Notes

Paying for yesterday today 😔

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All those hours bike riding – 53 miles and the Turkey Path – left me feeling sore and quite dehydrated by morning. And it’s one of those days where it’s blue skies in Watkins Glen and cloudy and gray in Ithaca with a lot of wildfire smoke around.

I felt pretty awful when I awoke this morning 🤮 but after drinking a lot of water and some coffee then having carrot 🥕 pancakes 🥞 with strawberries, some kefir and Greek yogurt I’m starting feeling at least halfway decent. I’m sure in an hour I’ll be good, I’ll head down to Ithaca, swim in a gorge and ride around the city, 🏊 maybe if I’m ambitious, ride up the hill and poke around the botanical gardens. I mostly like hanging out in the section with the Giant Laurel and Mountain Laurel, it reminds me of Penna and West Virginia. The prior I was in yesterday, some two hours a way but it was nice. 🌲

It was probably was that skunky weed 🪴 – that nasty Critical Thinking strain that has done nothing but make me paranoid 🤪 and woke me up during the night panicking that my summer vacation is essentially over because the Pennsylvania day trip is over and it’s the banner trip of vacation – the balance of the week will be remaining in the Finger Lakes with Penn Yan likely the last long trip. 🏞 That doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to do and explore from Montour Falls to Ithaca to Trumansburg and Watkins Glen. Or that I won’t miss a more relaxed pace for the second half of week. 😴 Indeed this morning is more relaxed already, in the sense I’m taking it slow. Maybe it was the salmon for dinner I had last night that probably was going spoiled (I need ice 🧊) or my sheer exhaustion but it’s fun to blame the drugs. And listen to Grateful Dead records. 💿

It was fun in Pennsylvania but such a long trip back especially taking Penna 328 up through Elmira. 🛻I could have taken the expressway back but it’s vacation plus you know me and the back roads, scoping out those burn barrels. 🛢️ It’s such a different culture down there. Kind of dirty and industrial with the fracking, industry and agriculture but also a really strong conservation sense and a closeness to the land 🚜 that you’ll never find in New York. I guess back roads Pennsylvania ain’t that much different than New York but it seems like there are just a lot more gun stores, churches, rundown farms and homesteads, fewer solar panels and a lot more burn barrels and bonfire pits full of trash to burn.

I think I’ll read 📖 for a bit more this morning, head out and get ice 🧊 and then head down to Ithaca, ride over to Buttermilk Falls State Park, swim and wash off the sweat 😰. I’m not going to load the kayak 🛶 though even if Cayuga Lake might be nice, I’m just too tired. Maybe home fries and onions for lunch then head out around 1 pm. Get clams at Wegmans and sweet corn on the way back to camp 🏕. Boil the clams 🦪 and corn 🌽 initially on the stove in beer 🍻 then build a fire and finish cooking on the fire for a nice smokey smell. Maybe not smoke any more of that critical thinking grass. Maybe that should be tossed in the fire 🔥 and burnt staying up wind like some kind of noxious plastic that rednecks love to burn in Pennsylvania.

Rode 53 miles round trip today 🚲

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Rode the Pine Creek Gorge Trail, from Webster Road in Heise Run, Penna to the large railroad bridge crossing Pine Creek in Cedar Run near Letona Road. Hiked the Turkey Trail which is only a mile one way but gains 800 elevation out of the gorge. Plus an hour and a half drive each way. .

Beautiful day, great bike trail. Penna DCNR keeps their trails top notch, I can’t think of a pothole or even a significant bump in the 26 1/2 mile section of the rail trail I rode. I listened to many hours of the Grateful Dead, it was a very relaxed ride – most of the day too.

Most of the rest of the week probably won’t be quite as exciting but I’m still dreaming up new adventures though they’ll likely be in New York State in the Finger Lakes.

A DEI President

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I am a big believer in the importance of hiring diversity. Group think is real, it’s dangerous and can lead agencies to stay in their comfort zone and not innovate. A lot of negative press discusses racial considerations in hiring but any strong and creative group seeks diversity of all types. DEI is not solely about race and gender, it’s urban, suburban, rural, different educational experiences, different past occupations. When I hired for my agency, I made sure to interview applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds with relevant experience.

I think it’s great that Kamela Harris is of Jamaican hertiage and a woman. I am sure she will pick somebody as vice president who is not like that. That’s good, diversity matters. And for her cabinet, I am sure she will continue the long running tradition of hiring at least one Republican, along with several men and women, some African Americans and Asians, some people from the ivy league and big cities, others who grew up on the farm or went to state colleges. Heck, even Trump’s pick for Vice President is a DEI pick – coming from a small town compared to New York City raised Trump.

