Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA

The Elm Avenue Park and Ride offers a convenient way to get downtown without the hassles of urban traffic. Located next to the Elm Avenue Park at the end of the Delmar Bypass (NY 32), it is serviced by several buses that will quickly transport you downtown.

There is a new, expanded schedule for the Elm Avenue Park and Ride. 5 morning buses depart there, 5 buses in the afternoon plus a mid-day bus schedule. Very convenient. http://www.cdta.org/uploads/Route719.pdf

August 8, 2020 7 AM Update

Upcoming Sunsets:

8:00 pm sunset – Wednesday, August 12
7:45 pm sunset – Saturday, August 22
7:30 pm sunset – Monday, August 31
7:15 pm sunset – Wednesday, September 9
7:00 pm sunset – Thursday, September 17
6:45 pm sunset – Saturday, September 26
6:30 pm sunset – Sunday, October 4
6:15 pm sunset – Tuesday, October 13
6:00 pm sunset – Friday, October 23
Standard Time Begins – Sunset on Sunday, November 1 is at 4:47 pm
4:45 pm sunset – Tuesday, November 3
4:30 pm sunset – Wednesday, November 18
Earliest Sunset – Wednesday, December 9 at 4:21 pm

Rain Approaching from the West

August 5, 2020 Night

Good evening! Mostly clear and 70 degrees in Delmar, NY. ๐ŸŒŒ There is a northwest breeze at 5 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 57 degrees. It’s a very pleasant evening. Lots of stars โœจ out back and the crickets ๐Ÿฆ— are singing ๐ŸŽถ their song.

I went over to John Wolcott’s house ๐Ÿ”Žand we went through the most interesting file ๐Ÿ“‚ of old photos and documents relating to preservation or lack therefore of the Fort Orange site now buried โšฐ under Interstate 787. ๐ŸŒ‰ I took some pictures of the files and I’ve posted some and will continue to post more in coming days. ๐Ÿ–ผ

It was a pretty quiet day at work ๐Ÿ’ปand I was able to get the quick photo ๐Ÿ“ธ uploader up and working. This allows me to quickly upload photos from my smartphone ๐Ÿ“ฑ to the blog and some of the other content as an alternative to the traditional uploader which is better for uploading several maps or photos at once. ๐Ÿ‘† Combined with the better camera on my new phone I should be able to post high quality pictures from my trips on the fly.

I got next week off from work ๐Ÿ–๏ธ and I’m heading out to the Finger Lakes this weekend for a week or socially distant vacationing. It’s a real vacation, none of this remote work from the wilderness. ๐Ÿ’ป๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒฒ This year I don’t expect to spend every day at a state park ๐Ÿž but instead will do more hiking and kayaking ๐Ÿ›ถ away from the crowds. The first half of the week looks pretty nice โ˜€ but if the second half kind of is rainy โ˜” I have lots of books to read ๐Ÿ“–.

Might try to camp at that site with more limited cell reception as I kind of want more quiet. ๐Ÿ”• I’m not saying I won’t visit the Glen Dairy Bar ๐Ÿจ๐Ÿฆ a few times or maybe get up early one or two mornings and get a spot to swim ๐ŸŠ at the Watkins Glen pool but it’s not going to be the focus of some years. ๐ŸŒปI want to do different things, more hiking and paddling and less crowded gorges or touristy places during the pandemic. ๐Ÿ‘พ Nothing wrong with staying in camp a few days with a book ๐Ÿ“™ or watching the cows graze on the pastures ๐Ÿฎ. I really do get tired of all the emails ๐Ÿ“ง and social media ๐Ÿ˜œ especially the trolls send emails that are downright harassing.๐Ÿคฌ

I picked up most of the supplies and food ๐Ÿฒ I will need for the first few days of my Finger Lakes trip. I also got two waterproof cases for my phone and camera ๐Ÿ“ธ should I decide to bring them kayaking ๐Ÿ›ถ. I also have a knock off Go Pro camera ๐Ÿ“น which I should figure out how to attach to my kayak. I’ll need some night crawlers ๐Ÿ› for fishing ๐ŸŽฃ but I’ll get them once I get out there. I’m also looking at getting another water container with a spigot that I can put on a table and turn the spout ๐Ÿ’ง for water.

Tonight will be mostly clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 56 degrees at 4am. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 3rd. Maximum dew point of 57 at 9pm. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It became sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 63 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1994.

Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous ๐ŸŒ– Moon with 93% illuminated. The darkest hour is at 1:02 am, followed by dawn at 5:21 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:53 am in the east-northeast (66ยฐ) and last for 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 3 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 6:32 am with sun in the east-northeast (73ยฐ). Tonight will have 9 hours and 42 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 19 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 80 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 18th. Maximum dew point of 58 at 8am. Light northwest wind. Hell, that’s going to feel like a an autumn day. ๐Ÿ‚ Low due point, cool temperatures and deep blue skies. ๐Ÿ—ป A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 84 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1900.

Tomorrow as downtime allows I’m going to pack ๐Ÿ’ผ and clean my apartment ๐Ÿšฟgetting ready to leave probably early Friday and working remotely from camp in Madison County. I could change my mind depending on how busy Thursday and Friday are but actually prefer to get up early rather than making the evening slog especially with the sun setting earlier now. ๐ŸŒ‡ I also need to go to the laundromat, ๐Ÿ‘š probably work from my truck there plus the atm ๐Ÿง although I guess I could do that in Friday morning.

