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October 22, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Two weeks to Election Day 2019 🗳️. Gray and cloudy and 50 degrees on Delaware Avenue catching the late bus into work 🚍. Kind of a normal late October day in Upstate NY. ☁ Dark and gray and smelling like cow shit. 💩 Well, at least out in the country, the corn is chopped, 🌽 they gotta fertilize before the put in the cover crops. 🍀 There is a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear tomorrow around 8 am.

Nice mild morning, dark but that’s expected this time of year. 🌅 It little more sun and less gray would have been nice, but it certainly was mild drinking coffee. I barely needed the heater this morning, it was 47 degrees by the time the sun broke.☕ Enjoyed my coffee as I sat out back with the dog, having some cereal as I took down camp.🍜

This morning I was running late, caught the late bus in, 🚌 as I took down camp at my parents house. Going to rain tonight, so I figure I wouldn’t want to camp in the backyard and tear up the ground unnecessarily.🏕 I don’t want to tear up the grass any more or compact it, and it’s my last day out there come tomorrow. I am glad, as I really don’t like driving. There is always school buses, 🎒 construction, 🚧 and generally traffic and delays to deal with. I used to drive a lot more, but now I really don’t like it.

Today will have a chance of rain, mainly after 4pm. Damn, should have brought my rain coat ☔. Maybe I’ll get wet going home. I can always change. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 59 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 19th. Maximum dew point of 50 at 5pm. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 48 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1979. There was a dusting of snow in 2005.❄

The sun will set at 6:02 pm with dusk around 6:31 pm, which is one minute and 31 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 Won’t be long until the time change, less then two weeks, then it will be dark an hour earlier. At sunset, look for rain showers 🌧 and temperatures around 57 degrees. The dew point will be 50 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 46 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain. 🌧 Low of 50 degrees at 6am. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 23rd. Southeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. In 2018, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 42 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1969.

Today in 1897, using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13 1/2 hours before burning out).💡 This was the technology widely used for decades, until the florescent bulb came out and later the vastly superior LED lighting. It’s hard to remember even when incandescent bulbs were common. Been a long time now that LED technology has been quite widely adapted, and even the old florescent fixtures are being replaced with LEDs. Some LED bulbs can last for decades, although the capacitors in the power supplies may fail before the LEDs themselves are buried in the landfill, or burnt in the incinerator or burn pile.🗑 Too bad it’s so hard to recycle ♻ these somewhat rare earths but they don’t do that much.🌍

I keep hearing different reports for the weekend. 🤔 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 54. Sunday, a chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Other models, namely Weather Underground says more rain coming in early on Sunday.🌦 Typical average high for the weekend is 56 degrees. I am inclined to go out to Charles Baker or maybe Stoney Pond in Madison County, but only if the weather is nice. I haven’t been there for a while. I would probably leave work on Friday around 2 or 3 PM, that way I can get set up before dark. But on the other hand, I wouldn’t mind a quiet weekend at home, maybe doing some more canvasing for David Bissember 👊✍✅ on Saturday and then hike in the afternoon. Maybe next weekend will be nicer. Early voting starts on Saturday, so I could vote this weekend if I wanted to git ‘r dun and avoid the election day crowds. Maybe Monday evening would best for me though. Ballot is a shit-ton long., although few are competitive unless you like casting protest votes like I do.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Election Day 2019 🗳️ when the sun will be setting at 4:43 pm with dusk at 5:13 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2018, we had rain showers, partly sunny and temperatures between 48 and 31 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 52 degrees. We hit a record high of 75 back in 1994.

October 21, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Monday meetings, plans, and work. Fun shit. At least I don’t preg test cows for living. And we are getting through the year. I had some Christmas music 🎄 come on my radio and actually listened to it for a while. Next Monday is Average High is 55 🍂. Fog, mist and 42 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌁 Calm wind.

It’s less than two weeks until November. 🎃 A week from Friday. That said November is my favorite month of the year, especially if the snow ⛄ and the cold hold off as they often they do this time of year. I’ve had many adventures in the last month before it gets very snowy and cold in December.

Come November I’ll need to get Big Red inspected. 🚙 I’ll probably just drop it off at the dealership and pick it up after work. That’s the easiest option.

