Duck
Along the shores of Otsego Lake.
Sunday August 23, 2020 — Notes
It turned out to be a pretty rainy day for setting up camp 🌧️
I guess that was to be expected, with Hector Backbone up in the clouds between Cayuga and Seneca Lake. Still I was hoping the rain would pull off this morning by the time I got to the Finger Lakes.
For the Love of Bacon didn’t have bacon 🥓 so I figured try out their sausages. I’m sure they’re probably pretty darn good. Did get some really surprisingly cheap New England clams which I cooked up with beer, mini onions and sweet corn.
Got camp set up. 🏕️ Twelve nights here through Labor Day aka September 1st. Seems at one level to be a long time but I also know I’ll be packing up and heading home on Labor Day before you know it. I’ve spent so much time in the Finger Lakes it seems so rediculously familiar like I barely left. I’m glad I’m planning on Michigan next year with my new truck 🚚. Lots of clams and beer today beer, sitting by a small fire 🔥. Sort of glad I brought the heater but actually it’s not that cold out, only wet but I could see mornings being somewhat cold. I had the room in the truck it would have been silly not to bring it. Already getting dark with it being late August, plus it’s a rainy night 🌃 and it’s 8:15.
Been listening to Patrick Hutchinson’s audio book 📙 Cabin during most of the afternoon. Interesting story. And just slowly but surely getting my camping gear packed and organized for what will be my longest camping trip of my life and also nearly two weeks through Labor Day.
Loons on Spectacle Lake
Here are some loons swimming on Spectacle Lake. Unfortunately, while I was videoing them on the lake, they didn't make their call. As soon as I turned off the camera, they made their call.
Delaying Vacation Only a Little Bit 🏖️
I wasn’t going to go to the Guilderland Town Board Meeting to speak about further comments on the Albany Pine Bush Conservation but I knew I should go and Lynne reached out to me. The kayak was on the roof of my truck, I packed my clothes yesterday and filled the water and propane, so it’s just the dry goods which I did before leaving for the meeting, and the cooler and personal things like contact solution and my toothbrush in the morning. Not going to bother with showering before heading out to camp though I might do a quick shave and will brush my teeth. I want to do a bit of cleaning and double checking my packing list.
I was going to leave before the morning rush hour, but it looks like rain is going to stick around in the Finger Lakes until 1 or 2 PM so no need to rush it and be setting up in the rain. If I leave at 9 AM, I’ll miss the morning rush on the expressway, still have time to get bacon, get small dollar bills for farm stands and ice cream stands, stock up on sweet corn and produce at a stand on the way out there, and maybe clams. I got some needed supplies like lighter fluid for getting a fire started tomorrow with the woods being all wet and not having a lot of burnables to get a fire started. I figure that’s a reasonable time-table.
So yeah. I think truck is running good after driving to work and then out to Guilderland with the kayak on. I’ll tighen the ropes up before leaving and I do need to gas up in Rotterdam when I get bacon before getting on I-88 to head south to NY 206 then west out along NY 79 to Ithaca and ultimately the National Forest. I have that grass I never opened up so that will be good and I have plenty of beer both for clams and drinking. Thursday doesn’t look like a banner day out in the Finger Lakes either but it’s a good one for hanging out at camp, listening to audio books and reading e-books. Friday still seems like it will be a good day to spend in Ithaca paddling and swimming, Saturday then I want to do Pennsylvania and the Pine Creek George Trail as Sunday looks to be stormy.
I don’t know if I’ll have time to do a blog post in the morning but I might do one come the evening once I get camp set up. Depends how I feel but I’ll at least post some quick photos from camp. Now the key is not to forget too many important and irreplaceable things when I leave for camp. I think my list and most of the important stuff already packed.
Early mornin’ rain to start out vacation it seems 🌦️
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 ZR2 trucks, 🛻 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.