I got two more books out of the library today. ๐Ÿ“™ Some how with the online ordering I ended up with more books than expected – I kept ordering things I thought I wanted to read ๐Ÿ“– and with delays I kept ordering more. Kind of like AliExpress ๐Ÿ“ฆ but only free. Most of the books are on farming and homesteading – it’s a topic I’ve been doing a lot of reading about this summer plus one book on solar power and off grid living. ๐Ÿก Also got Storey’s Guide to Raising Pigs ๐Ÿ–. My fascination with pig farming started with Cam Edwards and maybe my neighbors raising pigs growing up and has only grown since learning about the grazing breeds like this Idaho Pasture Pig ๐Ÿฝ that is so trendy these days at least on the internet.

In four weeks on September 2 the sun will be setting in the west (281ยฐ) at 7:27 pm,๐ŸŒ„ which is 42 minutes and 51 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 76 and 62 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 77 and 57 degrees. The record high of 100 degrees was set back in 1953. It’s funny to think we’re talking about September so soon. I should see about updating the countdown clock, it’s been a while since I’ve done that. ๐Ÿ•’ Maybe tomorrow – got to find the dates of all the upcoming autumn holidays. ๐Ÿ‚

Otter Brook Looks Great for Swimming

June 4, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Partly sunny and 61 degrees at the Speculator Village Park. There is a west breeze at 10 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 56 degrees. It was neat watching the deer graze along the river early this morning.

So I’m up in the Adirondacks for an indeterminate time period ๐Ÿ—ป like most of us are living through these days. Working from my phone and the Speculator library Wi-Fi, ๐Ÿ“ถ might as well take advantage of the nice weather and remote work before the office reopens at some point in the near future. Wearing a banada over my face won’t be fun while working, although I have a private office at my current job ๐Ÿข so I doubt I’ll have wear a mask in the office.

It should be a nice weekend up north, โ›บ although I’ll have to watch out for thunderstorms and plan appropriately with the battery ๐Ÿ”‹ bank to keep things properly charged. I have enough food and supplies through probably Monday but I’ll need ice from Speculator before then so I can get additional supplies as needed if I decide to stay longer. I will have to move to a different campsite if I stay beyond Sunday but next week is kind of up in the air. Once I’m set up at camp I probably won’t drive anywhere, instead just hanging out and relaxing and walking wherever I need to go like down to the swimming ๐ŸŠ or fishing ๐ŸŽฃ hole.

Today will be mostly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 77 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 10th. Maximum dew point of 56 at 9am. It should be a great day outside. West wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 70 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1919.

Today’s plan between the emails and the messages and calls ๐Ÿ“ž is to some birding ๐Ÿฆ and enjoying the sun before setting up camp. After 11 am I expect a fairly busy day but my laptops are fully charged and ready to go so I anticipate no issues. ๐Ÿ’ป Plus I should have ample solar. โ˜€

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:57 pm with sun having an altitude of 69ยฐ from the due south horizon (-0.9ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 7:52 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-northwest (303ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:35 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 29 seconds with dusk around 9:09 pm, which is 44 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Full ๐ŸŒ Moon in the southeast (134ยฐ) at an altitude of 14ยฐ from the horizon, 230,416 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 9:56 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 71 degrees. The dew point will be 55 degrees. There will be a west-southwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 16 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 7 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy ๐ŸŒค, with a low of 57 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 15th. Maximum dew point of 56 at 4am. Southwest wind 6 to 8 mph. In 2019, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 55 degrees. The record low of 39 occurred back in 1990.

I am glad that the state is forcing stores to take back cans ๐Ÿป starting this week. While ultimately I found eight cans in my refrigerator I didn’t buy any more beer for camping in ground I didn’t have a lot of space for empties. I didn’t want to have to make a special trip to the transfer station to dispose of them – it’s not like you can burn aluminum cans. โ™ป Most Coronavirus is passed by close physical contact indoors so it seems silly to ban returns. Instead I bought apple ๐Ÿ juice which is not only cheaper but also slightly more healthy even if it junk food with all the natural sugars and calories. But I plan to be splitting wood and hiking this weekend so I’ll have plenty a chance to burn calories.

Next week I’m going to call the mechanic ๐Ÿ”ง about the toe in on the rear left tire which is now showing very noticeable wear. I think something was bent when I damaged that shock bushing back in 2017. I’ve known about the issue for a while but rotating the tires addressed it but now that things are getting worn down its more noticeable. I was hoping to wait to do repairs and get a full alignment when I got new tires in a year or two but it needs to be addressed sooner than later. I know it should have been the responsible thing to do some time ago. ๐Ÿ™

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. ๐Ÿ˜• Saturday, a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. West wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Maximum dew point of 57 at 6am. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Maximum dew point of 45 at 8am. Typical average high for the weekend is 75 degrees.

It’s actually going to be pretty cool up north ๐Ÿƒ but hopefully with the sun won’t be too bad. I left the kayak home ๐Ÿšฃ as I didn’t want to have to bother taking it on and off for the needed solar power for work.

Heading Back to Camp

Next Time – Monday June 1

Today’s sunrise was at 5:19 am. The next time the sun will rise later then today ๐ŸŒ„ is in 27 days on Sunday, June 28.

The average high for today is 74 degrees. ๐ŸŒก The next time it will be on average cooler then today is in 104 days on Sunday, September 13 when the average temperature will be 73 degrees.

The highest point for the sun today will be 69.5° from the horizon at 12:54 pm. ๐ŸŒž The next time the sun will be lower in the sky mid-day is in 40 days on Saturday, July 11.

Today has 15 hours and 58 minutes of daylight. โณ The next time the day will be shorter then today is in 39 days on Friday, July 10.

Today’s sunset will be at 8:26 pm. The next time the sun will set earlier then today ๐ŸŒ† is in 51 days on Wednesday, July 22.

The average low for today is 52 degrees. ๐ŸŒก The next night it will be on average cooler then tonight is in 108 days on Thursday, September 17 when the average temperature will be 51 degrees.

 Lupine