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November 4, 2018 Morning

Good morning! Daylight Savings Time Came to An End ๐Ÿ•’. I hope you remembered to set your clock back an hour, otherwise your quite early to church โ›ช and everything else you do on Sunday. There was a ton of people out hiking at the Green Lakes Bird Sanctuary by the time I left. Next Sunday is Veterans Day (Sunday) ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ. Partly cloudy and 44 degrees in Fayetteville. โ›… Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing next Saturday around 10 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

Today will be partly sunny ๐ŸŒž , with a high of 48 degrees at 1pm. At least maybe later, assuming there is such a thing of sunshine. I saw sun for two minutes this morning, and then it got dark. While maybe sunny, a bit cool, roughly four degrees below normal. Calm wind becoming east around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies. The high last year was 50 degrees. The record high of 76 was set in 1994. There was a dusting of snow in 2006.โ„ I left the batteries connected today, so I can top off my starting battery, assuming we get sun later on.๐Ÿ”‹

The sun will set at 4:51 pm with dusk around 5:21 pm, which is one minute and 17 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies โ›… and 46 degrees. There will be a east breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 8 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 37 seconds over yesterday. Those nights are getting long in Trump’s America. Just like his presidency, especially as the mid-terms get underway come Tuesday. It looks like the Democrats will take the house, putting a brake on his administration, although the Senate will be in Republican hands. Although I guess it depends on who votes after all.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy โ˜, with a low of 39 degrees at 12am. Four degrees above normal. Southeast wind 6 to 11 mph. In 2017, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of 17 occurred back in 1951.

Nice morning for a hike at Green Lakes State Park. ๐Ÿ‚Leaves are all gone or faded at this point, with some exceptions but so be it. I just wish there was more sun, but that’s pretty rare this year. Definitely into the November part of the year now.

There are 2 days, 8 hours and 14 minutes until the poll close on Election Day in New York. ๐Ÿ—ณ It’s almost over. I’ve been thinking more about my trip, debating if I should leave on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. A lot depends on the weather, although leaving Thursday wouldn’t give a lot of time to get back, by the time I get home on Wednesday evening. ๐Ÿก I also have to take off the second half of next week, but i am not concerned about getting that off.

The long-range forecast for next week, looks pretty good but the weekend into next Monday might be questionable. ๐Ÿ˜Ž Ideally I would like two nights at Stoney Pond State Forest, so I have time to visit Chittenango Falls one day — then I want a very nice and sunny day for visiting Chimney Bluffs State Park โ›ฐ and Montezumaย ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ•Š before heading down to the Finger Lakes National Forest. Should be great for camping, assuming it’s not too wet and rainy. ๐Ÿ•

As previously noted, next Sunday is Veterans Day (Sunday) ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ when the sun will be setting at 4:43 pm with dusk at 5:13 pm. On that day in 2017, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 33 and 18 degrees.ย ๐ŸŒžย  Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 2002.

Corner

Looking Back I Have Some Regrets About by 2017 Road Trip to West Viriginia

One year out, here’s what I regret about my 2017 trip to West Virginia.

I regret not spending enough time in the more southerly portion of the Monongahela National Forest, maybe driving down further south to see some of the coal mining towns and learn more about that part of the state. I did visit Corridor “H” and the Mount Storm Power Plant and saw some of the coal mining operations there, but I would have liked to see more.

I would have liked to visit some more of the impoverished parts of state — although I guess Thomas and Davis, WV aren’t exactly wealthy nor are the communities I’ve driven through in Sweedlin Valley and Morefield. But I guess growing up in rural, essentially Appalachia, near Greene County, New York I wouldn’t have noticed that.

I also think I made a mistake not to drive up Spruce Mountain, the tallest in the state. There were some really nice views from the top of the mountain state. I liked camping on the Gandy Run in 2015, and driving that back road through the forest, but that got missed this year. And there is so much of the Monongahela National Forest that I haven’t seen.

I did enjoy my drive the Blue Ridge Parkway northbound from Otter Peaks. But honestly, I think much of Virginia is a tourist trap, and I don’t know if I want to deal with the traffic or developed campgrounds the next time I take this big autumn trip. I prefer the wild country where there aren’t people out there checking to see if you paid your tribute for the tiny little campsite crammed against otheres.

