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Cold start to the winter camping season ⛺ ❄

While I was warm and comfortable under the covers in my unheated truck cap last night my toes were cold and stiff. Cold getting up but the heater was warm as was the coffee and eggs with all the fixings. Didn’t get up until after seven as the morning was so cold and dark.

Good morning! Partly sunny and 17 degrees at the Stoney Pond State Forest. There is a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 1 pm. 🌡️

That coffee is good. ☕ Stove is still a bit slow from the plugging to got last time I was camping but it’s working fairly well. The heater is nice and warm. Eggs for breakfast. 🍳 Plus enjoying a grapefruit. 🍊Watching the sun rise this morning, very cold but still.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 33 degrees at 2pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around January 5th. South wind around 6 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 34 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 1990. 12.3 inches of snow fell back in 1969.❄

The plan for today is to visit Oxbow Falls County Park then head to Canastota. 🚲 I want to ride the Erie Canalway to Rome as time allows. Should be a good day, hoping it warms up a fair amount by midday. ☀ At least it shouldn’t be cloudy and it looks like the wind will die down.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 23.7° from the due south horizon (-46.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:47 pm with the sun in the southwest (230°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (238°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:33 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 26 seconds with dusk around 5:04 pm, which is 30 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the east-southeast (104°) at an altitude of 38° from the horizon, 232,306 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:41 pm. At sunset, look for partly sunny skies 🌃 and temperatures around 31 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, a decrease of over yesterday.

Yesterday when I got to camp it was a mess. 🚯 There had apparently been a party 🍻 at the campsite since I was last here and a ton of broken glass, beer bottles and half burnt pallets everywhere. 🔥 Nails too, I’m a bit worried about getting one in my tires. I tried to pick things up to the best of my ability, at first sorting out as many of the recycling as possible ♻ but ultimately just scooping a lot up into the ever growing ash pile at the edge of the campsite.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 , with a low of 27 degrees at 6am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 2nd. Maximum wind chill around 23 at 6pm; South wind 6 to 9 mph. Much warmer than yesterday. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which and it cleared oytby the early hours of the morning. It got down to 9 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1955.

Last night 🌃 I had a nice camp fire 🔥 and the moonlight was great but it was cold ❄ with lows in the single digits and a breeze that slackened a bit as the night progressed. 🥓 The bacon I got was good though.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of showers after 1pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 38 degrees at 2pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 17th. South wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 53 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1990. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1947.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, a chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 39. South wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

The winter camping trip begins ❄ ⛺

Just reviewing my packing list and finishing getting ready, doing some cleaning and double checking things.

Good morning! Partly cloudy and 31 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ There is a north-northeast breeze at 13 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at Saturday around 10 am. 🌡️

Kind of a cool day to start out my trip with the breeze 🌬️ but it will be sunnier later and then a cold night 🌃 is ahead. But my propane tank is full 🏮, I’ll have a good fire 🔥 and enjoy the cold. Winter starts at 10:27 pm. ☃️ Going to be a cold night, I’m not sure if I’ll stay up that late. Maybe.

Today will be partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny 🌞, with a high of 32 degrees at 2pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around January 15th. North wind 9 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 34 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2018. 6.6 inches of snow fell back in 2008.❄

Today’s plans are to head out to Stoney Pond State Forest 🏞 and camp there. I’m thinking about stopping at For the Love of Bacon 🥓 to get some of the name sake, and maybe to ride the Chenango Canal Trailway and explore Hamilton NY on my bicycle 🚲 as time allows. That said, the sun sets early this time of year. Looks like it will be a nice day but maybe somewhat cold. But it’s to be expected in December a few days before Christmas.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:54 am with sun having an altitude of 23.9° from the due south horizon (-46.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:40 pm with the sun in the southwest (230°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (238°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:56 pm, which is 28 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the east-southeast (120°) at an altitude of 43° from the horizon, 229,997 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:33 pm. At sunset, look for sunny skies 🌃 and temperatures around 30 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 9 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, an increase of one second over today. Days are getting longer.

