Lazy days spent in the hills and hollars π
Don’t you ever ask them why, when they would cry, and look at them and sigh, and know they love you.
Lately I’ve been hardly motivated to do much, π©΄ I think it’s a bad case of the dog days of summer, some the heat and also I’ve not been terribly motivated this summer. Maybe some of it’s boredum but I’ve also not been feeling so great.
Yesterday I checked off a few things from my bucket πͺ£ list, namely hiking Bramley Mountain outside of Delhi, checking out the latest of the new Catskill Fire Towers, though this was more of a returning favorite after being abandoned and torn down a half century ago before it was restored. Nice views, lot of people there with the Firetower Stewart’s and cabin open. Good hike, enjoyed it a lot but I wish my other camera was working, πΈ and it was a bit quieter to explore. I’ll have to do it a different maybe weekday without the crowds some day in the future.
Then I went over to the John Burroughs Historic Site. Mostly wanted to get some pictures of my new Ford SuperDuty in front of the Burroughs house π» but also I spend a while studying the wildflowers and scenery in front of the house, and just pausing and hanging out. Ended the day by going for a swim in Mine Kill πββοΈ and enjoying the sun, though there was enough of a breeze that itw as kind of cool up at the pool. Drove back to camp over bumpy old Betty Brook Road. The SuperDuty while having a rough ride, handled it very well. I do like that hill descent control and how low first gear is on the SuperDuty. Haven’t seen many people up at Betty Brook or the state forest this week, though was a picnic group when I drove back to camp, and somebody was wilderness camping way back off the middle section of Betty Brook Road. I think the road has gotten even rougher in the three or four years since I last drove it. The truck has good ground clearance, and with the weight of the truck cap, batteries, and gear, has excellent traffic, though in the one real deep mud wallow π½ I did hit the 4×4 high button briefly.
I want to leave Mine Kill State Park by around 4 pm today, and I need to stop by Shauls to get mom hot peppers πΆοΈ and myself some more goodies to hold me over between now and when I’m in Center Lisle on Thursday, heading out to the Finger Lakes. βοΈ Thursday looks increasingly wet as the unstable weather dilly dailies longer then the one beautiful weather forecast Thursday onwards forecast suggested, but I think for now I’m staying on that schedule even if I’m setting up on the rain as next Friday looks beautiful. β½ Gas prices at the rural gas station in Grand George was $4.56 a gallon and I haven’t heard the news this weekend but I know gas prices are going to be up somewhat maybe quite a bit before summer vacation, but the end of day, whatever. βοΈ Got to enjoy vacation, and gas will be a lot less then driving out to Michigan as was the original plan. I hope putting off the trip to next year doesn’t mean that family or life obligations will make it impossible, but it became obvious as May became June and June became July it was neΒ ver a real option. Going to do at least one, maybe two day trips to Pennsylvania and they got burn barrels and backwoods farms down there. π’οΈ Huh.
Three quick work days in the city, π’ and then off to vacation. A wire got unplugged from the XY-CD60 module and it’s no longer automatically connecting the battery relay, πͺ« a fact I discovered last night and also that I left my jewelers screwdriver πͺΒ at home so I couldn’t reconnect it. It’s fine, it’s been sunny and I’ve had plenty of solar power. βοΈ Make sure to pack that, though I’m sure that’s something I could always buy a Wally World. The box of snubbers I ordered has been delivered, and the voltage guages tomorrow, so I will hopefully get that up and working prior to vacation, so I can keep an eye on the status of the charge for the starting battery for the truck. π Really just for my sanity while camping. Thursday morning, I’ll punch into the Ford Pass App to fire the SuperDuty up at 6:40 AM so I can get bacon π₯ and gas β½ at 7 AM and be on the Warren Anderson Expressway by 7:15 AM and to Ithaca by around 11 AM. Hopefully Thursday won’t be a wash out, but it will be nice to get to camp, crack open a beer, have a smoke and relax. Friday probably just hang out in Watkins Glen, maybe the pool and the Glen Dairy bar, watch the sun set, and walk along Rock Cabin Road. π¦ Nothing too crazy.
