It looks like the drive out to start summer vacation will start out in the rain, though it is mostly supposed to pull off by mid-afternoon by the time I reach the Finger Lakes. I guess I could put off my summer vacation by an additional day, but does seven hours of vacation time really matter that much? I best be on my way in early morning rain.
I have packed my clothes, the propane, the heater and some of the gear last night 🧽 and did some scrubbing around. I wasn’t going to bring the heater but it’s going to be cold and wet tomorrow afternoon as I set up camp, and several mornings are expected to be in the forties and low fifties and if there is a breeze up on the backbone, it might be a bit cool. ♨️ Often during my Labor Day Weekend trip I bring the heater, but it does take up a lot of space and it’s just more stuff to pack and unpack, especially if I bring two coolers to make sure I have lots of space both for beer and food. 🍺 Almost forgot my tackle box, it was in the attic but I got it out as I plan to spend some of my days fishing 🎣 and cooking it up at camp. 🏕️ Good stuff.
Driving to work today, 🛻 as I want to grab my laptop and not bring it back home on the bike, plus I have a few supplies I want to get on the way home, plus maybe gas up Red ⛽ so I don’t have to stop tomorrow beyond getting bacon 🥓 at For the Love of Bacon, sweet corn and peppers 🌽 at that farm stand outside of Caroline and maybe clams s🦪 at Wegmans in Ithaca. Truth is even though I’m planning on 13 days at camp, 🏕️ I just kind of want to get out there and set up so I can relax and be away from all of my problems for a few days. Honestly not a good day for riding in and I figure I’ll have to get used to driving to work as the express bus next Friday. Maybe sometimes I’ll do the local 🚍 but it sucks, it’s slow and the times do not work well with the transfer to the shuttle.
Going to be my longest vacation ever, 🏖️ but I also have so little planned for it. It only became long because I couldn’t take other days off due to staff being out, the Labor Day holiday and because I’m not planning a trip to West Virginia in October for a few different reasons – my truck is getting old, the campground in Penna I used to overnight in has gotten more expensive and is by reservation only, and I want to do an extended-weekend trip to the St. Regis Canoe Area and the Adirondack Rail Trail 🍁. Next year in November after Election Day, when I have my new rig built, I might do West Virginia but a lot depends on the weather.
I’ve been looking a bit at the Chevy Colorado ZR2trucks, 🛻 mostly because I saw an ad for them and was checking out the specs. Bunch of guys in the print shop have them along with the Tacomas. Not sure if I would go for a Chevy at this point over a Toyota – I have real questions about American quality these days – but maybe it’s Trumpster but also I think American manufacturers have started to phone it in 📞 since the pandemic and with tighter emissions and material costs. But it’s interesting to look and learn about what the current generation of compact trucks are like. Need a six-foot bed for camping and will want to get a camper shell. I want something that is easier to drive, more fuel efficent but also off-road capable for getting back to campsites, can take a cap for camping, has a trailer hitch primarily for a bike rack, but also can eventually be used for hauling feed, small livestock and supplies back to the homestead. 🐐 Everybody says prices are going up next year with tarrifs, but I’m not sure how much of that is reality and how much is marketing.
The tarrifs could be struck down by a court or repealed by the President if they are found to be too inflationary. And prices may fall if the tarrifs push the economy into the crapper. 🚽 Politicians generally aren’t sucidal, and 2026 is an election year. Plus even if prices are up 10% next year, or $5,000 compared to autumn, avoiding a winter’s worth of road salt and deprecation makes it worth it, as I get more use out of my existing truck. ☃️ I figure get as much useful life out of red in shit winter weather.
I don’t like the expense 💵 as it will eat up a lot of my cash savings, though I’ve been meaning to put that money to work beyond a CD or savings account for some time now, but I knew I would néed to have it for a truck so I didn’t put it in the market. Even if I do end up spending $50k or $60k on my next truck, I figure this vehicle will most likely serve me through my retirement in second half of my fifties, and by then I might need a bigger truck if I am hauling a lot of livestock, equipment or water to homestead. And I won’t be commuting at that point and probably not traveling either. 📈 I might want to start building up my high-interest savings account again, though I feel like if interest rates are likely to only fall in the coming months, and they may fall below inflation.
But first work today, 🏢 finish packing and then vacation. It’s fine to look at trucks while I’m on vacation, besides reading 📖 and maybe seeing if I can meet some new people on Facebook Dating ♥️ and around the National Forest. It’s a good time to meet new people and catch up on old friends, as a lot of people are working to reinvent their lives in their mid-forties. All and all, I really am not planning anything ambitious for vacation, 🏖️ Thursday or Friday I’ll go to Watkins Glen to swim 🏊 and maybe paddle 🛶 on Seneca Lake. Then maybe Saturday looks good for the Pine Creek Gorge in Pennsylvania before the days get even shorter, as it’s a long day trip. Sunday looks like rain, and good for hanging in camp. Going to be a long vacation, and while I packed a lot of clothes, 👚 I do expect I’ll need to one day go to the Watkins Glen Laundromat mid-next week and wash clothes on up. I guess it depends a lot on weather and how dirty things get. Going to be cool, so I packed many pairs of jeans to wear. 👖 Not going to shower or change before heading out to camp tomorrow, as I see no reason to do that. There is the Guilderland Comphrensive Plan hearing tonight, but I think I’ll pass on that as I need to finish packing and cleaning, 📦 as I really want to be on the road before rush hour tomorrow.