Search Results for “elm ave rt 32 park ride” | Page 3

Looks like we’re also going to miss this snow storm. 🌨

Maybe they’ll be some snow. I’m going to try to ride in early this morning on my bike but it depends how slick the trail gets and how much snow comes down in the morning squall. The alternative I guess is to head in early and walk laps at the Empire State Plaza.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Cloudy and 31 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a north breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 8 am. 🌡️

Up at five o’clock, no I don’t use an alarm ⏰ clock. My body just naturally wakes up at that hour as I go to bed 🛏 early. Decided to do eggs 🥚 with broccoli 🥦 and spinach along with some leftover ham 🐽 that I had in my fridge. Plus some mango. 🍍 A bit of coffee ☕ but I’m cutting back as I had to pee 🚻 all day yesterday. Last night was salmon and broccoli. Went for the evening walk 🚶 and read 📖 more of Paved Paradise, How Parking has Defined the World on the Libby app. Trying to do more reading again.

Today will have a slight chance of snow between 7am and 11am. Cloudy 🌨, with a high of 39 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 25th. North wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 52 degrees. The record high of 58 was set in 1900. 9.0 inches of snow fell back in 1893.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.9° from the due south horizon (-36.9° 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 4:44 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 5:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 3 seconds with dusk around 5:52 pm, which is one minute and 19 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the southwest (232°) at an altitude of 43° from the horizon, 228,076 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:27 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 37 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 34 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over today.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly between midnight and 2am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 1st. West wind 7 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 2016.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 34. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 5 weeks until Last Day of Winter 🏂 when the sun will be setting at 7:08 pm with dusk at 7:35 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny, snow showers and temperatures between 33 and 22 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 2012.

Beautiful mid-winter’s morning 🌞

I think it’s reasonable to say this morning feels more like spring time then winter, even if the mercury is a bit below freezing. With the sun it and calm wind it doesn’t feel that cold. Plus no snow to make things feel cold from the evaporation of the snow. Should be a great ride in and will be super nice and mild by mid-day into afternoon.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Mostly sunny 🌞 and 23 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around 9 am. 🌡️

Didn’t get earliest start ever ☕ but I was up by 5:30 or 5:45 AM and got johnnycakes with lots of onions, garlic and spinach cooking up on the griddle 🥞 and lots of coffee. Continuing to play with the derailleurs on my bike — ⚙ sometimes I swear I’m just making things work with my belief that everything should be completely silent and every gear shift should be perfect. 👨‍🔧Truth is I should make an appointment with my bicycle mechanic to keep is running well. I also should rotate the front and rear tires, especially before I plan to do any mountain biking in the mud and ice.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 46 degrees at 3pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 18th. Light and variable wind. Super, I’m looking forward to March and especially April. A few nice weeks before the black flies arrive, lol. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 52 was set in 1925. 14.0 inches of snow fell back in 1895.❄

Bike’s working good enough to ride in to work, 🚲 despite or may in spite of the fact that I keep tinkering with the gears. Front derailleur is a bit off, because when I adjusted the “B” screw on the rear derailleur it threw off the front derailleur which I re-aligned but maybe not perfectly. Yesterday at lunch time I rode over to the Albany Rural Cemetery ⚰ in Menands. I want to explore the cemetery more at lunch time. Maybe today or maybe tomorrow.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 32.3° from the due south horizon (-38.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:37 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (243°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (250°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:18 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 5 seconds with dusk around 5:46 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:21 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 10 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 31 seconds over yesterday.

Four weeks into it, I am getting used to my new job in the suburbs. 🏣 It’s actually a lot of fun to tidy data, and play with SQL for clever tricks. I can often tease a lot of interesting insights out of data using R Studio and the alike. Plus when I ride my bike in there is a lot of fun parks I can go to at lunch time, including the Corning Preserve and Albany Rural Cemetery. Plus there is a fair number of businesses and shops in Menands.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 😴, with a low of 33 degrees at 5am. 17 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 5th. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the evening. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. A very mild night, I should go out for a walk. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1934.

Continued mild but more showers come the weekend. 🌧 Saturday, showers likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Light south wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 44. Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees. I don’t have any big plans for the weekend, but that’s good, I’ve been so busy these days. The following weekend in President’s Day.

Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until First Day of Spring 💮 when the sun will be setting at 7:10 pm with dusk at 7:37 pm (Daylight Savings Time). I guess that means winter is more then halfway over, though the second half of winter can be kinder but snowier. At least not as cold as for as long, or so I tell myself. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 59 and 24 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 47 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 1921.

State of the State Day 🏫

I wonder if this means any new swimming pools will open up at State Parks near where I like to explore. More like shouting protestors and State Troopers swarming the Capitol complex. I kind of wish at this point I was moved to the new office to avoid all the craziness. But summer time at State Parks is on my mind, not the ice fog of today.

Good morning! Happy State of the State Day. 🏫 For me that just means avoid the Concourse and Capitol like the plague or risk crowds of people yelling you, probably about the Isreal and Palestine conflict which is on the other side of the world and I have nothing to do about. Ice fog from the snow and 20 degrees in Delmar. 🌫 Calm wind. There are 5 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around noontime. 🌡️Then rain tonight.

Ironing my shirt and pants 🕴🏻getting ready for another session day. Drinking coffee ☕ and enjoying the very good pancakes 🥞 I made topped with frozen wild Maine blueberries 🫐, Greek yogurt and pure maple 🍁 syrup. Very tasty, I used more whole wheat flour 🌾 then oats in the mix with an egg, some milk, water and baking powder for fluffiness. I’m just now waiting for the inevitable blood sugar crash😔. Been a bit heavy on the carbs lately so I skipped making bread for now. 🍞 Maybe knead more tonight. I took salmon 🐟 out of the freezer for cooking tonight after work.

Today will have a chance of snow between noon and 3pm, then rain and snow. 🌧 High of 35 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 14th. Light southeast wind increasing to 11 to 16 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2008. 9.9 inches of snow fell back in 1953.❄

I like my early morning bike ride 🚲 and will head out at 6:45 again after it’s no longer pitch black. 🐮 I like seeing the cows and the mountains along Meads Road. It’s a good ride with the hills on Orchard Street, and while they were a bit icy yesterday, there was enough sand on them that I could maintain traction with my bike. 🌨 Not sure if tomorrow I’ll be able to ride to work, it’s not a session day but it depends on when the rain ☔ stops and how much snow is left on the rail trail. I guess I could take in city streets. 🚘 Going to certainly be mild by tomorrow morning but windy.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:03 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.2° from the due south horizon (-45.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:55 pm with the sun in the southwest (232°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:40 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 5:11 pm, which is one minute and 2 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:47 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and snow 🌨 and temperatures around 35 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze ⛅ from the southeast. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 19 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 19 seconds over today.

Tonight will rain, possibly mixed with snow, becoming all rain after 7pm. ☔ Temperature rising to around 49 by 4am. Windy, with a southeast wind 23 to 28 mph decreasing to 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 46 mph. 🌬️ Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 22 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1968.

I have my doubts about the evening walk. 🌧 That said, I didn’t bother bringing an umbrella to work this afternoon, as there is no reason to have an umbrella with that kind of wind. Just going to get wet waiting for the express bus. 🚌 It’s fine, I’ll head home, change into dry clothes, cook my salmon and brocolli 🐟 🥦 and whatever else I want for dinner, then knead the bread 🍞 and put it in the oven to rise.

Saturday looks to be quite wet.🌧️ Saturday, rain, mainly before 1pm. High near 48. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Then it turns cold for Sunday into MLK Day. ❄ Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 31. Breezy. MLK Day, mostly cloudy, with a high of 33. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees. Deep and dark of winter.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until National Cheese Lovers Day 🧀 when the sun will be setting at 4:58 pm with dusk at 5:27 pm. I like cheese but I enjoy it in moderation these days. But the good news is we are almost to the 5 pm sunset then. On that day in 2023, we had snow and temperatures between 34 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1906.

