Good morning! Already it’s Friday! Two more days before I take down camp and head back to Albany. It’s been a very cloudy week but relatively rain free, at least compared to the previous week or even last year. With the end of vacation coming up on Sunday, we will already be in August, today marks three weeks to Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️.

The rain had stopped, but now it’s restarted and around 69 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector. ☁ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 66 degrees. The second half of this week has been quite muggy and cloudy although each day we’ve had a bit of clearing skies. The cowboys, or a guess graizers or farmers are out on the pasture across the street rounding up cows using four wheelers on this somewhat wet morning. 🐂🐃🐄

Today will have showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Cloudy ☔ , with a high of 74 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. It was humid. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1975.

Today’s plans will be similar to Wednesday, probably head into Watkins Glen later to get on the internet and then for a hike in the gorge and a swim in the pool. 🏊 I’m hoping for more sun later, but I’ll take it hour by hour. I need paper towels, matches and gasoline too. ⛽This morning, I’ll probably hang out at camp for a while, laying in the hammock listening to the radio, maybe going for a short walk later on.

Tonight in the Finger Lakes, the sun will set at 8:24 pm with dusk around 8:55 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clouds ☁with a chance of thunderstorms ⚡ and 70 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy ☔ , with a low of 66 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. South wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was sticky. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1966.

As I brought my kayak all the way out to Watkins Glen, I really should put it to use at least once. 🚣 Especially as Saturday will be one of the most beautiful days of vacation. One option I’ve been thinking about is backtracking to Montezuma for a day and paddling along the Seneca Canal. That’s about an hour each way. Another option, is to put in on Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen and paddle the Montour Falls Canal, assuming that the lake isn’t too choppy and the canal isn’t flooding and mucky from today’s rain. After I did that I could hit up the Watkins Glen pool and deck one last time to soak up the rays before its done as far as I’m concerned for the year. Then obviously, one last hit of the Glen Dairy Bar.🍦🍧🍨 Another fall back is paddle and fish Lamoka Lake after visiting the Sugar Hill Firetower. Going to be such a beautiful and hot day on Saturday.

Come Sunday it’s the tear down that campsite day. ⛺ Yeap, vacation is coming to an end and I’ll have to head back to the old Albany to make more money, 🏢 so I can continue to invest in my future. 💰Going to be such a nice day, I’m thinking maybe I should get an early start taking down camp on Sunday, maybe hike Enfield Glen before eleven,🏊 then go swimming in the Gorge pool until 12:30 or one, then be back to Albany NY by four. 🕔

Despite the lack of sun, it’s been a good vacation. 😥I’m sure I will probably have a few more opportunities for weekend trips this summer, and I look forward to hunting season and my November road trip, which I’m thinking will have a day or two in the Finger Lakes, although the focus will be primarily more on the Western New York and probably Pennsylvania. West Virginia remains a possibility but not a certainty at this point, I’m still evaluating my options. 🗻

I love being out in the wilderness, and look forward to owning my own land and living off grid in a low tax high freedom state. 🔥🔫🐂 I wish everyday could be as much fun as my camping adventures, and not just be the daily grind in the city, with the toilet and refrigerator I’m always struggling with at home, or all the restrictions that come with living in the city. The rural landscapes and the hills and valleys really stir my soul and remind me there are things to life beyond that dirty, rundown apartment in the city that the rent keeps going up on.

When I get back home, I have to schedule an oil change for Big Red and I have an eye appointment on Thursday.👀 I have a coupon from the General for a $50 synthetic oil change and tire rotation, which is a good deal but it does mean having to bring it all the way back up to DeNoyer in Colonie.🚗 But then I shouldn’t need an oil change until late winter or early spring, and I’ll have contacts for the year.

I am going to create a new Facebook Page for my blog over the next few weeks. 📰 The new changes to Facebook API makes it impossible to automatically post from my blog to my Facebook profile, but if I have a page I can continue to easily post all my posts and photos to Facebook. I’ll probably share some of what I post on blog and Facebook Page to my personal profile but looking at the tools and options available for Facebook Pages, I think I make the switch sooner rather than later.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️ when the sun will be setting at 7:54 pm with dusk at 8:23 pm in the Finger Lakes. Figure about 15 minutes earlier back in Albany. On that day in 2017, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 75 and 56 degrees. We hit a record high of 95 back in 1947.

