Good evening! Partly clear and 61 degrees in North Syracuse. Calm wind. The dew point is 55 degrees. Definitely a nice evening, and I wish I was staying somewhere I could have a porch, sitting out enjoying the evening with a cold beer.

Watching the debate tonight, and while I’m no fan of Trump, I have to say I’m rather impressed by Pence. Which is a bit scary, because I’m supposedly a liberal Democrat or something like that. I’m enjoying learning more about the candidates and making up my independent opinions about everyone who is running. Maybe I’ll vote for Hillary or maybe Trump or maybe Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. There is a lot of interesting voices in the process, and while I don’t agree totally with any one of them, I look forward to studying the totality of the evidence then ultimately checking my ballot. I’m a Democrat, and as such inclined towards Hillary, but I want to continue to learn more.

While I’m watching the debate on the Youtube/NPR Live Feed (at least until I completely loss interest), I started researching campgrounds along the Blue Ridge Parkway that will be open in November. Not a lot are open after October 29th. That means I’ll have to camp at various places in the Jefferson National Forest. There are many free or low cost primitive campgrounds and dispersed camping opportunities if I plan appropriately. That said, with the sunset at 5 PM in Viriginia during mid-November, I must be careful with the time. Snow and ice is also a danger on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I may end up spending more of my November in the Southern Tier/Western NY hunting, and skipping the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s something to consider further.

Virginia is kind of a weird state. The debate reminded me of that. Very southern in many ways. I like country boys and I like my big jacked up truck, and spending time in the back country but I always found that the southerners I ran into down there were a bit different – especially blacks. I get being polite but the manorisms at times can be kind of strange. West Virginia in contrast feels much more like a northern state. 

For the rest of tonight, look for patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low of 51 degrees at 6am. Quite mild. Eight degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 55 at 9pm. Light southeast wind. The record low of 26 occurred back in 1965. Waxing Crescent Moon tonight with 26% illuminated. The moon will set around 11:10 pm. The First Quarter Moon is on Sunday at 4:33 am with mostly cloudy expected. The Full “Hunter” Moon is on Sunday, October 16th at 4:23 am.

Tomorrow will have patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high of 71 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 55 at 11am. Light east wind. The record high of 91 was set in 1941. The sun will rise at 7:06 am with the first light at 6:38 am, which is 1 minutes and 9 seconds later then yesterday.

Looking ahead, World Pasta Day is in 3 weeks, November 1st is in 4 weeks, Election Day is in 5 weeks and Square Dance Day is in 8 weeks.

I’ve had enough of this debate. I’m off to bed.