I think I want to camp at Dolly Sods next time I come to West Virginia. Not the developed campground on the summit but maybe the road along the way up there. It’s a short drive or a longer walk up to the top to watch the sun set or rise. And then maybe do some of the hiking trails in the wilderness.

I also think the night I spent at Ohiopyle was a waste. But at least I know what the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania are like. Ohiopyle, with the natural peninsula is kind of interesting and the water falls are neat. But the campground is tightly packed, enforcement is aggressive (hide your beer!), and $26 a night seems steep even with taking a hot shower both before bed and getting up. Ohiopyle wasn’t as wild as I expected. Too much of a tourist trap downtown. The farms and the landscape of the Laurel Highlands could easily be much of Upstate New York or Pennsylvania.

I hate losing two days in both directions going up through Pennsylvania and Maryland to get to and from West Virginia, but I’m really unwilling to make the trip in one day. I don’t like driving more then 4 hours a day total, not including stops and parks. Anything more then that gets tiring for me and means I’m rushing to get camp set before darkness sets in early.

I probably won’t be back to West Virginia until October 2019. But I have some ideas what I will do differently — spend the bulk of the week in West Virginia, exclusive of the weekends for travel. There is much of West Virginia I would like to explore — and I could definitely pass on all the commotion and craziness of Virginia.

 Nestled Between The Mountains

Mini Waterfall

The shallow soil on this mountain (probably part from glaciers and part from deforestation) lead to waterfalls running down the rock base of the mountain. It was purty for sure.

Taken on Sunday July 5, 2009 at Crane Mountain.

Going to be a beautiful Saturday for a drive out in Rensselaer County ๐Ÿ›ป

Get your motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure and whatever comes my way.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Going to be a beautiful start to the weekend for doing some driving around. Partly cloudy and 39 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ›… There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Monday around 2 am. โ˜ƒ๏ธ I do wish I could go out camping, but things are going to be muddy after the rain, plus I’m thinking a week from next Thursday of heading up to the Adirondacks for a three-day weekend, assuming they don’t get a shit ton of snow up north in the meantime or it’s pouring rain all Easter weekend. ๐Ÿ‡

Things are going better since I’ve been doing more research ๐Ÿ›– on housing options, and realizing I have to be more flexible on my thinking — even if it means a longer commute then is ideal to live rural. ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐ŸŒพSpending a lot of money on gas โ›ฝ๏ธ and burning through cars ๐Ÿš— every 8-10 years ain’t fun, but I may have to push closer to 35 mile commute rather then the less 30 mile commute I was going for. The thing is in 8 years from my next car purchase in 2025, I’ll have built up my solar system and there will be far more options for electric vehicles. ๐Ÿ”Œ I really like some of the options for modular cabins, especially the smaller ones built to code for residential use at a factory and delivered to the site with full interior built. Right now I’m quite enthralled by the Zook Settler and similar style small-one floor code-compliant pre-built residential cabins. I am thinking one floor, no basement, smallest size for a smallest possible electrical and heating demand. I like the wood-walls, that won’t sure the dirt like drywall, and the metal roof for fire safety and insurance savings, lest an ember fall on the roof.

Then get an EPA-certified, efficient wood stove and a small heat pump and use one of the bedrooms as a mechanical room — for batteries, split-phase inverter, well pressure tank, and maybe eventually a washing machine and computer equipment. ๐Ÿ”‹ If I get serious about the map making business, I might eventually get an used plotter. I am thinking the heat pump can be used when I’m not there to keep things from freezing in winter. โ™จ๏ธ Wouldn’t run much though, as I’d keep the temperature low on the heat pump in the winter, ๐ŸŒจ๏ธ and the thing is a cabin built to 2018 federal energy standards, as required by NY State, passing blower efficiency tests, ๐ŸŒฌ๏ธis going to have minimal heat loss. I am going to need a quality gasoline generator like a Honda, which will have remote start, which can be triggered off inverter on low battery, which can keep things from freezing up in winter if I’m away for an extended time. Plus as much as I personally loathe air conditioning, the climate is warming ๐ŸŒŽ๏ธ and it sure would be nice to come home to on that sultry summer nights, especially when the batteries are full and it makes sense to be keeping the cabin cold rather then wasting the solar energy. ๐ŸงŠ Use a standard electric refrigerator and probably a gas stove converted to use propane — and in winter, sometimes use the wood stove to atop. If I’m only using propane for the stove, I can get away with 30 lb propane tanks, that I can throw in the pickup and get filled at any propane retailer rather then paying a big truck to come out there and be dependent on one supplier. That said, it’s going to be a lot of money, but I’ve saved for a long time, done well in the markets. What I’m building is far smaller then your typical suburban home and will consume far less energy, especially fossil energy.

