Good morning! Happy Final Friday of August. 🌻

Stick a fork into its done, as they say about summer, high gas prices and just being so busy with work makes life kind of sucky these days.

Maybe I have an attitude problem but I am just focused on making it through to 2023, saving some money up, getting closer to my goals of owning my own land. I can see the finish line at this point, and every dollar I can avoid spending and instead investing the better.

Partly cloudy and 63 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees.

I decided against packing last night to head up north this weekend. 🏡 I was just super tired after a long day of meetings and number 🔢 analysis that stretched into the evening. I was going to go grocery shopping 🛒 but it was getting late, and I just couldn’t imagine running to the store, spending a shit ton of money on food, gas and beer, then packing my gear, and then driving an hour and a half in thunderstorms and pouring rain, to set up gear in the dark and wet, for a hot Saturday with the Potholers mostly dried up, then head home back home on Sunday. 😫 I am spoiled from the pandemic, remote work, and the many long weekends I’ve spent up north. But with work load these days, it’s not a good or realistic option, as I’m sure I”ll be getting emails and texts all weekend, and it’s just not responsible to ignore them all weekend.

I am not fully discounting heading out to Schoharie for this weekend on Saturday, 🏕 but I am not sure. It is still pretty expensive with the gas, and a lot of work to pack gear, and shop as I have virtually no food at home. Maybe it’s just better to stay home and just go to Thacher Park on the Nature Bus. 🚌 That is a free option, that would save like $100 with inflation these days – money 💵 that could be invested for a better tomorrow. On the other hand, if I could find somewhere nice to hike, that might be fun and then camp over night at Burnt Rossman and do a swim in the morning at Mine Kill. ⛰ But if I do go out there, it had to be for something novel and new — and memorable. Not spending $100 to swim in a free swimming pool, when I can use the town pool for $7.

That said, I am hoping next Friday to take off and head up north ⛺ for the Long Labor Day Weekend. Probably leave at sunrise 🌅 next Friday, set up camp early and possibly remote work 💻 part of the day. Saturday hike in the West Canada Lake Wilderness 🍁 possibly up Pillsbury Mountain Saturday night to see the fire tower lit up 🗼 for the tower lighting. From there you can see both the Wakely Tower and Snowy Mountain. 🕹 I want to get clams to boil in some beer, do some floating in the Jessup River or maybe some paddling in Lake Pleasant. I don’t think there will be enough water to do the Kujamunk or even the Sacandaga River out of the lake, unless I do a lot of portaging. 🛶