Off to Pennsylvania 🚲

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It’s a long trip down to the Pine Creek Gorge trail but I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time and I will spend the balance of the day there.

Yesterday was a fun but busy day. 🛶 Made it back camp by nine fifteen or so, it wasn’t quite pitch black then. 🌆 Didn’t catch the sunset last night by the time I rode north from Montour Falls, got my ice cream 🍦 and walked out on the Seneca Lake Pier. Still it was a great day and even got some pool time in at the Watkins Glen Pool. 🏊

Smoked a bit last night and maybe had a puff with breakfast 🚬 which I realized was a bad idea when I got to Walmart and found myself staring at the bright colorful products, trying to remember everything on my shopping list. 📃 It was weird, things were so bright 🔆 and colorful in the store. 🛒 It’s fine, I didn’t get a DUI or crash and it was fully gone by the time I was done kayaking 🛶 in the afternoon. Certainly not going to do that again even if I think it would provide relief 😌 from a hang over. That was four hours after the puff and I had gone for a bike 🚲 ride earlier on in the National Forest and I felt fine to drive but that Walmart experience was a major wake up call. I am stone cold sober for the trip down to PA today.

It’s a long trip down to the Pine Creek Gorge 🚲 but I think it’s worth it for a full day bicycling. I plan to leave by 8 am to start riding at ten, ride and explore all day 🐦 and leave Pennsylvania in the evening at 7 pm. Get back to camp by nine or so to avoid too much driving 🚘 after dark. 🦌 It worth it though it seems like I’m really front loading my camping trip 🏕 but as I like to say, gotta make hay when the sunshines.

Pennsylvania is different then New York. 🏞 But the Pennsylvania parks are spotless and so well maintained. I’ve never been in the whole way through the Pine Creek Gorge – that is the wilderness section without roads between Ansonia and Blackwell.🛢️I wonder if the burning barrel bar is open on Sunday, might get a burger 🍔 and a beer 🍻 there before hitting the road. No cannabis this morning 🚭and I’m not bringing it to Pennsylvania lest I get stopped. 👮 Not worth the risk of a ticket or arrest, if it gets stolen it’s not that big of a loss, I’ll buy more in Ithaca later in the week. ☺ Maybe even see some trash fires 🔥 and burning barrels down there, smell the hillbilly insense, lol. 😂 I don’t know, I think I’m starting to like cannabis better than fires and the freedom to burn shit but laws ⚖ are changing slowly but surely in America. 🇺🇸 I could see the federal prohibition ending under Harris administration.

Maybe Ithaca tomorrow, 🌸 riding around the city, checking out the botanical gardens. Maybe Buttermilk State Park, 🏊 the parking 🅿 there sucks so I would probably just ride my bike there and park somewhere in the city. There is also some gorges and waterfalls I’ve never visited in the city too I probably should explore. 📸 Tuesday probably would be a Watkins Glen day and Wednesday or Thursday be hang out at camp under the tarp avoid the rain ☔ doing a lot of reading 📖 and relaxing or maybe some time at the Watkins Glen library 📚 on the internet and writing that code for Data Services at work. While the cannabis has helped me sleep soundly, truth is I’ve been staying up late and getting up early and not really getting enough sleep lately. 🛏 Happens every vacation.

Truth is I’m not becoming a stoner 🪴 and honestly, I think much of the plants impact on people’s minds is seriously exaggerated. The biggest impact is it makes me hungry until I eat – makes brightly colored fruits and vegetables so delicious – those farm fresh tomatoes 🍅 disappeared quickly though the same is true sober. It also tends to make feel lazy but that’s nice at camp, and sometimes sleepy and sometimes energetic depending on my mood. But lazy is fine at camp. So far no real mind altering experiences, though I giggle more. It does somewhat enhance color preception and makes the woods seem clearer and things a bit more real. I actually got an e-book out 📙 about Cannabis, though most of it is about the health benefits of smoking rather than different strains, how to buy it and how to grow it. Seems like a great homestead plant, 🐮 especially now that it’s legal. That said, I downloaded a Grateful Dead album and have been enjoying it – I used to listen to them when commuting with a colleague to work – and I wanted some chill music 🎶 to listen to at camp 🏕 when I’m relaxed and paying attention.