Today will be partly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 54 degrees at 5pm. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 5th. West wind 5 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 82 was set in 1990. 13.4 inches of snow fell back in 1956.โ„

At any rate, that’s all fun and games, ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ though first I have to find land that I love โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿ”ฅand is a good fit for me. The commute thing sucks, but I want to find a place that feels like and will be my home for the rest of my life.ย  ๐Ÿš— I am exploring Rensselaer County today, not because that’s necessarily where I will move, as I’m biased towards the Hilltowns of Albany County, but as far as birds eye distance goesย  ๐Ÿฆœ there’s more remote country, closer to work then in the Hilltowns, being that work in Menands. ๐Ÿ The roads kind of suck and traffic in Rensselaer County, (Hoosick Street and NY 7) but as a property owner, the conservative politics of land of Joe Bruno would suit me well. ๐Ÿ˜ƒ What’s good for my business, as I like to say, might not necessarily always be good for myself. Not only do I want to look at a list of parcels I’ve seen listed in Hoosick Falls, Petersburg and Grafton, I also want to explore some of Petersburg State Forest for mountain biking, hiking and camping ๐Ÿ•๏ธ ๐Ÿฅพ in the future. It’s fun to drive the back roads.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 1:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 45.9ยฐ from the due south horizon (-25ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 6:26 pm with the sun in the west (263ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west (269ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:04 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 53 seconds with dusk around 7:31 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter ๐ŸŒ“ Moon in the southwest (215ยฐ) at an altitude of 73ยฐ from the horizon, 239,018 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 8:05 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 50 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 12 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over today.

For the Easter weekend, ๐Ÿฐ as I was noting, I really want to get out of town to go to the Adirondacks. The burn ban doesn’t apply to small campfires, and I don’t think it’s going to be bone dry up north at that point based on the forecast. ๐Ÿ”ฅ Plus I really want a good fire to help myself sleep betterย  ๐Ÿ›Œ and burn up some of the accumulated papers. I have nothing but disdain for the burn ban, but I understand the fire risk this time of year, as I know how easy it can be set your yard on fire, and as a future property owner I don’t want that to happen. ๐Ÿ˜๏ธ You can say what you want about New York State, but it pays my bills and it’s my home. Building standards mean I will end up with a quality, energy efficient building even if I have my views on the gun laws and open burning restrictions. Happy March 16th.

Tonight will have showers, mainly after 2am. ๐ŸŒง Low of 41 degrees at 6am. 14 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 22nd. Light southeast wind becoming south 6 to 11 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had partly cloudy skies. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -1 occurred back in 1916.

One month ๐Ÿ“… from now will be Average High is 60 ๐ŸŒท when the sun will be setting at 7:40 pm with dusk at 8:08 pm.

Snow and Ice Covered Truck Trail

July in October ๐Ÿ–

Seems like it’s going to be a rather nice day. I’m glad I decided to take most of it off, though I do have a 3 pm meeting but it’s a Zoom Meeting so I can do it remotely from the trail side. Maybe a day or two from now the high pressure will break down and it will be much cooler and rainy for Columbus Day Weekend.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Fog ๐ŸŒซ and 52 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 51 degrees.

Definitely a foggy ๐ŸŒ morning but it should be a nice day. Maybe a tad bit humid by afternoon. Out for my morning walk ๐Ÿšถ after getting up at five o’clock and doing minimal cooking ๐Ÿณmy standards lately – eggs with all the vegetables and spices. Putting some ginger and cinnamon in the coffee โ˜• really spiced things up. Then I’ll shower ๐Ÿšฟ and head out on the trail.

