. 

Powley Road is remarkably soft and muddy compared to years past. Usually is a very good dirt road. It looks like it has been graded and the bushes trimmed back but with all the rain and its general lack of much gravel it’s just soft compared to years past. Who knows, with the warmer temperatures maybe we will get a break in the rain and things will finally firm up. I guess it’s still pretty early in the summer. 

Driving up I noticed that it appears that they finally have a new ranger out of Stratford. I saw a DEC pickup parked in someone’s driveway. That’s good because I know there has been a lot of concerns especially at Stewart Landing with no one keeping an eye on it. 

I forgot what a long drive it was up to Stratford, although part of it is my fault for refusing to drive the Thruway. I did take a short hop from Albany to Schenectady on the Thruway and I wish I hadn’t because it was completely backed up. I think there was an accident earlier and I just hit residual delays but it still was sluggish enough I would have been better taking the back roads through the Pine Bush. 

Last night was nice at camp, I had a nice big fire although I misplaced the remote or more like I couldn’t find in the dark the remote that controls the truck cap color lights and they were stuck in the flash mode that I found annoying. I ended up using the older, white LEDS and the dimmer three color LED string. But regardless it was a nice fire and I stayed up until the early hours of Saturday. 

I realized that I left the can opener at home but with a sharp hunting knife I cut off the top of a can of cornbeef hash and had it with some eggs. I think it worked out to be a a pretty good breakfast. I also cooked up a few sausage because until I saw the knife I didn’t know I was going to have the hash. Probably dulled the knife a bit but it really cut through the can like it was butter, so it couldn’t have been a big deal. It’s an inexpensive Chinese made Remington knife so it’s hard to be concerned about it and I can sharpen it later. 

Well, I should finish up cleaning up my campsite and get out kayaking. I would rather avoid getting caught in the almost certain thunderstorm either on the lake or the shoreline. I also need to check my work email. 

Enjoy this beautiful day! Stay cool.