Working from home 🏡 or in my case the library 💻 was good yesterday, it gave me an opportunity to get packed and get supplies before camping 🏕. I ended up working late as it took longer than I expected at the store midday 🛒 but all was good. Came home made bread and had it ready to bring camping.

Tonight will be clear 🌃, with a low of 12 degrees at 5am. Nine degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 9 at 12am; North wind 6 to 8 mph. That’s going to be a cold night for sure. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1955. At least not that cold.

Clouds for the weekend but warmer. ☁️Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. South wind around 7 mph. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

Looking ahead, next Thursday is 4:30 PM Sunset 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 4:30 pm with dusk at 5:01 pm. A sign of longer days ahead. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 41 and 22 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 1982.

Snow flurries around this Tuesday morning 🌨

Up bright and early again this morning. Oatmeal Pancakes at five o’clock with cranberries, shredded oranges and bananas topped with maple syrup and cherries. A good sugar rush to start my day. It’s nice that with the new smoke detector it doesn’t set it off even when I send a big cloud of smoke up overheating the olive oil on griddle. Photo-electric detectors are good if you are annoyed about the alarm going off every time you cook. That and use avocado oil, you’ll produce a lot less smoke if you a bad cook like me.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Snow flurries glitter down from the sky as I sip my coffee ☕, its around 30 degrees in Delmar. ❄ There is a south breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 7 am. 🌡️ Going to be decently warm come mid-day, figuring we are in the second half of December. Going to ride to work 🚲, hopefully there won’t be a lot of damage to the rail trail from yesterday’s flooding.

Not a lot cooking up this morning 👨‍🍳 besides pancakes. Used up the last of the cranberries with a banana and a whole orange mixed with some whole-wheat flour, egg and some baking soda to make the pancakes, 🥞 topped with cherries and syrup. 🍒 Last night I enjoyed Cajun 15-bean soup, with lots of carrots and celery, and fresh rye bread, which actually is a mixture of rye and whole-wheat flour, as I don’t have white flour to use with the rye. 🍞 Came out pretty good, very dark in color and rich in flavor as I used red onions. Also some vital wheat gluten was added for texture, and obviously dill weed which is neccessary for rye bread. Maybe the next result is pumpernickel, although I guess in that case it would be truly whole-grain rye, which is pumpernickel not the blend between medium rye (partially refined rye) and whole-wheat. I am happy, and if you don’t like it, don’t break into my apartment and eat my bread.

Today will have a slight chance of snow showers, mixing with rain after 9am, then gradually ending. Partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 38 degrees at 10am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 17th. South wind 9 to 16 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 1895. 7.8 inches of snow fell back in 2008.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:53 am with sun having an altitude of 24° from the due south horizon (-46.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:39 pm with the sun in the southwest (230°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (238°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:56 pm, which is 24 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the south-southeast (157°) at an altitude of 43° from the horizon, 226,942 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:32 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 34 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze ⛅ from the northwest. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 9 seconds over today.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 24 degrees at 1am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 13th. Maximum wind chill around 21 at 6am; Northwest wind 7 to 13 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of -19 occurred back in 1951.

Today in 1974, Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States 👴🏼 under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution. 📜 His appointment was controversial, and what should have been a swift confirmation process turned into a protracted and grueling inquiry into the extent of the Rockefeller fortune and its hidden influence. 💵 Basically he handed a stack of cash to anybody who got in his way as Governor of New York over his 15-odd years in the position. Which is why he always got his way and built so many big things, including the Empire State Plaza and World Trade Center.

Looks like great weather leading up to Christmas 🤶. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 37. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 41. Christmas Day — Monday, Partly sunny, with a high near 44. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees. And the days running up to the Christmas holiday will be as follows — Thursday, mostly sunny, with a high near 36. North wind 10 to 13 mph. Friday, sunny, with a high near 33.