Riding in today, not a half bad Thursday 😀

Going to get cooler as the day goes on, but not too bad this morning. Gotta save the $1.30 bus fare and get my exercise in. Going to be a decent morning for the bike ride in and combines both the commute with at least some exercise. Then it’s up the 18 stairs in Alfred E Smith Building. Won’t be much longer that I am doing this commute, due to snow and new office location in the suburbs, though I plan to ride in to the new office when the weather is decent.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Mostly cloudy and 32 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind. The skies will clear around 1 pm. I’ll take a morning like this for December. Good enough for me to ride in certainly. Especially as I think snow is coming next week, which will make the ride in at least along the rail trail impossible, to say nothing of session or moving to the new office, assuming that happens next week.

I made some pretty good pancakes this morning 🥞, skipping the bananas as I’m running low, using an egg as the binder, along with a mixture that was 2/3rd ground oatmeal and 1/3rd whole-wheat flower, along with some water, olive oil and baking powder. I’ve been more careful about much baking powder I use for these kinds of things — the alum can quickly make things bitter. 😒 Gave it a bit of time to rise, then made delicious fluffy pancakes. Topped with shredded in the food-processor frozen strawberries and 100% pure-maple syrup. 🍓 I’ve decided it’s not worth it to use sugar-free syrup. There are health benefits to using pure-maple syrup like antioxidants, and the calorie difference might not really be that much different as there is some evidence that sugar-free syrups still spike insulin and can encourage you to eat in excess. 🍁 Pure maple syrup is expensive, as it requires so much raw sap, so it’s something to use sparingly.

Today will have a chance of snow showers between 8am and 1pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny 🌦, with a high of 38 degrees at 11am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 21st. Light and variable wind becoming northwest 13 to 18 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph. We could use some sun, it’s been kind of a dreary winter, being so mild but not so sunny. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 43 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1950. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 2003.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 24.6° from the due south horizon (-46.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:50 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:35 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 5:06 pm, which is 55 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:42 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌃 and temperatures around 32 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 20. ☃️ Breezy, 18 mph breeze ⛅ from the northwest with gusts up to 29mph. Brr. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 13 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute over today.

This evening I thinking of running into the office 🏢 after hours when parking is free 🅿️ to load my boxes of stuff 📦 and plants and bring them home in part of the moving process. I am going to be working out of a temporary office the next few months, so I’ll probably just leave the plants at home 🌿 by the window until I have my permanent office. I worry about them being too cold at home or even the shock of bringing them home on such a cold night, but I think I need to get them cleared out. 🍏 Plus I’m getting low on food again, especially so I can cook 👩‍🍳 for the family party that I am going to on Saturday, assuming it’s not canceled due to the impending snow storm. ❄️

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 17 degrees at 5am. One degree below normal, which is similar to a typical Maximum wind chill around 13 at 1am; Northwest wind 7 to 14 mph. Going to need that heat on tonight. Almost wish I head some bread to bake in the morning. In 2023, we had light rain in the evening, which became patches of fog by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of -24 occurred back in 1904.

The chances of snow are increasing come the weekend. ⛄ Saturday, a slight chance of snow after 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 34. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Sunday, snow. High near 32. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees. Well, it is January. You expect the snow to come at some point. But looking at the real long range, I have questions on how long the snow will last. It might rain on Tuesday into Wednesday, but then again, things could change.

Honey, you should knote, there are 2 weeks until Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯 when the sun will be setting at 4:51 pm with dusk at 5:21 pm. On that day in 2023, we had cloudy weather that was generally mild except for the freezing rain showers early in the morning and temperatures between 44 and 32 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1973.

Places I Camped in 2023

While this year was a rainy one, and it rained during many of my trips, I was able to get out for 53 nights in the wilderness — mostly fairly close to home but I also did a trip down to West Virginia in late October with several trips to the Adirondacks, Central New York and summer vacation in the Finger Lakes.

Martin Luther Kings Day – January 14-16 (2 nights)

To start out my camping adventures in 2023, I drove out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. There wasn’t a lot of snow — just a dusting but it was a fun weekend, topped off by a beautiful sun-full glittery hike up Tassell Hill after a hoar frost. Explored Lost Pond and several of the trails in the middle of state forest.

40th Birthday – January 27-29 (2 nights)

For my fortieth birthday, I took off the Friday leading up to my 40th birthday to cross country ski and winter camp at Rensselaerville State Forest. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of blue skies, sufficient snow for skiing but not so much that was a ton of snowmobiles out on the trails.

