Camping at Piseco-Powley Road on July 30, 2026
First camping trip with the new SuperDuty!
Damp and cloudy start to the day âïļ
It was raining when I first got up but quickly stopped before I got up and ran to the bucket shitter. Reheated coffee, sitting by the propane heater as pancakes cook down.
Cows are by this morning, licking ð the salt lick block. It was werid, a salt block was actually in my campsite when I arrived, I tossed it back in the field. ðŪ Rain has cleared up but there is only times of sun. âïļ Supposed to be more sun by afternoon.
Heading over to East Ithaca today ðē ðķââïļ to do some biking, hiking along some of the nature preserves ðļ out that way. Trying to visit some new, interesting places. Then I need to get some supplies before heading back to camp. ðïļ I thought about bringing the kayak but it’s a very windy day and Cayuga Lake would be choppy. And it’s too cool to swim. I should try to get some water at a state park along the way. â― Maybe top of the gas tank on the truck as tomorrow is Pennsylvania day. Looking forward to doing the Blackwell Triple Crown. Want to get back to camp fairly early tonight as tomorrow will be a long day.
Walking through a cow pasture, wandering around the woods in the drizzle as a stoned poney ð
Humming along with Harry Nilison’s Everybody’s Talking, snapping photos, I’m going to where the sun keeps shining through the pouring rain. Reading, giggling, dreaming. Bigger than the SuperDuty!
Maybe not the nicest day ever but so far not a washout. ð§ïļ A bit of rain showers briefly earlier and I hung out in the truck cap ð and watched a video or two, did some reading ð. I actually wanted a quiet ðŦĒ day to do some reading and later some fishing. ðĢ Time to just hang out and study the wildflowers ðļ and anything that captures my imagination on the library apps on my phone. Listen to music ðķ and while the rain holds off maybe lay in the hammock.
Not every day of vacation needs to be crazy, ðĪŠ there is nothing wrong with listening to Karen Dalton as the drizzle falls out of the sky. ðĐĩ Are you leaving for the country? ð I guess I just got to be careful adn not slide and fall in any of the cow plop. I actually really just wanted at least some quiet days like this on vacation, and while more rain is possible if not likely this afternoon into evening, so far it hasn’t been a complete washout.
The clouds, rain and staying parked for two days should really test out the camper and solar system. ⥠No leaks on the cap so far, but we’ll see with the rain. Since fixing the loose wires and bolt yesterday, the electrical system and solar seems to be working good on the SuperDuty including the starting battery ðŠŦ gauge. So I’m happy with that. The nice thing with the truck having the remote start is If either the starting or accessory batteries get too low, I can hit the key fob and the truck will idle for 15 minutes and then shut down automatically, without me even having to climb out the bed or from my chair. Good if we got real hard rain. The forecasts very from light rain to 2-3 inches of rain, especially in the evening. A lot depends on just how the patterns come and go.
The good news ithe forecast has improved for the first half of the week. Tuesday continues to look like a go for the Blackwell Trip Crown, Pine Creek Gorge and Lambs Overlook. ðĻ Monday I want to get to bed by 9 PM or maybe earlier, and be up at 5 AM the next morning, and on the road by 6 AM to Pennsylvania. It’s going to be a long day, but I have good headlights on the SuperDuty and Glen Dairy bar is open until 10 PM. As long as I”m back to the Glen by 9 PM it won’ t be pitch black. I figure if I get on the road by 7:30 or at least before 8 PM from the Ansonia area of the Pine Creek Gorge, especially after getting a beer at the Burning Barrel bar, ðŧ you know because, burning barrels and stinky hillbilly incense freedom. Then head north on PA’s newest section if i-99 and take that north to NY 414 – beaver Dams in Corning back to Watkins Glen.
I have wood put away for a campfire tonight, ðĨ depending on how cold and damp it is. I might end just spending the evening reading in the truck, it all depends on the weather, as the evening might be the wettest part of the day. But relaxing, hanging out at camp was kind of my plan ðïļ for at least some nights here on summer vacation. ðĶĨ There are just some days I wanted to devote to just relaxing and not running from place to place. Sometimes I swear summer vacation seems like running from one state park to another. Yesterday, I was might cheesed ðŠĪ out about them now charging to park at the Upper Black Diamond ðļ rail trail lot at Taughannock but it’s dumb as I have state park pass, and I could tap it on the machine, and it made it easier and quicker when I went to Taughannock in the afternoon. It was absolutely packed at the park yesterday, I really did not enjoy the crowds at all. ð§âð§âð§ It was still a lot of fun though paddling on Cayuga Lake.
Tomorrow I am planning on Ithaca. Depending on how cold and wet it is and how much propane heat I use, I might need propane from Tractor Supply ðŪ and posslbly more weed to smoke. ðŽÂ Thinking of hiking some of the trails up at Cayuga Heights. Not sure if I am going to bring the kayak or not ðķ, might be fun to go for a paddle at the end of the day from Stewart Park. Not going to due to the Arboretum or Cornell necessarily this year, I’ve done that plenty in the past. At 4 pm, I need to get to the library so I can connect into the office over the VPN and monitor the work order system. â― Want to top off the tank in the SuperDuty and get groceries tomorrow, so I am all set for the Pennsylvania trip and if I am by a roadside farm stand, get zucchuni, though I’m sure I’ll pass By one for certain on Tuesday down in Pennsylvania. Or maybe not! ð I do want to get more zucchuni for sure.
Rain ahead
Hmm. Sunday afternoon into evening looks very wet as of the latest forecast, 2-3 inches of rain. Fortunately I have good books to read and this campsites is relatively well drained. Rest of the week has improved. Got camp tidied up, ready for a good rain.
Brought to you by Big Tobacco ðŽ
Thank you for smoking.
There are few industries quite as demonized as the tobacco industry today. It is not only considered acceptable but almost polite to demonize smokers, or to at least see them as little more then “addicts” in the grip of an awful deadly addiction to nicotine. The anti-smoking crowd has been very successful.
We’ve known for a long time – at least 100 years – quite possibly longer that smoking is harmful to health, especially on an aggregate fashion to the publics health. There is a clearly measurable impact on the rate of smoking compared to the rate of lung cancer deaths, heart attacks, emphazema. While it’s impossible to know if anyone’s dealth was caused by smoking and not a many factors such as poor diet, air pollution, the concetion obvious on a public health level, and there is a strong correlation and only sometimes strong evidence of causation on individual health.
Smoking is a pretty disgusting habitat, it smells bad, dirties your teeth and your lungs. Certainly don’t do it indoors or around others. It’s good to discourage smoking for public health, but I don’t love the idea of public shaming of smokers or tobacco makers. At the same time, I have very little tolerance of tobacco health impact deniers, nor those who claim that smokers are little more then those caught into a chemical addiction.