Using my regular headphones with my phone 🎧 which only the right channel works on them because the jack is broken as it has been for two years now. 📱 I need to consider getting a new phone at some point as the charging port has been dying on the phone for some time and it doesn’t fhwrr well always. Plus I’m always low on memory. The Straight Talk phones 📞 I use are like $50 so it’s not that big of an investment.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 62 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 11th. Maximum dew point of 48 at 4pm. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 48 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 1979. 0.2 inches of snow fell back in 1926.❄

The sun will set at 6:04 pm with dusk around 6:33 pm, which is one minute and 32 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 59 degrees. The dew point will be 48 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 10 hours and 48 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 44 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 41 degrees at 6am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 12th. Light and variable wind. In 2018, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 36 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1959.

The latest weekend forecast looks nice but a bit cool even for late October. 😎 I should think about heading out of town. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 52. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 53. Typical average high for the weekend is 56 degrees.

I have to look at my time bank 🕒 but I might take a long weekend. I am considering heading out to Stoney Pond in Nelson and maybe hunting and camping there. ⛺ I could also go up Pisceo-Powley Road or somewhere else. Still weighting my options the week is young.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Veterans Day 🇺🇸 when the sun will be setting at 4:37 pm with dusk at 5:07 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2018, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 41 and 26 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 2002.

August 27, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Three weeks to Constitution Day 📜. We will be well into September at that point. Partly sunny and 56 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 54 degrees.

I stayed overnight at my parents house last night with the dog 🐶 out back. I forgot how noisy their cows are, bellowing morning and night. 🐮 Rooster 🐓 too. They don’t have the donkey anymore though it seems. It’s nice being back at my parents house, but I still prefer to be out in the wilderness camping, and I’m not crazy about driving back and forth to work.

Slept well though, 😴 as I took a sleeping pill and was asleep by 9:30 PM. I also got up bright and early, I had coffee on the camp stove by 6:30 AM. Cold but sunny this morning. Lately I’ve not been sleeping well — but this seemed to help.

I love the country life 🚜 but high priced, high regulation New York is not for me. So I rent and save for now. My parents have way too much house and too little land and if I owned land I’d want to be able burn my own trash 🔥 and have enough land that livestock wouldn’t necessarily be right up against my house making noise and smelling like hog manure 🐷and I could shoot my guns without bothering people. 🔫Kind of like camping in the back country. I’m still so fascinated by Missouri and the south.

Driving in today I noticed that the transfer case was stuck in Auto 4×4 mode 🔘the with Service 4 WD on dash but after restarting the truck it cleared out. I hope this isn’t an issue now that the mornings are colder and damper. If it is I’ll have to get it fixed. 😯 I just don’t want to have problems on my West Virginia trip. Maybe its something simple I can fix like that brake switch I replaced myself in the spring. Or maybe it will go away. Tonight I won’t leave the truck parked in Auto 4×4, in case the dew and cold and causing problems with the shift position sensor.

Ended up having to run home and get changed after I discovered that I had a stain on the shirt 👚 I was wearing. Such a damn messy eater and I eat too much pasta. 🍲Soon most days though I’ll be wearing long sleeve shirts. Autumn🍂 is right around the corner. Looking forward to wearing my Carharrt vest again! I got my hunting license, I’m ready for Sunday.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 77 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 1st. Maximum dew point of 56 at 10am. South wind 3 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. It was very sticky. The high last year was 87 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1948.

The sun will set at 7:37 pm with dusk around 8:06 pm, which is one minute and 39 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 73 degrees. The dew point will be 55 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 22 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 62 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 58 at 4am. South wind around 7 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It became very sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 75 degrees. The record low of 42 occurred back in 1982.

Today in 1859, Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania leading to the world’s first commercially successful oil well. ⛽ To this day, that town still smells like petroleum, and it floats in the creeks, but they produce much less oil today then at the peak around the turn of the century.⚫ That said, it’s really good quality crude and still used for some of the finest lubricants out there.

A picture perfect Labor Day Weekend to end out summer. 😎 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Maximum dew point of 57 at 6am. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 74. Maximum dew point of 57 at 7pm. Labor Day will have a chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 77. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 78 degrees.

