Good evening! Partly cloudy ☁️and 79 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. 🌲🌳 There is a south-southwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 68 degrees. The muggy weather ends Wednesday around 7 pm. 😓

I don’t think I would describe today as bad day, 😒but things didn’t quite go exactly to plan. While I did get a shower 🚿 in and about five minutes of swimming ⚡ it wasn’t the full day of swimming 🏊🏻‍♂️ I had planned. I was prepared for thunderstorms ⛈ in the evening but not the countless rumbles of thunder after 2 pm. I guess I can’t complain about the rain much – I didn’t get wet until very briefly at Clute Park 💧 and I was dry by the time I got back to camp.

I like the Watkins Glen State Park pool 🏊🏻‍♂️ a lot but this year is like no other. During the pandemic we are all living through I was really freaked out by the crowds at the entrance and the pool. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 While I’ve never been a real people person, crowds are scary during a pandemic. 👾Even parts of the trail – until I got west of the trail were kind of scary with the crowds. I tried to maintain my social distance and flip the mask over my face 😷 but sometimes it’s just scary. I want to enjoy my vacation in these most scary times, but I also don’t want to end up on a ventilator choking for life, all alone in a hospital 🏥.

I couldn’t get goggles anywhere in Watkins Glen 👀 so I guess I will have to do without. Hopefully my eyes won’t get too irritated from the pool chlorine. 👁️ That said after today’s experience I don’t expect to be spend a lot more time in the parks although I do like a good shower 🚿 or swim 🏊🏻‍♂️ while camping. I thought a Monday at the parks in August would be a heck of a lot quieter. It seems like everybody is craving outdoor recreation during the pandemic. 🏞 Or maybe it’s just I notice people and crowds a lot more during the pandemic. 😷 I can wear a mask and wash my hands 👐 good bit there is only so much I can do.

Glen Dairy Bar was good 🥤, ultimately I decided on a strawberry 🍓 slushy over ice cream. No complaints there, I could taste the pieces of strawberry in it. I am sure I’ll be back for more tomorrow. Thinking ice cream tomorrow. That banana 🍌 sundae I saw somebody have looked amazing. Of course with social distancing these days the lines look much larger but they were busy too with the hot weather. 🍨🍧🍦

Sat down by Seneca Lake for a while 🐼/strong>򎱡nd it was quite pleasant but a fair number of people around. Started to walk along the shoreline and the sky just opened up and started to pour. 🌧️ Ran back to my truck and by the time I got to Bennettsville the sky was clear. ☀ Go figure. It looks like they got pounded with rain just north of Elmira today. I wonder if there was flooding or storm damage down that way ?

Made up hot sausage paddy burgers 🍔 with American cheese which when the bun is well toasted and with some ketchup is quite the treat. I often also put red sauce on the patties but not this time as I decided to bring only one cooler so I have limited space for cold stuff. I actually like them better than beef burgers 🥩 but don’t tell a cow that. I also had a couple of beers 🍻to wash the day away.

I normally bring too coolers but last minute on Saturday I decided to leave one home to save space. 🗃 I am already regretting that decision as it limits meal choices. 🍴 In the early spring or late fall one cooler is fine but this time of year I like to have two so I can store both cold and cool foods. But I get tired of always buying so much ice and having to move and clean with two coolers all the time. ❄ Ice takes up a lot of space but true automotive refrigerators use a lot of electricity expensive and aren’t real energy efficient. ⚡

Tonight will become mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 69 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at pm. South wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 54 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1941.

Tonight will have a Last Quarter 🌗 Moon with 56% illuminated. The moon will rise at 11:50 pm. The Strugeon 🐡 Moon is on Monday, August 24. The darkest hour is at 1:14 am, followed by dawn at 5:40 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:11 am in the east-northeast (68°) and last for 3 minutes and 6 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 3 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:50 am with sun in the east-northeast (75°). Tonight will have 9 hours and 55 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 25 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Sunny and hot 🌞, with a high of 93 degrees at 3pm. 12 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 10am. South wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. 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 in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1944.

Tomorrow planning on another early start, 🌅 I think first heading for a good swim 🏊🏻‍♂️ at the Watkins Glen State Park Pool then paddling from the new boat 🛥 launch just east of Clute Park. Lake was very placid today and I expect the same tomorrow but I’m more concerned about thunderstorms tomorrow. ⛈ I got some nice muffins to have with my coffee ☕ tomorrow morning.

Heading to bed 🛏 early so I can get up early. Between the clouds 🌥 and the fact I was tired 😴 decided against a hike to Foster Pond tonight. Still a ton of people camping up there tonight. I came out here a large part for that great pool I’ll be disappointed if I can’t have some good fun in the sun tomorrow.

In four weeks on September 7 the sun will be setting in the west (278°) at 7:30 pm,🌄 which is 44 minutes and 36 seconds earlier then today. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 73 and 52 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 76 and 55 degrees. The record high of 96 degrees was set back in 1945. Just another reminder that autumn is coming.

Looking ahead, Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️ is in 2 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 4 weeks, 6:30 Sunrise 🌇 is a month away, Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 9 weeks, Average High is 50 🍂 is in 3 months, Cyber Monday 🛍️ and Beaver Moon 🎑 is in 16 weeks, 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ is in 4 months, First Day of Winter ☃️ is in 19 weeks, 4:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 20 weeks, Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯 is in 23 weeks, Martin Luther King Day 🖤 is in 23 weeks, 5 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 24 weeks, February 🌧 is in 25 weeks and Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 is in 6 months. So you have a lot of time for garbage to accumulate on your computers before it’s time for a big bonfire. 💾🔥