CDTA Route 18 — Andy Arthur.org

Navigator Card

Andy | December 10, 2019

I got my CDTA Navigator card straightened out … 💳

I re-entered my credit card into their website and I put $30 on the card, after which I decided it’s not worth the risk of possibly not being available for the bus ride home due to web purchases not automatically synced, so I went to the Albany Public Library and had them load an additional $10 on it, which will ensure I have enough fare money on it through the early to mid January ($1.30 per bus ride, $2.60 per day, $13 a week).

I probably should have gone to the library directly, but I had never recharged my card that way before. I don’t mind having $40 tied up on my card, it’s not like I won’t use it eventually, even if with the holidays and vacation it won’t need to be recharged until the first or second week of January. Hopefully going forward I won’t have any more problems with the auto recharge, but I always carry a few dollar bills on me in case I have to pay the $2 cash instead of the $1.30 auto tap.

August 1, 2019 Night

Andy | August 1, 2019

Good evening! Clear and 77 degrees taking the CDTA Route 18. Calm wind. The dew point is 60 degrees.

I’m talking the bus home, 🚍 noticing how much earlier the sun sets now that we are into August. Depending how late I get up to the Adirondacks tomorrow I may want to buy firewood on the way up there. 🔥

Super tired after all those late nights working on Pine Bush stuff. 🌲It’s really been consuming a lot of my free time outside of work so I haven’t done much on the blog lately, and I’ve been up after eleven most nights. It’s all the had habits I got in during vacation.

Once I get home I’ll have a quick dinner, load the kayak up and pack my camping gear. ⛺ Shouldn’t be a a big deal, it’s just a weekend up north. I will need to stop for a few supplies ok the way up on Friday night but shouldn’t be a big deal.

Tonight will be clear 🌃, with a low of 59 degrees at 4am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 21st. Maximum dew point of 60 at 8pm. Calm wind. Good sleeping 😴 weather which I really need. 🌲In 2018, we had light rain in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was sticky. It got down to 74 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1976.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon 🌒 with 5% illuminated. The moon will rise at 7:24 am. The First Quarter Moon is on Tuesday night with a chance of t-storms then chance of showers. The Strugeon Moon 🌝 is on Wednesday, August 14th. The sun will rise at 5:47 am with the first light at 5:15 am, which is one minute and one second later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 9 hours and 33 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 13 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 84 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 58 at 4pm. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. It was very sticky. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1975.

Made more progress on John Wolcott papers. 📄 It’s always a nice walk over there after work 🚶 when it’s not too hot. Some of the stuff is really interesting and a lot less so.

Checked out what the dental filing involves. 😁I guess it’s not going to be that expensive with insurance, but I should make sure to brush my teeth more carefully in the back going forward. I’d think with all the milk I drink 🐮 and the fact that I don’t eat sweets regularly it wouldn’t be a problem but I guess it’s part of getting old. I do need to try to floss more too. It might be a little painful but it’s only an hour.

In four weeks on August 29 the sun will be setting at 7:34 pm,🌄 which is 40 minutes and 56 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 96 and 74 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 78 and 58 degrees. The record high of 96 degrees was set back in 2018.

Looking ahead, Sunset Before 7:30 PM 🌆 is a month away, October 🛥 is in 2 months and Last Sunset After 7 PM 🌆 is in 9 weeks.

Map: Greenville Forest Preserve Detached Parcel

CDTA Route 18 at 3/15/17 6:55 pm

| March 15, 2017

We are stuck. Delaware Avenue is shut.

December 14, 2015 update

Andy | December 14, 2015

Good morning. I hope your Monday is going well so far this morning. We are now up to 52 degrees and cloudy. No rain yet. A week and a half until Christmas.

Next Saturday is the Save the Pine Bush Hike assuming Big Red gets me there. I should have the battery back in then by then. Despite leading the hike, I have no idea when it is but my guess is that it’s bright and early at 9 AM at the Discovery Center.