After chewing it over for a while, I decided to take off Thursday and Friday to head out to Madison County, likely for four days. 🏕 While I’ll need to camp in two different locations unless I go down to Sherburne to get a permit, I could either go out to Cazenovia or Brookfield or stay part of the week at Cherry Ridge and the rest at the horse camp. Got to watch out for snow, though it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much of a problem though there could be a dusting or even an inch or two after the snow showers come rumbling through today, and it’s not going to be much above freezing in coming week. 🌨 Going to work from home tomorrow I think so I can run to the store mid-day and fill the propane tank and get any other needed supplies for camping. Plan to drive home on Christmas Day for Christmas dinner with the family. 🎄 👪 🎅

One option I’m seriously looking at is on Friday 🚲 riding more of the Canalway Trail, this time from Canastota up to the area around Rome, maybe Durhamsville depending on the time. I think the trail will be free of snow by then, though Friday might be a bit chilly though sunny and shouldn’t be so bad with gloves on. Or I could hike around Stoney Pond or if I decide to spend time at Charles Baker, then I could ride the roads there. 💭 Off-road bike riding isn’t permitted in the winter, but road-riding is okay per their website. The road up to Cherry Ridge could be icy, though it’s usually plowed but not sanded, except for the campground which isn’t plowed at all. But as of now, they don’t have any more then any dusting per the web cams and snowfall predictions. ⛄ Thought about heading further south to Long Pond State Forest, but that’s quite a ways south and west. West Virginia is too far away for four nights, not to mention they have a ton of now.

I am dipping a bit into my time reserve for time next year, ⏲ not rolling over the maximum into 2024, but when I thought about it some more, it doesn’t matter as I don’t expect I’ll be taking much time off until late April, which will give me several pay periods to build time back up, plus I get 35 hours of personal time (5 days) on the first of the new year. Starting my new position as Director of Data Services, I am not going to want to miss much work 👔 as I have much to learn and I want to put in the long hours, to make a good impression in my new position. Not sure how much comp-time I’ll get to use next summer, 😎 though I think there is definitely a possibility of remote work with my new position that is more about working data and running reports ⌨ then working with people, or so I think. I don’t know, I haven’t started the training yet. 👨‍🏫 Things are getting wrapped up at Research it seems for the year, there is a handful of projects outstanding in the Production Book but I’m not worried as the year comes to close.

It will be four nights out camping this week leading into Christmas, 🏕 then I have off Christmas Day to visit with the families and Boxing Day is also a holiday at my company. 😀 Then it’s three days of work, but I”m thinking of potentially working from home that Friday leading into the New Years Weekend, so I can leave early and set up camp in Rensselaerville and do a three-night trip there through New Years Day. Depends on how much snow we get the second half of next week. ❄️ Really hard to say. Lots of winter camping this year, but it’s been so mild. Come January though I’m not planning anything until at least mid-month with Martin Luther King Day but even that’s uncertain — and as I noted, I’m not sure if I will take any time off from work for trips until April with my new position getting underway. Might be a busy summer too, but I’m thinking at least part of the time I will be able to remote work 👨‍💻 so I could extend trips by working part of the time from camp and/or the Speculator and other other libraries.

Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Boxing Day 🥊 when the sun will be setting at 4:29 pm with dusk at 4:59 pm. Days are getting longer. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 30 and 16 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1895. Before my time, lol 😂.

Nostgolia on this Election Day 2023 ☕🙈🗳️

This year I’m glad I’m not involved in any elections or doing anything political. Just sipping my coffee watching the sun rise remembering the days gone by but glad I’m not at all rushed this morning.

Good morning! Happy Election Day 2023. Partly cloudy ⛅ and 51 degrees at the Stoney Pond State Forest. ☔ There is a west-southwest breeze at 15 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 47 degrees. I can smell the manure somebody’s spreading this morning 💩 it’s November in Madison County and the field work is soon to be done for the season. 🚜 They might have snow as soon as midweek.