Today will be sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 83 degrees at 3pm. 16 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 13th. Maximum dew point of 64 at 5pm. Muggy enough to almost feel like summer. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 56 degrees. We will likely tie the record high of 83 set in 1967. There was a dusting of snow in 1974.โ„

I’ve decided to have an O-K day today. ๐Ÿšฒ Spending my day in Kinderhook, going to ride the Albany Hudson Electric Trail, visit the grounds of Martin Van Buren Historical Site, get apples and stuff at Golden Harvest Farms and who knows what else. Maybe explore the Charles Flood WMA first thing on the Hudson River or the Oom Preserve later on. At 3 pm to 4 pm I have a work zoom meeting and then I need to run to Colonie Planning Board for a scoping hearing about the proposed solar farm in the Pine Bush. Figure start in Stuyvesant Falls and ride north so the trip back is mostly down hill. Lots of options is how I look at it for a nice day.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:45 pm with sun having an altitude of 43.5ยฐ from the due south horizon (-27.3ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 5:58 pm with the sun in the west (259ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west (266ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:35 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:02 pm, which is one minute and 44 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 7:36 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 77 degrees. The dew point will be 64 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 39 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over today.

Tonight will be mostly clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 56 degrees at 6am. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 8th. Maximum dew point of 64 at 6pm. Light and variable wind. In 2022, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 47 degrees. The record low of 26 occurred back in 1948.

Much cooler and rainy to start out the Columbus Day Weekend. โ›ต๐Ÿ‚ Saturday, showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 66. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Maximum dew point of 61 at 6am. Sunday, a chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 58. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 65 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Halloween ๐ŸŽƒ when the sun will be setting at 5:51 pm with dusk at 6:19 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 64 and 37 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 56 degrees. We hit a record high of 75 back in 2019.

 Pop

Rain showers change everything ๐ŸŒง๏ธ

I was going to take today off to go to the Adirondacks or Schoharie County or maybe the Green Mountains but the forecast is trending wetter then I expected. So I’m going to head into the office today to work and maybe reconsider a day off midweek next week to do something fun probably with the mountain bike.

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Rain and 55 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜” Calm wind. The dew point is 51 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 1 pm.

I guess I’m having the ultimate in fad breakfasts today, probably something they would eat on the colored television … ๐Ÿฅฃ Reheated quinoa with chia seeds, topped with Greek yogurt, shredded apple with a ton of cinnamon and ginger and black coffee. โ˜• I heard it’s National Coffee Day. Black is beautiful but don’t tell the teat strippers. ๐Ÿฎ And I don’t want to drink too much, as my doctor says not to. ๐Ÿšฝ  I did rehydrate well last night. At any rate, I actually doubt people on the colored television eat such things, ๐Ÿ“บ not enough corporate profits manufacturing such things plus not enough sugar and saturated fats to keep people tossing it in their shopping carts. ๐Ÿ›’

Up and going this morning, โ˜บ with the rain I’m catching the early express downtown and will walk laps on the Plaza or the Knickerbocker Arena to get my steps ๐Ÿ‘ฃ as much as possible before work. I might walk down to the library ๐Ÿ“š after work, it depends on how wet it is but I could use a good book or two to read ๐Ÿ“–. I really like getting up at five o’clock after getting to bed at nine. ๐Ÿ› Early to bed and early rise is great, especially when you have good meals cooking down on stove. ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿณ Not so much this morning, as I have plenty in my fridge cooked, and I’m cutting back on calories today after a heavy day yesterday.

Expensive day – $2,300 going out of the door ๐Ÿšช today for rent, car insurance, stock – bond purchases and the Roth IRA. That’s after getting paid $1,800 this week, so my account balance will drop to a hundred or so above the minimum. ๐Ÿคฏ I will have sufficient funds but I might tap my rainy day fund before my trip to West Virginia so I can retire some credit card ๐Ÿ’ณ debt early so I have extra room on my card for emergencies. It happens occasionally to the best of us. As my checking account isn’t interest bearing these days with inflation you don’t want to keep more than a few pennies above the minimum with the bank ๐Ÿฆ.