I have to see about taking Friday off but I have to find coverage and need to get my mail plans done by then. ✉ I guess I could take off Friday and then come on a few hours on Friday if necessary or stay a little late on Thursday. I probably wouldn’t head out of town until Friday morning, just late enough to avoid the holiday traffic. 🚙

I’m leaning towards heading back to Speculator Tree Farm and hiking back to some of the ponds 🌲in the West Canada Wilderness from the big open campsite I enjoy. But I could also do Pisceo-Powley Road or Kelley Stand Vermont. It would be nice to get away for one last week of summer when there still is a fair amount of light in the evening. ⛺

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Constitution Day 📜 when the sun will be setting at 7:01 pm with dusk at 7:29 pm. On that day in 2018, we had humid, mostly sunny, warm, mist and temperatures between 82 and 67 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 72 degrees. We hit a record high of 89 back in 1942.

July 21, 2019 Night

Good evening! Partly clear and 71 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a west-northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 62 degrees. It’s rapidly becoming a nicer evening, even a bit cool as the dew point is dropping as is the mercury. I doubt I’ll be running the fan much if at all tonight.

It was a fun day first hanging out at camp, laying back in the hammock under the deep blue skies and then making a nice breakfast. Then I kind of procrastined in securing camp 🔒 and getting firewood before heading out for the day.

I spent most of the afternoon at the pool 🏊 at Watkins Glen State Park until around six o’clock when the kicked everyone out because of a high reading of chlorine in the pool. Probably with so many people in the pool and less than expected evaporation, things got overdosed. Earlier in the day people mentioned a chlorine smell in the locker room but I did not notice it. My nose 👃 also was a bit sore, I’m wondering if it was irritated by the chlorine. But it was fine, I was already on my final swim of the evening and was going to get to shower 🚿 in before they closed and it got too late. The only thing that sucked is everybody was trying to get a shower at once in the end because everybody got out of the pool at once and the lifeguards highly recommended everyone take a shower as soon as possible to avoid skin irritation from the chlorine. It probably is just standard procedure when there is a technical violation of the chlorine standard.

I love the Adirondack chairs and the terrace above the swimming pool for sitting out in the sun ☀ up there but at 84 degrees the pool was uncomfortably warm and crowded. I think on Tuesday, my final day full day in the Finger Lakes, I might do Robert Treman one more time as Enfield Glen is so refreshing if not cold then end the day in Watkins Glen. Probably hike both glens too besides swimming. .

After I finally got a shower, I drove down to Glen Dairy Bar and got a large butternut soft ice cream sundae. I was pretty happy with it. 🍨They always have good ice cream. On Tuesday when I’m thinking I’ll get their hot apple pie sundae. 🍏 That’s also a very good treat. I then went Walmart and ended up turning over to Clute Park and watching the sunset. I also pulled over at Hector Falls and took a few pictures. I got the groceries and supplies I need so I can stay at camp tomorrow and just hike to Foster or Potomac Pond to do some fishing 🎣 on what should be the most cloudy and cool day of vacation.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 66 degrees at 2am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 62 at 10pm. West wind 3 to 5 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It became sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 64 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1970.

Tonight will have a Waning Gibbous Moon 🌖 with 68% illuminated. The Last Quarter Moon is on Tuesday night with mostly clear skies. The Strugeon Moon 🌝 is on Wednesday, August 14th. The sun will rise at 5:48 am with the first light at 5:15 am, which is 56 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 9 hours and 12 minutes of darkness, an increase of one minute and 46 seconds over last night.

In a little bit I’m going to hike back over to Foster Pond for some star gazing and hopefully to see the actual moon rising tonight. 🎑 It’s clearer than I had expected and I’m on vacation so I can hang out there as late as I want. Tomorrow isn’t going to be a real nice day so I might as well sleep on as late as possible.

Tomorrow will have showers likely, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after noon. 🌦 High of 70 degrees at 5pm. 13 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 21st. Kind of like the first day of autumn, although it’s always colder on the Finger Lakes. Maximum dew point of 66 at 6pm. 🏖️ Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 87 degrees. The record high of 102 was set in 1926.