Maybe I’m young and crazy, but walking back one mile to Foster Pond with my flashlight off, no moonlight or stars, just by the ambient light of nautical twilight and light pollution is a spiritual journey, listening to the muskrat dive into the pond, the bull frogs and peepers sing their songs, the wind, the occasional splash of the lake. Even on the darkest of nights the woods is never truly completely dark, and it’s certainly not devoid of life, even if I’m the only person for miles around.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. How fast those days of vacation are passing by. Maybe if I didn’t stay up so late and didn’t spend so much time sleeping in the hammock there would be more time.😎

Mostly cloudy, with the sun peaking out and 69 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector. ☔ There is a south-southwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 67 degrees. With the breeze and the sun peaking out at times, it is a pretty nice morning.

Today I am thinking about going to Taughannock State Park in Trumansburg.🏃 Probably will hike around the rim than visit the falls and then if the weather holds up go for a swim in Cayuga Lake. 🏊 Probably still a lot of water going over those falls.

So far this week, despite the cloudy skies,☁ we’ve been largely rain free with some exceptions in the evenings. More sun and warmer temperatures might be better for swimming but so be it.

Yesterday I spent the morning in the hammock reading about the changes to the Facebook API along with reading a new book I got out about the history of electricity.📕 It was another cool and cloudy day, hard to get inspired to do much of anything.

Later on yesterday, I went down to Watkins Glen and down to the library, 💻working to update my blog to adapt to the new rules relating to the Facebook API. I should have made the changes months ago, but honestly I’m not that up on the technology, and the API is complicated to use and constantly changing. I guess automated posts from blogs is impossible with the new API but at least I can still pull my personal profile posts and use them on the blog automatically. I thought that was broken too but it turns out that still works with the changed API.

After that I power walked the Watkins Glen Gorge which proved difficult with all the tourists. 📷 Grabbed a few quick pictures then went to the pool for a swim. 🏊 Ordered a large Maple Walnut sundae from the Glen Dairy Bar. It was so big. 🍧

Got back to camp and decided to skip dinner as I wasn’t at all hungry after that sundae. 🔥Replaced the mantel in the lantern. At first I thought it would be a nice night to look at the stars at Foster Lake but it clouded up. I started a fire to burn up the camp garbage I had including some rancid meat that had spoiled in the cooler. Built a nice fire but it was a muggy evening and wood was still wet and the fire smokey.

Sat by the fire under the lantern reading until nine thirty when it started to rain. 💦Unfortunately my tarp is not where the lantern is so I decided to throw a tarp over the truck and read in there until around eleven when the rain stopped. I went back outside to read some more and then it started to rain again.:idea: Ended up heading back into the truck with my USB reading lamp and reading until quarter until two AM. 📚Between drinking coffee earlier in the day, reading a book I was totally engrossed in, and the blue light from the reading lamp I was wide awake until early the next morning. ☕Heck, I’m on vacation. 💤I’ll do whatever I please and between driving to Watkins Glen and the sun hitting the solar panel on had ample power for the night. Plus I snooze a lot in the hammock.

Today will have a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Cloudy ☁, with a high of 78 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 4pm. South wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 85 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1975. Pretty much a broken record.

The sun will set at 8:25 pm with dusk around 8:56 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for cloudy skies with possible thunderstorms ☁ and 74 degrees. The dew point will be 68 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 23 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 12 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7pm, then a slight chance of showers between 7pm and 8pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8pm. Cloudy ☁, with a low of 66 degrees at 5am. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 6pm. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies with more clouds in the early hours of the next day. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1976.

In the rain lately, I’ve been throwing a tarp over the truck as the cap has a small window leak when there is heavy rain. 💧Looking around I’ve found the source of the leak – the window frame in part has a small gap from the cap. I think I can probably seal it quite easily with some fine clear caulk of some sort when I get home. That said, a tarp over the truck cap also works fine in heavy rain and lets me keep the windows open for some ventilation.

Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until State Primary Day 🗳️ when the sun will be setting at 7:19 pm with dusk at 7:48 pm in the Finger Lakes. On that day in 2017, we had rain, fog, shallow fog, patches of fog, mist, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 79 and 50 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 73 degrees. We hit a record high of 92 back in 1948.