Today will rain, mainly after 7am. Cloudy ๐ŸŒง, with a high of 60 degrees at 3pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 19th. Maximum dew point of 53 at 4pm. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 62 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1921.

I took off yesterday to do a day trip with my parents to the Adirondacks. โ›ฐ ๐Ÿ“ธ They’re getting up in the years and walking is hard for them so we didn’t go far from the car but in parts there was some nice color ๐Ÿ‚ and I showed them around Speculator, Piseco-Powley Road then Canal Place and Moss Island in Little Falls. It was a great trip, nice to spend a day with the family ๐Ÿ‘ช as in your forties you know those days won’t last forever. I made some really good hummus to have with lunch, mom made some good cheese and turkey wraps. ๐Ÿ˜‹ Nice breeze on the lake, colors varied from good to quite muted. ๐Ÿ We had a nice picnic on the shores of Lake Pleasant in Speculator then dinner at Poncho’s Mexican ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ in Elsmere. It was good Mexican, the chips and food super greasy but that’s to be expected. Came home and had some edamame and butternut squash to have more fiber to tie down all those fats — with some ginger and tumerac because I like such things. ๐ŸŒฏ And no dessert. ๐Ÿ˜‹ Chose a light breakfast today. It’s fun to have some junk with friends and family, especially knowing how fast time goes by so quickly.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:47 pm with sun having an altitude of 45° from the due south horizon (-25.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 6:05 pm with the sun in the west (261°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west (268°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:42 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:09 pm, which is one minute and 46 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waning Gibbous ๐ŸŒ– Moon in the east (86°) at an altitude of 2° from the horizon, 229,425 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 7:43 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 58 degrees. The dew point will be 53 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 50 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over today.

Times of rain this evening. ๐ŸŒง, with a low of 52 degrees at 4am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 18th. Maximum dew point of 53 at 6pm. North wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 39 degrees. The record low of 28 occurred back in 1991.

The rain clears out for the Saturday. ๐Ÿ˜€ A chance of showers before 8am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 68. North wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Not as nice of a forecast then they were predicting ๐Ÿ”ฎ but not a wash out.

I was originally planning on heading out to Rennselaerville State Forest and then Burnt-Rossman or maybe the Green Mountains ๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒณ๐Ÿ•๏ธ before the forecast turned to rain โ˜” today. Not sure what my weekend plans are now, I’m thinking I will rattle can over the rust on Big Red on Saturday.๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธ๐Ÿ›ป I could do an overnight somewhere but I have my doubts at this point. It might be better to stay closer to home, save some money, especially if I want to do some trail riding mid-week, and maybe head out of town next weekend. ๐Ÿง€ Somehow I’m very interested in that whole Little Falls Cheese festival, which cow owners tell me is a really fun event to attend. This year Piseco-Powley would likely be at peak color for Columbus Day Weekend ๐Ÿ‚ so maybe that’s where I should go. The colors weren’t bad yesterday when I was up there with the folks.

Looking ahead to Sunday the first of October, sunny, โ˜€ with a high near 75. Maximum dew point of 57 at 4pm. Wow, that sounds like a beautiful day for starting out October. Basically perfect, when you figure the typical average high for the weekend is 68 degrees. ๐ŸŽƒ Next to make more meals with pumpkin, lol. That might be a good day to play around on the mountain bike trails on Wolf Hill. ๐Ÿšฒ That is if I don’t decide to do an overnight somewhere. I don’t know.

Looking ahead, there are 8 weeks until Buy Nothing Day ๐Ÿ›๏ธ when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm (Standard Time). Day after Thanksgiving, seems so soon. ๐Ÿฆƒ If there isn’t a ton of snow, I’ll probably head up north for that day, as rifle season is waning in those days. ๐ŸฆŒ Probably camp along NY 8, if I hike it will be a more popular trail with lots of blaze orange on. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 49 and 24 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 2014.

Sun rises over Almost Heaven

After a cloudy start the sun is out โ›… ๐Ÿ‘‰ โ˜€

Starting to finally get nice out this morning. Going to be a beautiful day.