Turned out to be a much nicer morning then expected. ☕ I knew it was going to be a great day when I awoke, saw the clear night skies 🌜and the moon. Had a nice hardy breakfast of eggs 🍳 with lots of vegetables and onions 🧅 that I got at Aldi’a yesterday in Cazenovia. While yesterday was cold, damp and gray at times it was still a good day with lots of riding 🚲 and making the most of my day off. A lot has changed in this world over the past few years but mornings are still quite beautiful and the coffee is good.

Glad I’m not involved in any elections this year 🗳 but there were many hard fought ones out of Bill Magees auction house 🗝️ 🍶🏺just down the road. Been half a decade now, I saw the bridge in Cazenovia they renamed after him. It was sad he lost five years ago, but during that general election cycle wasn’t my race. 🧑‍🌾 Truth is winning these rural districts is almost impossible with the democratic party becoming mostly an urban issues party with gun 🔫 control one of their top priorities. I can understand why people vote the way they do nowadays out in the country. 🚜 It’s not just Trump. Both parties have become more extreme but the Republicans have really locked up the rural areas nowadays. I have a feeling that Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Senator John Tester of Montana are going to loose in 2024, especially if the GOP runs a stronger presidential candidate then felon Donald Trump. ⏳ Time moves on. Democrats though really have locked up the suburbs, especially the older ones and professional class. 🕴🏻

Today will have showers likely, mainly between 10am and 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to around 43 by 5pm. 🌦️ Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1938. 4.5 inches of snow fell back in 1886.❄

I’m not sure how long it will be nice, clouds are already pushing in. 🌥 I don’t want to deal with wet camping gear 🏕 so I’m slowly but surely taking things down. I don’t have solid plans for today but I think 🤔 I’ll just go for a walk 🚶 around Stoney Pond then head home and get unpacked. 👪 Planning to go see my family this afternoon it’s been three 3⃣ weeks as I’ve been out of town 🌲 on various trips. Despite yesterday being cold and dreary especially midday it was a great trip.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:47 am with sun having an altitude of 30.9° from the due south horizon (-39.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:08 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (249°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:50 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 8 seconds with dusk around 5:18 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:53 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 44 degrees. Breezy, 20 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 32mph. Today will have 10 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 26 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday I rode the South Trail from outside of Cazenovia to New Woodstock. 🚵 Nice ride though best on a mountain bike as some parts of the trail are a bit rough with roots and gravel. Pungent with the cow poop and water slurry 🐮 💩 one of the dairies was applying to a nearby field but that’s to be expected this time of year.

Spent a little bit of time riding around New Woodstock yesterday after taking the South Trail from outside of Cazenovia to New Woodstock. 🚂 Neat little village with a Historical Museum just off the rail trail. They like in Cazenovia also have an old Black Diamond Caboose there. Cute little village.

Unfortunately my bike had developed a really annoying squeak on Sunday afternoon ⚙️ which I couldn’t figure out and started applying grease everywhere, including getting it all over my hands 👐 and jeans 👖 and started to drive me crazy thinking I might have a failing bearing or some problem that could leave me stranded. I thought it was just some stone dust from the Erie Canalway somewhere it shouldn’t be mixed with the grease. Kept stopping, applying grease trying to find the noise. 🔕 Finally, I figured it out, it was the left pedal got some stone dust in it and squeaking. A little spray lubricant, knock off WD 40 on the pedal after my south trail ride 🚲 returned my sanity.

Swung by Critz Farms hoping to get apples 🍏 but it looked like only the brewery was open 🍻 and I wasn’t looking for a drink. So I went to Cazenovia Lake Park. Kind of cold gray afternoon but the geeese didn’t seem to mind the cool gray day on Cazenovia Lake. 🦆

Then I went to the Lorenzo State Historic Site, never been there before. ⛲ Been by it a million times though. It was a Monday so all the buildings were shut up and no visitor services or as I needed a bathroom 🚽 but it was still nice to explore the grounds. Swung by the library 📚 in Cazenovia for a pee.