Presidents Day – February 17-19 (2 nights)

I decided for Presidents Day Weekend to do another trip out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. Slightly more snow then last time but again largely a snow-less winter, with some nice days for hikes through the various truck and horse trails. I hiked around much of state forest, especially the more southern part of the forest.

Easter Weekend – April 7-9 (2 nights)

On Good Friday through Easter I camped at at Rensselaerville State Forest. The snow was gone and it was fairly mild though at times it was a bit cool. Spent a fair amount of time walking around and exploring the new OSI Parcel that has been recently added to state forest and is still largely open fields with sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains.

Duck Pond Trip – May 5-7 (2 nights)

The first Friday in May I took a half day from work and headed out to Schoharie County to camp at Duck Pond at Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest. Originally the plan was to camp two nights at Duck Pond, hiking along the Long Path and exploring the state forest and then on Sunday hiking the Catskill Scenic Trail. That part of the trip changed when driving along Duck Pond Road the low tire pressure light came on I found a pallet nail in my truck tire. I was able to top off the truck tire and then change the tire when I got home and got the nail pulled and plugged. But it wasn’t the best way ever to end a trip early.

Overnight at Cole Hill – May 13-14 (1 night)

After visiting the folks on Mother’s Day Weekend, I decided to do a quick overnight hammock camp on Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. Nothing fancy or formal, it was as much a way to test out sleeping in my hammock with the bug screen. Kind of a chilly night, I took camp down fairly and headed home early in the morning.

Memorial Day Weekend at Cole Hill – May 20-22 (2 nights)

This year I decided to eschew the Adirondacks and Greene Mountains for Memorial Day Weekend due to the black flies, my desire to look at bicycles, and work I had to do on the Saturday morning leading up to the holiday weekend. I decided to hammock camp again Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. This was a three-day two night trip, so it it gave me a chance to bring more gear up the mountain, set up a more formal camp. Cooked on the fire, hiked around the forest. It was a warm weekend, but I enjoy the solitude, along with having good cell service for listening to podcasts and watching videos.

Juneteenth Weekend on Piseco-Powley – June 15-20 (4 nights)

To kick off summer, I did my usual Juneteenth weekend camping trip, tacking on some days on the Juneteenth Holiday Weekend. It was a bit of a cool and rainy weekend to kick off summer, one that would actually be followed by many cool and rainy weekends where I would stay home. Camped at House Pond for the first three nights, spending time down floating in the tube on East Branch while the final night I camped up at Powley Bridge site and kayaked along the East Branch. Really, like often is the case, the best weather was the day I took down camp.

Catskill Scenic Trail Trip – July 22-24 (3 nights)

After several months of researching and visiting various bike shops, I finally got a mountain bike. I decided it would be fun to do as much of the Catskill Scenic Trail as I could before my summer vacation got underway. Actually did quite a bit of riding and hiking that weekend — started out hiking Pratts Rock’s then riding from Grand George to Hobart. Sunday, I rode from Fultonham to Middleburgh on NY 30, doing a quick climb up Vromans Nose, then stopping at the farm market then going to Mine Kill State Park to swim. Monday I rode from Hobart down to Bloomville, getting caught in a major thunderstorm and downpour a few miles north of Bloomville with no shelter in sight. The trail became super boggy, then I went to Mine Kill State Park for one more swim, and then out to folks house for Sunday dinner a day later then usual.

Finger Lakes National Forest – July 28 – August 6 (9 nights)

Every year for nearly a decade and a half I’ve been doing summer vacation out in the Finger Lakes — camping in the National Forest and exploring as much as possible during my days there. The past few years I’ve been driving there on a Friday, to get a better campsite before they’re taken by the weekend campers. This year was no exception. With Blackie, my mountain bike, I did nearly all of the bike trails in the near vicinity, from the Black Diamond Trail to the Cayuta Valley Trail to Dresden – Penn Yan Canal Trail. Kayaked on both Cayuga and Scenic Lakes, swam many days at Watkins Glen State Park and Taughannock State Park, explored the Cornell Campus and Botanical Gardens on my bike. Got some good ice cream at the Spotted Duck, explored the Geneva Waterfront along with the Cayuga-Seneca Canalway. Some rain but compared to the wet summer that was, this was a pretty good week.

