Good afternoon. Currently 58 degrees and sunny. Later it will be 60 degrees. A few degrees below normal but with lots of blue skies. Another very dry day, with a dew point of 18 degrees and relatively humidity around 25%. Certainly not summer. Rain is expected for Monday night and Tuesday – a quarter inch to a half inch for both the day and night. Increasing clouds tonight with a low of 36 – about four degrees below. Hopefully rain will tamp down the fire risk. Camping, I will only have campfires in places that have rings, only start them after dark, and keep them small. The fire risk should be a lot lower in the Finger Lakes, with the woods greening up, but although hopefully with the rain expected Tuesday, things should become a whole lot less dry.

Getting ready for my road trip. I packed my truck as much as I could at this point, topped off the oil and windshield washer fluid. Added a half quart of oil, as it had reached the mid-point on the dip stick and I wanted it near the top, in case there is any oil consumption over the trip that is probably around 600-750 miles with a fair bit of weight from camping supplies, steep hills, and the kayak on the roof. I don’t know why the oil was down so much when I checked in February – in the past two months the oil has barely dropped a ¼ of a mark on the dip stick – to about the half mark. I check the oil every week after it’s been parked, just to be safe. Running low on oil could be a very expensive mistake. Also checked the other fluids, they look fine, although both the brake fluid and coolant are a little below the full line but within reason. Some point I’ll top them up. Some time next month, I’m going to take it to the shop and have them change the transmission fluid and the differential fluid.

I am going to hold off putting the kayak on the roof of the truck until Monday evening, as I don’t need to drive around with on it more then I have to. I have it ready to go on the roof, and the racks are back on the truck. Packed sunscreen and bug spray. And I brought the heater, in case it gets cold. All next week looks seasonable if not a bit cold. Most of the week will be sunny but with a chance of rain throughout the week. Spring time can be a little unpredictable for sure. Mostly left is to pack clothes, food, personal care products, and a few other supplies. Despite the Young Democrats meeting I have on Monday night, I should be ready to leave for work on Tuesday at the proper time, and hopefully will be able to get out of work early.

Left to do today, is to head down to the library and get some reading materials, then go to the store and buy some groceries and other camping supplies. I will probably end up going to Walmart, as I need another low-pressure propane hose to hook up both camp stove and lantern at once. I want to have enough groceries, so I can avoid going shopping through Thursday on my trip – as I expect Wednesday to be quite busy, especially if I both plan to fish in the Cazenovia Creek and visit Montezuma – then head south to the national forest. It’s possible though that I hold of the Montezuma until Thursday then spend more time at the Cazenovia creek. I’ll have to think about it more. I didn’t get reservations to Rickett’s Glen State Park in PA, as I’m not totally sure if I will end up going to PA, and honestly, I don’t expect them to be fully booked at this point.

Continuing to work on the blog’s theme revisions, which will focus on increasing usability and reducing clutter. I like how things are going, but the changes aren’t done, and honestly, I want to fully test things out before moving forward on the changes. Probably will roll them out in mid-May. Things will look a whole lot less clutter and make it easier to print and view maps and other content. As things change, sometimes it’s necessary to refresh things to align them with contemporary needs. And much like tail fins, styles need to change to keep the looks up to date.