Then I Canastota – Cazenovia Trailway, it was starting to rain and was cold didn’t spend a lot of time, ☔ wanted get back to camp and start cooking soup plus by then I needed another bathroom 🚽 break. Too much coffee ☕ in the morning. 🌅 Also didn’t feel like carrying my mountain bike over several steps to cross Bingley Road. Visited Aldi’s in Cazenovia 🍏 🥦, such a delightful shopping experience. 🛒 Low prices, simple selection quick in and out and the cashier lines without them bagging is so quick. ☺

Got back to camp around 4 pm accidentally brushed a tree with one of my tires backing into the campsite ⛺ rushing having to pee but didn’t do any body damage to my truck 🛻 as the tires stick out beyond the body. Sun ☀ came out and ghe wind died down. Fried onions and mushrooms, boiled carrots, broccoli, spinach and whole wheat pasta, added some tuna fish 🐠 for an excellent dinner. Soup really warmed me up 🍲, I just wish I had some homemade bread 🍞 to dip in it but I eat all of that the previous three days. Had a nice fire 🔥 didn’t rain until 7:30 pm so it was a good evening at which point I retired to bed 🛏 in my truck for the evening.

Tonight will have a chance of rain and snow showers before 11pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 11pm and 1am, then a chance of flurries after 1am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 14 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 34 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1971.

Cool but fairly decent now for Veterans Day Weekend, especially come Saturday. ☀ Friday, clouds then clearing, high may reach 43. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Sunday, going to be sunny and 39. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees. Probably will stay 🏡 next weekend.

Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Average High is 50 🍂 when the sun will be setting at 4:42 pm with dusk at 5:11 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 42 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 1973.

The great autumn road trip ends much like it started in the rain ☔

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Time to get up in a bit before it’s real wet then head home. Rain showers and 46 degrees at Long Pond State Forest in Smithfield Flats, NY. ☁ There is a north breeze at 8 mph. 🍃.

Back in New York State. I decided to drive all the way back to New York yesterday from Paw Paw as I figured it would mean back tracking to get back to Interstate 99 and heading north. 🛣️ Rain is expected before day break in Wellsboro so I figured that at any rate, not worth the back tracking and the $10 fee to camp in Pennsylvania. ⛺ At Long Pond State Forest which is two hours from home l figured that the rain would start later so maybe a quick breakfast and coffee ☕ 🥣 before the rain picked up.

Figured it would be interesting to come back via 81 and see at least the skyline of Hagerstown Maryland, Harrisburg, Wilkes Barre and Scranton Penna 🌆 but truth be told by the time I reached Hazleton it was dark, and from Hagerstown to the I-78 and I-81 split in Jonestown, traffic was much too heavy for ones eyes 👀 to leave the road for much scenic viewing. People often suggest taking Interstate 81 to West Virginia but I have to say at this point I don’t recommend it. 🚙 Too much traffic, especially truck 🚚 traffic compared to the leisurely drive along Interstate 99.

Truth is though I was bored with taking Interstate 99, I’ve done it several times in the past years to West Virginia. 🗻 It’s scenic but after a while the towns are all the same. Somehow I was hoping that 81 would change things up. Same thing with US 6 in Penna. It’s slow, and long, the farms 🚜 and rural homesteads 🏡 🐐 are still the same but with fewer burn barrels 🛢 as a decade or so ago. All that plastic shit stinks when you burn it, lol 😂.

Somehow I just had it in my mind that Interstate 81 would shave miles and hours off the trip. 🚘 But it’s really not that much of a time or milage savings. And while I’m only two hours from home compared to 3 1/2 that extra hour and a half got tacked onto yesterday’s drive, 🌃 meaning several hours of driving in the darkness and arriving at Long Pond State Forest at 8:30 pm rather than before six o’clock as I had planned. I had no cell service 📶 in Paw Paw so it was just a wild assed guess on the distance to Asaph Run or County Bridge compared to Long Pond.