Piseco-Powley – House Pond Campsite – August 18-20 (3 nights)

The next few weeks for rainy and by the time I got away for one more long weekend, it promised to be fairly nice weekend but turned out to be fairly cool and cloudy with some rain. Back at the House Pond Campsite, did some swimming in East Branch, but with the mercury in the 60s most of the weekend, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the water. Hardly what I had dreamed when the I planned the weekend. Rode Blackie up to Goldmine Stream Falls and relaxed down by the falls for a bit, also sat down by the swimming hole off of the Old Edick Road Snowmobile Trail, watching the rain fall, bemoaning the wet and cold weather. Still it was good to get away for a bit, and I did do a fair amount of reading in hammock, under the protection of the bug net, as the bugs were bad after such a wet summer.

Labor Day at Perkins Clearing – September 1-4 (3 nights)

I took the Friday off before Labor Day to get a jump on the holiday season travel, and set up camp at the site I really enjoy up at Perkins Clearing overlooking the mountains. Did a fair amount of riding along the various dirt roads of Perkins Clearing, including over to Mason Lake and on Sunday rode most of the way to the Spruce Lake Trailhead, though didn’t make it there in time as I got a bit of a late start as I spent the balance of the day reading and swimming in the Jessup River Bridge swimming hole. Labor Day, I rode around the Spectulator Tree Farm, doing a large loop, through the tree farm, past the north end of Elm Lake, then down to Austin Falls and Old Route 8B. I had hoped to get ice cream, but by the time I got to the ice cream shop they were out of soft-ice cream, and there was a long line. Summer was dragging to a close.

September Trip to Rensselearville State Forest – September 15-17 (2 nights)

With time being fairly tight and the weather only so-so I decided to do a two night trip close to home out in Rennselearville to ride some of the gravel trails, explore the OSI Parcel further and just enjoy an early autumn weekend camping.

Columbus Day at Rensselearville State Forest – October 8-9 (1 night)

Columbus Day Weekend was cold and rainy for the first half of the weekend, but the Sunday heading into Columbus Day was nice, so I decided to head out to Rensselaerville for a quick overnight at the campsite on CCC Road. Leaves were late this year, so not a lot of color, but it still was nice to get away for a night and ride some of the trails around.

West Virginia Trip – October 21-29 (8 nights)

The banner trip of the year was my trip down to West Virigina. While it started and ended in rain, it was a very enjoyable trip with lots of new adventures this year. Camped the balance of the week — 6 nights in Canaan Heights — doing day trips from that area. Overnighted one night driving down at County Bridge Campground in Pennsylvania, and a on the way back camped overnight at Long Pond State Forest in New York. Adventures in West Virginia included hiking at Dolly Sods, mountain biking at night in the sods of Canaan Heights, riding up and hiking to Table Rock, exploring Blackwater Falls State Park on the mountain bike, MonPower Mountain Bike Park, Thomas Rail Grade and the Olson Firetower. Rode part of the Great Allegheny Trail through the Cumberland Passage, and the two sections of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canalway, including the Paw Paw Tunnel.

Stoney Pond – November 4-7 (3 nights)

A little over a week back from West Virginia, I headed out to Madison County to ride the Tassel Hill Mountain Bike Trails at Alfred Woodford, the Chenango Canal Trail in Hamilton and Erie Canalway from Chittenango to Green Lakes State Park and then to Canastota and Wampsville. The first night was cold at Stoney Pond but the subsequent nights were quite pleasant and mild.

Prospect Mountain – East Branch Sacanadaga – Buttermilk Falls/Hudson Special Management Area – November 24-28 (3 nights)

Strangely enough, I had never been up Prospect Mountain. So I decided the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) to hike up Prospect Mountain, and then spend the next two nights camping on East Branch of the Sacandaga River. The Saturday and Sunday was fairly cold, so I ended up spending the bulk of day hanging around camp, doing a bit of hiking around Fox Lair. Sunday, evening around 8 PM it started to sleet, then snow, then rain, Monday morning, it turned into a white globby snow, and I ended up taking down camp fairly early after discovering I was out of propane and then spent much of the day exploring the Hudson River Special Management Area – Buttermilk Falls.