Good morning! Happy Sunday from Vacationland 2023. Partly sunny and 60 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a north-northwest breeze at 8 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 57 degrees. Much cooler than before the front came through.

Woke up pretty early this morning, thinking that it would be a nice morning ๐ŸŒ… and I could get up, use the bucket shitter ๐Ÿšฝ and they have coffee โ˜•. I even thought ๐Ÿ’ญ about taking a ride over to Searsburg Road and watching the sun rise. They promised it would be a beautiful day, and it probably will be but it didn’t clear out by nine o’clock last night as promised by the weathermen. โ˜๏ธ I looked to the sky this morning and all I saw was clouds. Maybe I should have pooped ๐Ÿ’ฉ and gone back to bed but instead it was apple banana pancakes ๐Ÿฅž using the remainder of the pancake mix I bought last winter mixed with whole oatmeal, fried apples and mashed bananas. Through
In chia seeds ๐ŸŒฑ for an extra health punch ๐Ÿ‘Š.

Going forward I won’t buy any more pancake mix but instead use that whole grain oatmeal with water and bananas. ๐Ÿฅž I like the hardy more fiber rich oatmeal over the bleached flour, sugar and chemicals of Aunt Jamina’s pancake mix. Less garbage and cost too by using just simple oatmeal and bananas. Really don’t need to waste money ๐Ÿ’ต on packaging to burn. Likewise I’m using real silverware and dishes now while camping as paper plates, and plastic silverware have gotten so expensive with inflation plus who wants to burn all that toxic plastic trash? ๐Ÿ—‘

Today will be sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 71 degrees at 3pm. 13 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 24th. Maximum dew point of 57 at 8am. Northwest wind around 9 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 82 degrees. The record high of 100 was set in 1933. Cool but getting sunny for sure.

Today I have a busy agenda planned. ๐Ÿ“œ But it’s going to be a great one. I plan to get a fairly early start, bike most of the Cayuta Valley Rail Trail. ๐Ÿšฒ Then swim at the Watkins Glen Pool, get ice cream at Glen Dairy Bar ๐Ÿฆ, ride along Rock Cabin Road, watch the sunset ๐ŸŒ‡ on Seneca Lake. Then back to camp for some hammock time before bed. Greased my chain ๐Ÿ”— up well on my bike this morning, cleaned off the mud, and set up the GoPro mount on my bike ๐Ÿ“ธ so I can do some video today riding for the blog and YouTube and other social media. ๐Ÿ“น

Despite a fairly soggy day yesterday, ๐ŸŒง๏ธ I’ve been feeling great without the alcohol and calories ๐Ÿคฐ of years past, choosing healthier nutrient dense meals ๐Ÿด and whole fruits and vegetables ๐Ÿซ‘up here at camp. โ›บ A healthy diet I believe really does improve ones mental health. โ˜บ While I’m not one to blame the chemicals in processed foods – most of them are relative safe, ๐Ÿงชโš—๏ธ most of them mask crap ingredients that are rich in low quality fats and sugars while providing not much vitamins, fiber or protein. Plus being skinner I feel great though I certainly have been stuffing myself this weekend ๐Ÿ‘ but with higher quality whole foods.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 1:14 pm with sun having an altitude of 66ยฐ from the due south horizon (-4.7ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 7:51 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (290ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-northwest (297ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:31 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 14 seconds with dusk around 9:02 pm, which is one minute and 5 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Full ๐ŸŒ Moon in the southeast (146ยฐ) at an altitude of 11ยฐ from the horizon, 228,672 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 9:43 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 64 degrees. The dew point will be 53 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 35 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 6 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday became a wet day, though later then expected. Rochester got the rain early, we got it later in the Finger Lakes. ๐ŸŒง๏ธ Breakfast was eggs with tomatoes, onions and peppers with a side of old breakfast sausage I bought last winter. Rode Blackie ๐Ÿšต to the top of Hector Backbone though I admit I dismounted and pushed the bicycle part of the way. I had lower gears โš™ to drop it down to but I wasn’t feeling motivated. At the top by Blueberry Hill Campground ๐Ÿซ it started to rain – it was already one o’clock before that happened. More of a passing shower, waited waited it out under a tree. ๐ŸŒณ Rode around the campground, the fee is now up to $15 a night though I can’t imagine camping so packed in with others. I like my fires ๐Ÿ”ฅ and music ๐ŸŽถ, I would be a nuisance if I had to camp around others. ๐Ÿคซ