The moonlight helped, as did getting up and walking 🚶 around the rest area near Wilkes Barre and ultimately getting a box of five hour energy shots 🤪 which not only made me awake for driving kept me up half the night. Almost stopped and got dinner at Dennys in Hazleton but I decided I was running so far behind schedule, best to have some energy shots, hard boiled eggs and bananas and push forward. ☕ Regardless, I made it to camp safely and expect a nice drive the rest of the way home. 🙏

I was pretty wired from the energy shot ⚡ last night and it was a pretty evening with the full moon 🌕 so I stayed up to midnight.🦆 Listened to the geese well into the night honking and every time I walked to the lake the beaver 🦫 would jump back in with a big splash 💦.

Today will have showers through 9 am, then rain after 10am. 🌧 High of 46 degrees at 6am. 10 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 23rd. North wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 63 degrees. The record high of 77 was set in 1946. 3.8 inches of snow fell back in 2011.❄

Coffee ☕ and cream of wheat is cooking on the stove. It’s now just the final two hours home 🏡. Probably need to get a bit more fuel ⛽ and I’m likely going to stop and get apples 🍏 at Annuto’s in Oneonta. They open at nine 9⃣ but I don’t necessarily have to be there right at nine. And maybe other produce like Butternut Squash. 🍆 They have quite the selection of farm products. No doughnuts 🍩 though, even though they were good to start off vacation as a special treat. 😋

Then get home, unpack, shower 🚿 for the first time in nine days 👃 and knead bread 🍞 and soak peas for pea soup. Maybe go to the laundromat and buy produce at Hannaford, or that could wait until Monday.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:40 pm with sun having an altitude of 34° from the due south horizon (-36.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 8.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:14 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (246°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (253°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:54 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 6:21 pm, which is one minute and 22 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon in the east-northeast (63°) at an altitude of 0° from the horizon, 235,306 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:56 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a north-northeast breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 27 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 36 seconds over today.

Rode about twenty miles of the Chesapeake and Ohio outside Paw Paw and then went into the village on my bike yesterday. Not a lot of note in the village that I saw but maybe I rode the wrong road. 🚲 That said, the Paw Paw Tunnel is really neat. 🚉 Not only can you hike – bike the canal tunnel when I was there people were kayaking in it. 🛶 Rode 19 miles or about three hours including breaks. Stopped at the Capacon Overlook 🏞 after driving WV 9 which is as curvy as you might expect any good ol West Virginia road to be going through the mountains. Phil Ochs wasn’t wrong when he sung about the roads would wind and wind through the hills of West Virginia.

Tonight will have showers before 2am, then rain likely after 2am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 42 degrees at 7pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 14th. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 28 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1969.

Next it’s watching the forecast for next week. 🐮 I’m still thinking about a trip out to Madison County either next week or the weekend after for four days, tacking a day onto the Election Day Weekend or Veterans Day Weekend. ⛺ I know it seems like it’s coming on right after vacation but rifle season 🦌 and Thanksgiving is right around the corner and who knows when we’ll get our first snowfall and those areas inaccessible. 🌨 Winter’s coming.

Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2022, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 31 and 20 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 40 degrees. Winter’s coming. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1966.

The blog for the first month made a little over $80 a month or so worth in advertising. 🖥 Figuring th hosting and domains work out to $17 a month, its a nice little check. Won’t make me rich and it’s possible that I could potentially squeeze additional revenue by more obnoxious ads or changing the content on my blog but I want to maintain absolute editorial control over my blog. 📝 That’s one of the reasons I maintain a personal blog and don’t just do social media.

