You got to admit it’s turning out to be a pretty nice day. We are at around 57 degrees under mostly sunny skies. This is a change for the better after so many depressing days of late. We should also have a nice sunset, with clear conditions and 55 degrees. There will be a calm wind. The sun will set at 4:47 pm with dusk around 5:17 pm, which is 1 minutes and 8 seconds earlier than yesterday. The end of Daylight Savings Time is a bitch, although the one upside, is the mornings aren’t so dark and difficult to get up.

I am definitely looking forward to my road trip which is starting on Veterans’ Day (Friday) or maybe Saturday if the weather looks real bad for Veterans Day. I love brilliant November days like today for sure, when you have so much blue skies and bright sun. With the leaves off the trees you can see a long distance in the woods, as the wild beasts get ready for winter. While I don’t have a fixed schedule, I pretty much have the state forests in mind that I want to visit in Western NY and Pennsylvania and my general route made up. In many ways it will be similiar to my November 2012 trip, with some changes.

One of the things I miss the most with traveling for work is a good home cooked meal, especially a good breakfast. After a while, cold cereal even with fruit doesn’t cut it. Dinner food is okay, but i can’t get a good omelet like I make up in the woods. I know once I’m out camping next weekend, I will take the time to cook up a good breakfast on the stove, with a good cup of coffee or two. My camp stove makes some pretty good meals for sure, and cooking on charcoal is particularly good. While the days are short, a good breakfast is essential. I don’t mind cooking after dark, although I’ll make sure the shotgun handy in case I have any furry visitors that need some scaring off while cooking. The long nights mean more time by the campfire, and more time to cook good meals. Darkness comes every night before dusk.

i almost bought a Remington 700 30-06 yesterday that was on sale as part of their Election Day Sale for $400 at the Gander Mountain. But I decided I didn’t really need or want that gun right now, and there was a big line there, with people wanting to stock up before the Election Night. I think actually want to get another shotgun before I get a deer rifle. There was nothing on sale that interested me. I ended up plunking $500 in the stock market last night, as I figured I would put the money into something useful for my future, rather then another toy that has to be locked up, and occasionally oiled and cleaned. Now is the time to buy in the stock market after last week’s down market. I think the market will rally after Hillary is elected President.

That and I got thinking about future expenses, especially as I need to replace my laptop sometime later in the month, so I can continue to make up maps and work on the internet at the library. I wanted to increase my investments but have money left over for expenses. My cellphone is great but it can’t do everything I can do on the desktop computer. I’m still looking at getting the replacement laptop after vacation, maybe in late November or early December. Plus I’ll have gas and food expenses during vacation, although I will be camping in mostly free places and cooking my own food, so it shouldn’t be real expensive.