Tried to get good cell service up there ๐Ÿ“ถ without much luck. A few bars but it was slow, possibly due to the weather. โ›ˆ Rode down the backbone to Potomac Road, much more fun going down then over to Potomac Ponds which I started back, started slinging mud ๐Ÿฝ and decided to turn back when the trail got too muddy. I rode down old Chicken Co-op Road as my GPS calls it ๐Ÿ—บ and the sky just opened up. โ›ˆ๏ธ I wanted to see my favorite old campsite and see how the mud wallow was holding up after all the stone I dumped in it last year. Still quite muddy. Glad I got the site I like on Potomac instead. I headed back to camp, I didn’t mind being soaked as it was still quite warm. ๐Ÿง… Fried up another delicious ๐Ÿ˜‹ Vadella onion on the griddle – sliced it into rings, put it on a cast iron skillet and added a little MSG to really make it pop. Dessert was red kidney beans with some maple syrup ๐Ÿ and a beer ๐Ÿป. Had two beers yesterday between lunch and dinner which is my limit though the first day I had one and maybe none today.

As the front came through the rain picked up and the temperature dropped. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ I read for a while ๐Ÿ“– and listened to a podcast ๐Ÿ“ป from Focus on Albany with Cynthia Pooler interviewing Leon Van Dyke. Interesting history about how the Democratic ๐Ÿด machine worked and the $5 votes ๐Ÿ—ณ and the fear people had about ever speaking up about the machine. Found out John Wolcott is returning home Monday for hospice care, ๐Ÿง‘โ€โš•๏ธ but he’s still pretty much in his final hours, hope to visit him at least one more time when I get back from vacation. Had some great interviews with John Wolcott and Leon Van Dyke over the years though I wish we had started years earlier ๐ŸŽค before John lost much of his memory and became so frail after getting bit by a tick and collapsing one day in his bathtub ๐Ÿ›. Tick born illnesses are no joke. ๐Ÿœ

After a while with the wind and the rain โ˜” I started to get chilled through at camp and decided I needed to take off my wet clothes. ๐Ÿ‘š I got jeans and a hoodie on, bedded down in my truck with the remainder of the Boggleheads investing book ๐Ÿ“™ which I finally finished off before putting on a different podcast about the history of Mad Magazine before nodding off. ๐Ÿคก Got some shut eye ๐Ÿ‘๏ธ for a few hours before dinner time.

Dinner was more salmon ๐Ÿ  with delicious pearl onions, mini red potato ๐Ÿฅ” , sweet corn and fried slices of tomato ๐Ÿ… – the second half of the big juicy one I got at the farm stand. I still have a full tomato left, it’s like heaven. Eating good. Rode up to Searsburg Road ๐Ÿšฒ hoping to catch the sunset but it was still gray last night but I do have good reception ๐Ÿ“ถ there. Maybe tonight though I think I’ll watch the sunset tonight from Seneca Lake ๐ŸŒ‡. Decided I wanted to get some more miles in before bed ๐Ÿ› after a fairly lazy day ๐Ÿ˜ด so around dusk started over to Foster Pond on the bicycle but turned back as drizzle started. ๐Ÿ”™ Had a small campfire ๐Ÿ”ฅ at warm myself and retired to bed around ten ๐Ÿ”Ÿ. Early by vacation standards when it’s not really dark out until around nine.

Tonight will have increasing clouds โ˜, with a low of 56 degrees at 5am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 6th. Maximum dew point of 54 at 6pm. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming southwest in the evening. 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 60 degrees. The record low of 49 occurred back in 2021.

One month ๐Ÿ“… from now will the Average High Falls To 79 ๏ธDegrees โ›ฑ๏ธ๏ธ๏ธ when the sun will be setting at 7:47 pm with dusk at 8:14 pm. As they say, all good things must come to an end, autumn leaves must fall. But first, summer vacation! ๐Ÿ–

Mud Lock In Cayuga Lake