Paw Paw and Heading North 🐾

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Today I Head North! Cloudy ⛅ and 67 degrees in Canaan Heights, WV. Super mild! There is a south-southeast breeze at 13 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. 🌬️ That wind is roaring around, unstable weather coming. But I’m heading off the Appalachian Front shortly.

Up at six o’clock taking camp down. 🕔 Still quite dark out. To get a jump start on the day and limit pee breaks, 🚽 I hard boiled eggs 🥚 last night and will have two eggs for protein with a banana 🍌 for sugar and some peppers maybe later on. ☕ If I decide I really need coffee I can get some in Keyser this morning. Took the tent down last night ⛺ and packed and organized as much as I could last night, including writing much of this blog post last night. 📝

Today will likely rain ☔ , mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67 at six AM. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 55 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1971. 2.0 inches of snow fell back in 1952.❄

Today it’s off to Paw Paw Tunnel and ultimately Maryland then onward Pennsylvania. 🚲 The tunnel, part of the C – I Canal National Park Trailway looks neat, it’s a canal through a mountain. Sunday’s forecast looks very wet, so I don’t know if I’ll bother to go to Asaph Run in hoping to bike the Pine Creek Rail Trail after a quick overnight camp. ⛺

It’s possible that I’ll decide to either do my overnight at County Bridge Campground or maybe if time allows, Long Pond State Forest in New York State. 🛣️ The later is free 🆓 and probably more on the route home, plus come Sunday it’s less than 2 hours home from there. If I do the later, I would probably take Interstate 80 from I 99 to I 81.

Or I could possibly overnight at the Paw Paw Campground, I’m just worried about of the drive in one day. 🚘 We’ll over six hours driving Interstate 81 which goes through several big cities like Harrisburg and Scranton versus the relatively quiet I-99. Really don’t want to drive more than four hours a day, with one hour play time and four hours to hike, bicycle or visit parks. 🏞

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:40 pm with sun having an altitude of 34.3° from the due south horizon (-36.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 8.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:16 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (246°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (253°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:55 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 6:23 pm, which is one minute and 24 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-northeast (75°) at an altitude of 6° from the horizon, 232,615 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:58 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 63 degrees. The dew point will be 51 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 13 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 37 seconds over today.

Yesterday, I hiked 15 miles in Dolly Sods. 🚶 Not a bad day but most of the day was grayer then I would have hoped. 🌥 Lot of haze too. Hiked in from the Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge and along much of the ridge overlooking the wildlife refuge. It was good, I visited some of the more remote places in the wilderness, though still a lot of people exploring there. Sort of hoped to make it across to the top of the Allegheny Front and maybe Bears Rocks 🐻 but time was tight with the early sunset 🌇, no overnight parking 🅿 signs where I was parked and simply the trail I planned to cross the Red Creek with – Dobbins Grade is low water crossng not the case this week. 🐸 Plus the beaver dam. In the evening around sunset walked the new boardwalk in the wildlife refuge off Freeman Drive. Headed back to camp, had a nice dinner and some beer 🍻, took down the tent and organized my gear.

I haven’t posted many pictures 📸 to either Facebook or the blog due to connection issues here but also because I’m trying to maximize my remaining time here in West Virginia. Time is precious. ⌛ I figure all next week I can go through my photos and start sharing them, bringing back memories of what was on my trip.

Tonight will have mostly cloudy ☁, with a low of 41 degrees at 6am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 11th. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 29 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1969.

Sunday will rain starting around dawn. 🌧️High near 45. Northeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

I’m expecting a wet ending to my vacation both Saturday night and definitely Sunday for the last leg of the trip home. 🏡 It’s fine, it rained ☔ on the way down here too at least through New York. The colors probably are pretty much gone for the return trip home I would assume. Then it looks to be cold next week once I’m home. Hoping to ride to work a few more times both ways before the time change but I’m not holding out my breath for too many days next week. 🚲 Might even need to turn the heat back on in my apartment. In contrast, it’s been so warm in West Virginia that I only used the propane heater on Sunday evening and Monday morning ♨️, the rest of the week it’s been shut off and locked 🔒 up.