As I previously mentioned, I am planning to stick around the Finger Lakes National Forest tomorrow, maybe doing some hiking and fishing 🎣. I get tired of driving all the time and I feel like the best way to get to know the land is at times to stay close to where you are camping. I should have plenty of power for tomorrow at camp even if the solar power is limited due to the clouds. ☁ I mean that’s the whole purpose of the extra battery 🔋 in the bed of my truck. I have the rest of the week with ample sun ☀ to recharge things. For a while when the sun was out I was getting 85 watts which over an hour is 85 watt hours. It might take a while to fully recharge things if I’m down 1.2 kWh combined capacity at 50% discharged but the sun shines more than one hour each day and I can always use the alternator when driving to make up some of difference. I’m hoping tomorrow won’t be a wash out but if it’s really wet I could hang a tarp or hide out in the tent or truck cap and might consider driving down to the Watkins Glen library to use the Wi-Fi. 📚

In four weeks on August 18 the sun will be setting at 8:03 pm,🌄 which is 34 minutes and 16 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had humid, partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 77 and 68 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 80 and 60 degrees. The record high of 95 degrees was set back in 1913.

While getting my ice cream I passed one of the many long haul garbage trucks that go through Watkins Glen 🚮 delivering waste most likely to Ontario County Landfill on US 20 in Geneva or maybe Seneca Meadows. I know folks are out there doing political things to reduce waste but most of the time they are pretty silly like banning Styrofoam take out containers or plastic bags. Little is done about big picture things.💨 If anything, politics is used to make people feel virtuous and do little in their own lives. I look forward to when I have that off grid property and can take my own actions but for now I avoid eating out or being big into that comsimeristic thing. I don’t like politics when it becomes an excuse for people not to change their own lives. 💭

Looking ahead, State Fair Opens 🎡 is a month away, Sunset Before 7:30 PM 🌆 is in 6 weeks, Average High 70 🎑 is in 2 months, Autumn 🍂 is in 9 weeks and Average High is 60 🍂 is in 12 weeks.

July 21, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Exactly one week of vacation left. Six weeks to the last Sunset Before 7:30 PM 🌆. Autumn is coming, but first I should enjoy summer. Sunny and nice and 75 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. 🌞There is a north-northwest breeze at 15 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 70 degrees. With the breeze, you don’t really feel the humidity, laying back in the hammock.

Today will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny ☀, with a high of 86 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 71 at 11am. Northwest wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 84 degrees. The record high of 101 was set in 1930.

On this day in 1925, Dayton, Tennessee high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100. 🙊 Darn criminals ruining our country. 👮 The judge incorrectly set the fine, rather then letting the jury do it, so his conviction was overturned on appeal. The law would remain on the books until it was repealed 1967. Also in 1983, the world’s lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). ❄They should build a pipe and send it up north to cool off people efficiently. Probably doesn’t follow the laws of thermodynamics.

The sun will set at 8:38 pm with dusk around 9:10 pm, which is 50 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 77 degrees. The dew point will be 65 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 48 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 45 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 65 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. West wind 3 to 7 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It became sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 64 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1970.

So far summer vacation is going fairly well, 🏊 although I was very disappointed that the swim beach at Cayuga Lake at Taughannock Falls was closed due blue green algea pollution. First time that’s happened while I’ve been coming here in the summer. I ended up going to Robert Treman State Park and swimming in Enfield Glen. It turned out to be a nice afternoon with lots of sun and despite traffic delays getting in past the park gates. It’s obnoxious that they charge park fees in New York. 67 degrees in the water which is remarkably warm for Enfield Glen.

I also stopped at Montezuma for a while but it was incredibly hot. 🐦 There was some wildlife, especially butterflies but it was oppressively hot after coming out of my well air conditioning truck. Plus I was looking forward to the beach. The beach closure was such a disappointment.

But the flip side is I did get the campsite I really like on Chicken Coop Road 🐥 so I’m here through Wednesday morning. I set up a tent for my surplus gear and dirty clothes, ⛺ and the flags, hammock and table. I set up camp relatively slowly and it got dark fairly early as some clouds pushed in.

