Good evening! A hot evening with a flew flashes of lighting around, with the mercury around 84 degrees at my parents house in Westerlo. There is a west breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 70 degrees. The heat index is 83. The muggy weather ends Saturday around noontime. 😓 Going to be with us for a while.

In case you are wondering, rumors of my disappearance are greatly exaggerated. It’s true that I have not been on social media this past long weekend – partially by choice and partially because I didn’t have phone service up here in the wilderness. 📴 Its summer, I just wanted a break from the internet and the obnoxious but addictive thing known as social media. And now I’m back. Lucky you.

Hot town, summer in the city.🌆 I knew it would be hot when I got home and went out to my parents house, and the blast of hot air I got when I opened my truck doors did not disappoint. It’s been delightful here in the potholers, maybe even a little bit cool from time to time, it could be ten or fifteen degrees warmer out up here to be truly nice but that is not to be. But st least I am making progress on my tan and the water wasn’t that cold.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Partly cloudy ☁, with a low of 76 degrees at 2am. 15 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 72 at 6am. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2017, we had partly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 59 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1978.

Tomorrow will have isolated showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny and hot 🌞 , with a high of 94 degrees at 3pm. 12 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 73 at 8am. Heat index values as high as 102. I guess I’m glad I work in my air conditioned office. Although the potholers were nice. But I have to stay out of the sun for a while, because my back is a bit sunburnt where I missed them with the sun screen. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 102 was set in 1911.

It was a nice weekend. Up north here the big story wasn’t the heat but the bugs and the horse flies were pretty bad at times, especially at camp mid day. 🏕 Most of the extended weekend was spent down at the potholers and reading at camp – I got through three books cover to cover. 📚Humid especially Sunday night into Monday but not oppressive. I think the high up here according to Big Red’s DIC was only 83 degrees for the weekend.

I had pizza twice with stacks of farmers market mushrooms that I made in the camp oven, along with burgers another night. 🍕Eggs and sausage one morning for breakfast. Another was instant oatmeal and finally strawberry muffin cake with the remaining farmers market strawberries. Good stuff.

Sunday evening I went down to Dolgeville and got ice at Stewart’s and ice cream at the Green Acres Restaurant / Ice Cream stand. 🍦I opened my wallet and found I only had three dollars left but that’s fine they are very affordable. I’m going to have to visit there again the next time I am there – maybe even get take out because they look to have an interesting menu that is incredibly affordable.💸

All four days spent the bulk of my time at the potholers, cooling off, enjoying the bright hot sun. Broke my sunglasses in the strong currents of the creek though. 😎It was really nice up north, although I have to admit that the last two nights up at camp I kept the campfires tiny – mostly to burn the accumulated camp trash and for enjoyment of watching the flicker of the flames. 🔥Yeah, I’m a pyromamiac and that’s why I eventually want to live off grid when I own land. I spent the last two nights next to the fan, staying nice and cool, often with a book, sometimes listening to a podcast.

Saturday morning I did get out and do some fishing around six am. Caught a few pan fish and tossed them back in.🎣 Then went back to camp at had breakfast. Then the potholers. I wish I had brought my kayak as Saturday was pretty nice up north, I doubt Lily lake would have been ungodly hot. I just didn’t bring the kayak as it’s a pain to get on and off the truck – and when it’s on the roof of the truck the solar panel has greatly reduced output.

Despite the relatively heavy load of running the fan a good portion of the day and night, phone charging, and plenty of lights, the accessory battery held up well as it got charged well by the sun while I was hanging out at the potholers.🔌

Over the weekend a few things broke. The first night at camp, I was sitting near the camp fire and suddenly the back door on the truck cap slammed shut. While the glass wasn’t damaged it looks like one of the support pistons that holds up the glass failed. I could see the piston left leaked oil so it looks it just failed catastrophically. Not sure why it would fail after only six years but maybe it was crappy materials from ARE toppers. Or maybe some kind of stress from the crash u was in years ago now but I doubt that. I held it open with bungee cords and if I remember from my old truck cap those pistons aren’t that expensive or difficult to replace – just pry off the c clip. ✉ I found a replacement set on Amazon for $19 and will probably replace it on Thursday.

Also failing this weekend was one of the propane hoses. Same Coleman model hose that I bought from Walmart that failed two years ago. I think it’s a material issue that causes cracks when rolled and unrolled.🍥 Walmart sells a different brand now of the hose, the newer one I’ve had no problems with which replaced the bad hose from two years ago. Swapping hoses between the maternity and the camp stove is a pain in the butt. More money to spend that I ain’t have.

But besides those technical glitches it was a good long weekend, much nicer than being stuck at home in the heat. I think I picked some good days to take off but I made a mistake on leaving the kayak home. 🚣Besides replacing the bad piston,  I plan to wire up that two way switch for the Independence Day holiday, so I can top off the starting battery on extended camping stays in places where I have ample sunshine.🔋The two-way switch I got in the mail is pretty small but I think it will work for the job.

On this day in 1962, The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas. 🏪Two years later, President Johnson would sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law on the same day. We shall overcome, high prices, I guess. Or at least we shall buy cheap ammunition, beer, bait, and dinnner all in one store. It’s so convenient. 🛍 I hate not having a Walmart near where I’m traveling to stop in quickly and buy some camp supplies.

There are 2 weeks until Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:30 pm with dusk at 9:03 pm. On that day in 2017, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 85 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 83 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1900.

While this past weekend has been hot, next weekend with have much lower humidity and nice weather. 😎 Saturday, sunny, with a high near 80. Maximum dew point of 55 at 6am. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 83. Maximum dew point of 58 at 7pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 82 degrees. I am considering going out to Schoharie County next weekend, but are still deciding on that.⛺ It might be a nice weekend to do some fishing, some camping, some swimming and maybe hit up a farm stand or do some hiking.

In four weeks on July 30 the sun will be setting at 8:17 pm,🌄 which is 19 minutes and 12 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2017 on that day, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 81 and 52 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 82 and 62 degrees. The record high of 100 degrees was set back in 1933.

Looking ahead, Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 is in 2 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 9 weeks, Constitution Day 📜 is in 11 weeks, October 🛥 is in 13 weeks, Columbus Day 🛥 is in 14 weeks, Veterans Day Observed (Monday) 🇺🇸 is in 19 weeks, Cyber Monday 🛍 is in 21 weeks, First Sunday of Advent ✝ is in 5 months and New Years Eve 🎆 is in 26 weeks.