In 1956, Elvis Presley receives a polio vaccination on national TV. 💉This single event is credited with raising immunization levels in the United States from 0.6% to over 80% in just six months.

Then next Saturday is Daylight Savings Time Ends 🛥️ when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:14 pm. On that day in 2022, we had sunny, warm and temperatures between 71 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 54 degrees. We hit a record high of 76 back in 1994.

Already thinking next week about potentially a four day trip out to Madison County. 🐮 Probably Stoney Pond and peddle around Cazenovia and the Cazenovia – Chittenango Rail Trail and possibly some of the single track mountain bike trails at Alfred Woodford and Tassel Hill. 🚲 Maybe take off the Monday before Election Day for a four day weekend as far away from politics as possible. Or the following Friday is Armstice Day aka Veterans Day Observed, so if I took off either Thursday or the following Monday, it’s another four day weekend. I want to get away one more time before rifle season 🦌.

I might have fifteenth weeks of trips planned between now and November with maybe three weekends I can get away ⛺

That’s kind of just the nature of the beast got to pick and choose which adventures to take, noting that some trips in November wouldn’t be a bad thing – such as a Stoney Pond State Forest and Madison County trip before rifle season and the snow.

Good morning! Rain and 59 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ Calm wind. The dew point is 57 degrees. A half inch of rain is expected before it ends tomorrow around 6 am.

Another dark morning 🧑‍🍳 baking bread 🍞 and making up rice, lentils and black beans 🍲 for the upcoming week. Mom has butternut squash for dinner with chicken and now I’m thinking I got to get some of that from the farmers market or grocery store as it’s so good. The weekend is over but I’m dreaming of future trips. But maybe not next weekend, as it looks kind of rainy. Too bad it couldn’t rain on the weekdays next weekend like it is raining this Monday.

Back to work on the earlier local bus 🚍 as it’s rainy day ☔ and I’m going to walk laps in the Plaza before climbing the stairs and getting down to work. Still working downtown for the time being , to wet to ride to work. The rest of the week though looks good for riding to and from work though depending on the final weekend forecast I might take off Friday and maybe Monday to head out of town but where is to be decided. So many dreams of future trips, as soon as I got back from Rensselarville State Forest.

Today will have showers likely, mainly before 3pm. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 64 degrees at 1pm. 10 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 9th. Maximum dew point of 62 at 3pm. Calm wind becoming north around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. It became sticky as the day progressed. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 91 was set in 1891.

Midday I will have to walk up to Market 32 🛒 to get contact solution as I’m out. And maybe a few other things for my pantry though I’m pretty much set. Hopefully it won’t be raining too hard midday. Worse comes to worse I can bike 🚲 over to Hannaford after work or I guess drive. But I’d rather avoid that if possible.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:51 pm with sun having an altitude of 49.3° from the due south horizon (-21.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:25 pm with the sun in the west (267°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (274°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:02 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:28 pm, which is one minute and 47 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-southwest (237°) at an altitude of 10° from the horizon, 242,172 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:04 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 62 degrees. The dew point will be 59 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly before 2am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 56 degrees at 5am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 8th. Maximum dew point of 60 at 6pm. Northwest wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It was sticky. It got down to 63 degrees. The record low of 32 occurred back in 1959.

Waiting and watching the weekend forecast. 😕 I don’t think this early in the week it’s set in stone. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 72. Maximum dew point of 56 at 11am. Sunday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 60 at 11am. Typical average high for the weekend is 72 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 8 weeks until Average Night is Below Freezing 🌌 when the sun will be setting at 4:36 pm with dusk at 5:05 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 49 and 36 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 69 back in 1964. I’ll have to once again fix the air leaks around my door 🚪 and get out the little space heater and electric blanket. But hopefully not for a while.

Andy Arthur.org

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