Good morning! Happy August 🌻 !

I guess you could say happy 😊 although truth be told, I’m a little sad summer vacation 🏊🏻‍♂️ is in its closing hours ⏳, having gone by too quickly but it was much needed week of relaxation.

Mostly cloudy and 67 degrees at the Taughannock Falls State Park. 🌥 Light breeze. The dew point is 57 degrees.

I sit here, kind of grizzled looking, wearing my mud, ash and pancake batter smeared Don’t Tread on Me t-shirt. 🐍I did not bother to shave today.

Nine nights, 500 miles later summer vacation winds down. 🏖 All good things must come to an end. I was up fairly early this morning, before seven 7⃣ and made pancakes 🥞 topped with blueberries, this time just store bought ones.

Had a nice fire 🔥 last night, it roared for a while but there was plenty of wood left over for the next camper as I haven’t had many fires this week. Just been too tired 😴 after I got back to camp at nine 9⃣ most nights 🌃 and cooked dinner. 🥪 Just grilled cheese and ham last night with slices of bell pepper and some beer 🍻 before watching the fire burn down and lights out. 💡

Hurried a bit to get the table, tent 🎪 and tarp down before the rain 💦 but despite clouds early it cleared out for a while. 🌤️ Rain soon, I see it on the radar. ☔ After camp was mostly down, except for the flags 🏳️‍🌈 and the burying the eight days of poop 💩 in the bucket shitter, I paused ⏸ for a few minutes in the hammock. Broke camp by ten 🔟.

Sad 😔 to see it wind down but all vacations must come to an end. Still have four weeks to Labor Day so there is time to go to Mine Kill and the Potholers 🏊🏻‍♂️ before summer is done. 🍂 Plus that autumn trip down to West Virginia most likely or maybe just Pennsylvania and the Allegheny National Forest. I’m not fully decided.

I so really crave that small town lifestyle 🚜 🐽 🐮 🌳 but I know where the money 💵 is – the city. 🏢 Back to working downtown, catching the city bus 🚍 to work most days. But there are future trips and I know my tight budget is helping me get closer to where my heart ♥ is. If I can stay the course, I’m really looking at ten, maybe 15 years📆 at the most before I can truly get the life I want to live. 🔫 🐸🐖🌲🐮🔥