I laid back in the hammock until quarter to ten, and then went for a walk to Foster Pond 🐸 to watch the moon rise 🎑. I figured it would be cool to watch the moon rise fifty years after the moon landing. Unfortunately I waited until 11:20, but it didn’t rise until later. I ended up walking back to camp 🚶after which it rose. But it was buggy and I was worried 😯 about getting caught in a thunderstorm. ⚡ That was kind of obnoxious. But it was a nice night back at Foster Pond with lots of fireflies 🐝 and stars ✨ with flashes of lightning ⚡ in the distance.

I got back to camp, cracked open another beer 🍻 and had a small fire 🔥 mostly to burn up the garbage and just watch the flames. I got to stop throwing the sweet corn husks and cobs on the other camp trash, 🌽 they don’t burn well. What was supposed to be nice fire a stinky mess of smoldering plastic and food waste. Yuck. Maybe I should have built a hotter fire 🔥 with more wood. Instead going forward I’ll toss the husks and food waste 🍲 in the bucket shitter 💩 and bury them in the woods when I break camp. They’ll rot away pretty good. I know when I own my off-grid home, 🏡 I’ll definitely want to do lots of composting – at least mixing the food waste with animal manure rather than burning it with the trash in the pit. Plus rather then becoming air pollution it will become fertilizer. 🌺

I had a nice breakfast of eggs and sausage this morning 🍳, and I’ve been sitting in the hammock enjoying the breeze. I got some firewood but I should grab some more before I head out to swimming in Watkins Glen 🏊. I fear 😱 the nice weather may not last all day so I probably should think about heading out, maybe around noon. 👍I’m on vacation so I’m in no rush. That said, tomorrow doesn’t look great so I’ll probably hang out in camp. Going to be cool and gray tomorrow, I might stay close to camp, instead just hiking around in the National Forest. Also going to get something good at the Watkins Glen Dairy bar.

I’m planning to stay in the Finger Lakes through Wednesday morning then will head to Allegany County on Wednesday. Thursday I might either go up to Letchworth State Park or maybe Cattaraugus County and then the Allegheny National Forest. ⛺ While I have a camping permit for the Tioga State Forest in Penna for three nights, I doubt I’ll stay more than two.

One month 📅 from now the State Fair Opens 🎡 when the sun will be setting at 7:59 pm with dusk at 8:28 pm. The average high temperature is 80 degrees.

July 15, 2019 Night

Good evening! Partly clear under the full moon 🌕 and 71 degrees in Delmar. Calm wind. The dew point is 58 degrees. It is beautiful moonlit night before the heat and humidity really kicks in later in the week.

I got some nice fresh and cold milk from Stewart’s, 🐮 and I appreciated the local cows with some fresh blueberries and cherries 🍒. I liked the blueberries but I guess the cherries I bought where only modestly sweet. I thought about buying ice cream but this is a healthier option. It was a nice reward after a pleasant evening walk. 🚶

Been working on Save the Pine Bush stuff at the library, doing research and recreating tax maps for a project for Save the Pine Bush. Some of those metes and bounds for the Crossgates parcel are tough to reproduce. 🌐 The metes are hard to find the reference point of the imaginary lines, and the bounds often follow detailed building edges. And it’s a shit ton of parcels. But I’m making progress. 🌲I’ll be back at it Wednesday night, as tomorrow night I’m over at John Wolcott house for his history project and file sorting. 📂 I’m thinking if a print the tax maps (probably after breaking the county’s silly print disable – Linux don’t care 🐧), and download the underlying OrthoPhoto geotiff, then I can probably work on it one day at camp off line.

Tomorrow marks 50 years since the first departure from the earth to the moon. 🚀 While only 24 human beings would ever walk on the moon, it was a remarkable accomplishment that was probably abandoned much too early in our history only three years later in December 1972. Some people are skeptical about the moon landings, it only happened six times by man before getting the congressional axe. ✂

I should see if PBS or one of the other YouTube channels will have a special I can watch about Apollo 11. 🎑 It would be fun to watch on the laptop while I’m at camp during vacation. That said by the time on my trip it should be the last quarter moon 🌓 so it should be good for looking at the stars assuming that I have clear nights up at Foster Pond. 🌟 Maybe see some shooting stars.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 59 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 21st. Maximum dew point of 58 at 10pm. Light southwest wind. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies. It was humid. It got down to 69 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1946.