I am looking at heading out to the Adirondacks for the Christmas weekend. I finally should have the propane lantern working and with the heated tent it should be a lot of fun as long as it’s not a blizzard or below normal cold, it should be a lot of fun.

I’m kind of glad winter has held off for a while but don’t expect the warm temperatures to last. But longer days are coming soon and before you know it will be spring time.

November 24, 2015 update

Andy | November 24, 2015

As we move through the 9 o’clock hour, we are at about the freezing temperature. I got somewhat of a late start this morning as I was not used to waking up to the cold and having to climb out of bed to turn up the heat. Camping can spoil you.

It was a beautiful trip up through the Adirondacks on Friday. I haven’t been up to Plattsburgh in years and haven’t driven the Adirondack Northway in late fall on a clear day in years. The Greens and Northern Adirondack Mountains were crystal clear, driving along the Northway. If there were more legal spots to stop along the Northway and I had more free time, I would have stopped and grabbed more pictures. Photos are nice, but I always have memories too.

Without my phone working I didn’t have have Waze, so no advanced warnings of police traps. I normally rely on the Waze speedometer, as the truck’s speedometer is off, especially as you increase in speed. I blew past of famous police traps in Keeseville, as you descend past Pok-o-Moonshine, around 64 mph on the Big Red speedometer which is over 70 in real speed. I saw cop glance at his radar unit but he didn’t stop me. I eased off the gas for the rest of the trip.

Finally make it to Plattsburgh a little after 12:30, then stopped at Gander Mountain to look around in buy some 20-gauge deer slugs. I knew I wasn’t necessarily going to drop a deer while I was up there, but figured it would be better to have them not. I was annoyed that they asked to see my drivers license and took down my license number when I bought them. Its just kind of creepy, especially as Cuomo hasn’t implemented his ammunition database, as I don’t really like the idea of government or a private business keeping track of what I’m buying. I don’t have to give them my drivers license to buy almost everything else like beer and cigarettes, especially now that I look well over 21 years of age.

Stopped at Plattsburgh State and walked around. Even with my jacked up truck, finding street parking was not difficult on Drapper Ave. There always seems to be parking there. A lot has changed and a lot has remained the same on campus. There was a new building on Drapper Avenue, which made me almost miss my turn to that road. Hawkins Hall is mostly the same. The Hudson Hall Annex is new but that was under construction. They are demolishing and rebuilding the elevated walkway around campus. I was hoping to stop by the Political Science department and see some of my old professors but the department was all closed up. They may have been teaching classes. It seemed like there was a lot more African Americans on campus then I remember from back when I went there. They recruit from all over the state, and recently have been offering free tuition to local students who have an ‘A’ average. Snapped a few pictures for memory’s sake.

Stopped at the Plattsburgh Municipal Library so I could get on the wifi to try to switch over phone to an old but partially working phone. While the StraightTalk website was up, it took a while to figure out how to make it work for that purpose. At first I could not figure out how to switch to an old phone, but eventually got it to work. Killed probably another half hour doing this, and by the time I was back to my truck it was quarter to 2 PM.

I had previously planned to leave Plattsburgh no later then 2 PM. This would get me to either the Deer River area or CC Dam Association / Brasher State Forest camping areas before 4 PM or somewhere there around depending if I had to make any stops. I did have enough time for a quick trip over to Point Au Rouche, but by then I was pushing 2 PM so basically I went to the beach, walked out on it too and snapped a quick few shots. Not having my phone to give me directions, I wanted to make sure I left plenty of time to get up there, lest I get lost or have to drive in the darkness. I was finding my way exclusively by memory of six years ago and the times I’ve made maps of state forests and studied road maps. Fortunately I have pretty good map memory.

NY 190 was as boring and congested route as always. There was two different speed traps on the road but I limited my speed and kept my truck a safe distance from cars ahead of me which were constantly stopping and turning. The sky turned gray over this super boring road in Indian and wild hillbilly country out by Altona. The wind and then snow squall picked up. It was frigid by the time I arrived in Malone. At least the snow wasn’t sticking at that point as the mercury still read about 35 degrees.

To be continued. I’m near my destination stop.