Tonight will have a Full Buck Moon 🌕 with 99% illuminated. The sun will rise at 5:31 am with the first light at 4:58 am, which is 51 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 9 hours and one minute of darkness, an increase of one minute and 29 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 86 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal. That’s like a hot summer day with humidity pushing in tomorrow. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 96 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1900.

So I have the camping permit 🎫 for camping in Wellsboro Thursday through Saturday nights but I don’t have to camp all those nights. It’s just an option, although I’ll probably stay at least one night as I don’t want to drive all the way back from the Allegheny National Forest in one day and I’d like to hike at least part of the Pine Creek Gorge trail. 🚶 I wish I had a working bicycle, that’s a good way to explore it.

I’m still on the fence about leaving Friday night versus Saturday morning. If I leave Friday night I will be out in the Finger Lakes by Saturday afternoon as I’ll stay at Brookfield on Friday night and drive the rest of the way on Saturday. 🏊 Probably take old Route Twenty out through Montezuma as mom wants me to get her wine 🍷 and I like avoiding both Cortland and Ithaca going that way. If I leave Saturday, I’ll go to Glimmerglass State Park Beach on Otsego Lake, then Brookfield Saturday night, and get to the Finger Lakes National Forest later on Sunday night, when I think it’s most likely that I can get the Chicken Co-op Campsite that my GPS likes to call it. ⛺ Which ever day I arrive, probably before setting up camp I’ll visit Taughnahock State Park and check out the beach on Cayuga Lake. I checked, the Winery opens at nine AM both days including Sunday. I didn’t know wineries could sell before noon in New York but apparently they can. That said I doubt I’d be out to Montezuma before noon either day.🐦 Probably won’t spend much time at Montezuma as it’s going to hot and sticky and there won’t be many birds out and about.

I kind of would prefer to visit the Watkins Glen Pool on the weekend 🏊 as it’s fully open then. Weekdays half of the pool is closed I believe although maybe not if it’s hot and sunny and there is enough people. But then again the swim lanes are fully open and the nice chairs are always available when the pool is open. The other thing is I only plan to spend half the week in the Finger Lakes, the balance of the week will be in Allegany or Cattaraugus County in Western New York and then down to Pennsylvania for a few days. 🚙

In four weeks on August 12 the sun will be setting at 8:01 pm,🌄 which is 30 minutes and 5 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had humid, partly sunny and temperatures between 79 and 67 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 81 and 61 degrees. The record high of 99 degrees was set back in 1944.

Looking ahead, Work Like a Dog Day 🐩 is in 3 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 4 weeks, National Dog Day 🐩 is in 6 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 7 weeks and Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 12 weeks.

The Weekend that Was At Moose River Plains

This past long independence Day Weekend I went up to Moose River Plains. Some observations and notable things from the weekend that was — I’m going to post additional pictures and stories later.

Wednesday

I got to leave work early on Wednesday around 3 PM, so I was home by 3:30 PM on the road by 4 PM.
Deciding that the traffic would be bad at that hour on all expressways, I decided to shun the main roads for the blue highway.
I took State Farm Road (NY 155) to US 20 West to Duanesburg Church Road past Mariaville Farm to NY 30 to Indian Lake then out to Cedar River Road.
Driving past the Mariaville Farm, I was noticing how many hogs they had in a barnyard near their home. And I saw a hog taking a piss — they pee like cows. Farming is great but I think I’d want more distance my house and livestock.
I still need to visit For the Love of Bacon. It’s just off of the first exit of Interstate 88, I have no excuse not to.
Google Maps estimates that the trip via the Northway at normal traffic would take 2 hours and 20 minutes, my shun-pike way took about 3 1/2 hours, although the Northway with delays was looking closer to 3 hours when I checked on Wednesday evening.
That said it was worth it because I really hate driving on the expressway.
I thought I heard a noise driving up to Moose River Plains that had me a bit worried, turned out just to be strap on the kayak flapping around.
Made it to Cedar River Flow by 7:30, took some pictures at the flow and signed in.
There are new entrance signs. They say you should call for a camping permit for all stays over three nights even if you plan to camp at a different part of the plains. I think that’s silly and not consistent with the regulations – I stayed four nights but at two different sites.
I wouldn’t object to getting a camping permit but it’s a pain to play phone tag with the ranger when you should be able to do it online.
As soon as I stepped out of the truck I realized what a buggy weekend it was going to be with a shit ton of horse flies
The first night I camped at campsite 26 which is a little ways up from the Silver Run. Nice night, but buggy until it got dark.
It was nice to leave work early and not have to set up in the dark. Kept my campsite simple as I planned to break camp early and get a site I really liked around the Moose River so I could walk to a swimming hole from camps.
I bought some wood at Quinzal’s on Cedar River Road on the way up and had a good fire with that plus some wood I found in the woods.
Stayed up late until around midnight, drank a lot of beer, listened to some podcasts and music until around midnight.

Independence Day

The next morning I got up probably too early, stumbled around and took down camp. Headed straight toward the Big T, hoping to find a campsite near water in the plains where I could swim.
I ended up choosing campsite 94 which was a short walk to the Moose River Bridge which at the time I set up had no near neighbors
It was a nice site, open and airy but well screened and set back from the road. Had a nice new outhouse and picnic table although the fire place was in rough shape.
Deer flies were nasty.
I tried sitting and reading in my hammock and despite being covered from head to toe in a mixture of Picardin, DEET and PMD it only limited them a bit.
Another family on Independence Day took the campsite across the way – a good working class family and they had a pretty wild party up at Moose River Plains on independence Day with lots of country music, fireworks and alcohol.
Independence Day was hot and buggy, the deer fly were so bad for a while I left hammock and took a nap in my truck with the fan blowing.
Despite napping in my truck a deer fly got inside and bit my lip while napping. It hurt like a mother. I almost thought about taking down camp and heading home.
I eventually strapped on my bathing suit and went down to the Moose River to cool off for a few hours.
Finished one book started another one. Very pleasant laying in the hammock after dark .
Did a night hike to Icehouse Pond and it was nice but buggy.
Had a decent size fire, lit off some small fireworks

Friday

Friday I hiked back to the Beaver Lake. Been a long time since I’ve been back there. Not many fish biting with the heat.
Beaver Pond at least had a steady breeze that limited the horse flies but it was hot.
That said while I was down by the lake I got bit by a horse fly and my ear got swollen.
I forgot how enormous that
Hiked back to camp then back into the Moose River to cool down.
In the evening I hiked down Otter Brook Road to the Sly Pond Trailhead.
Laid out on the Moose River Bridge for about an hour looking at the stars
It was pretty laying back in the hammock watching the stars and my laser light show on the trees above how the light scattered and was beautiful.

Saturday

Saturday was a bit more stormy with lots of clouds but only a few showers
I had plenty of electricity despite the lack of sun for most the day
I did more reading, laid in the hammock, wrote some blog posts and listened to podcasts
Disassembled my camp stove and determined it was the burner unit is where the leak is and needs to be replaced.
I went to Moose River to swim for a few hours, listening to podcasts.
Didn’t gets lot of rain but most of the day was cloudy. Certainly not the heavy rains of Albany.
Went back to Icehouse Pond to fish around dusk
Sat out on the Moose River Bridge watching the stars into the wee hours of the morning. Much clearer tonight no light pollution

Sunday

Sunday I broke camp modestly early although I proscastinated a bit as I wanted to top off the starting battery with solar so it would be healthy to start the truck.
Ended up deciding Stillwater was too far away to hike the Fire Tower so decided to paddle Moss Lake.
Not a really big late, lots of noise pollution from Big Moose Road and crowds, wouldn’t paddle again and caught nothing.
I wish I had done something different but I felt like I should use the kayak having brought it.
Headed home shunning the interstates again, taking NY 28 through Old Forge to Remsen then Middleville and NY 169 to Little Falls to NY 5S and then decided to take NY 152 through Rural Grove down to NY 20 and home. Slower than the Thruway but I like seeing all the farms along it.

Andy Arthur.org

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