Stoney Pond – Charles Baker – December 21-26 (5 nights)

On the days leading up to Christmas I decided to take a second trip to Madison County. I was originally planning to camp two nights at Stoney Pond then two nights at the Charles Baker Horse Camp but my family’s holiday plans were cancelled due to illness in my family, so I ended up staying an extra night at the horse camp, through the day after Christmas. On Friday, I rode the Erie Canalway from Canastota to East Verona, nearly to Rome. On Christmas Day I rode around many of truck trails at Charles Baker with my mountain bike, leaving my face splattered with mud. Many of the days were fairly cold and cloudy, but that’s too be expected in late December. Still it was a special way to spend Christmas.

Fifty days remain in 2023 🗓

Day by day. The fact that Thanksgiving Day Week is basically the week after next week shows how fast the year is coming to a close. While maybe it would have been nice to get out of town this weekend, I’m thinking today I’ll ride to Peebles Island and have some fun closer to home while trying to hold the line on expenses, though I’ll probably end up taking the 18 bus back home and will probably need to get to the grocery store and or Walmart this evening as I’m eating myself out of house and home again.

Good morning! Partly clear 🌅 and 41 degrees in Delmar, NY on this Veteran’s Day. 🏵 There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 10 pm. ☃️ Not so cold for a mid-November morning, though it won’t warm up that much and it will be breezy.

Up a bit before six o’clock ⏰ though I was awake before then. Decided to do oatmeal-banana pancakes with chia seeds today, 🥞 topped with shredded apples 🍎 mixed with boiled apple cider, cinnamon, ginger and heated in the microwave. It was good. I have to admit I also had a bit more of that soup I made up last night — chicken soup I guess — 🍲 though it was more of a stew with rich earthy overtones with lots of cumin and ground chili spice. Also finally getting around to cooking some chickpeas, 👩‍🍳 might make hummus or just have them with various meals. Mom was suggesting putting them in soups. I also like them with fresh fruit, kind of like a trail mix without as much as fat as nuts, though they can certainly be good mixed in a handful of almonds, blueberries, and raspberries. 🥜

Today is Veterans Day, which will will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 46 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 23rd. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became rain by afternoon. It became somewhat humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2002. 3.0 inches of snow fell back in 1906.❄

I am thinking about riding out to Peebles Island State Park in Cohoes. 🚲 It’s about 17 miles or an hour and a half ride each way. I am thinking I would likely ride up to the park, bring a lunch, walk around Peebles Island and maybe a little bit in Cohoes along the Canal. 📷 Going to be a nice sunny day with blue skies for pictures. Then ride back to Albany via the Empire Trail, and catch the 18 bus back home. 🚌 as I expect by then I’ll probably be running low on daylight and pretty tired as it’s a big trip. 🌆 Days are so short come mid-November. I am thinking my next out of town adventure will be in a little under two weeks — the day after Thanksgiving through the following Monday, probably Route 8 on East Branch. Some quiet time off the internet.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 30° from the due south horizon (-40.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:57 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (240°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (247°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:38 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 10 seconds with dusk around 5:07 pm, which is one minute and 3 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:42 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 56 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 16 seconds over today.

Money is just kind of tight 💳 after vacation and renewing my blog contract and all the trips I’ve been taking. ⛽ I ended up transferring in $750 from savings to ensure I had enough money to pay my credit card bill and maintain adequate balance in my bank account through the money. It’s not a pay week but come Wednesday, $1,300 goes out to the credit card. Already earned $135 from blog advertising, though I won’t get paid until mid-December under the Google Ad Sense rules that require a $100 minimum unpaid balance at end of the month to get paid, and then they hold your check for three weeks to verify it and collect interest on it. 🏨 I know, it’s kind of obnoxious but I’ll probably earn at least another $30 or $40 bucks before the month is done to tack on the $135. Web advertising is a bit of a mystery, based on bidding — one day I earned like $11 in ad revenue which is crazy compared to a buck or two most days and when you multiply it out over the months, especially for a small little blog like this. It’s good I’m staying home this weekend.

Truth is I have a lot of money coming in, 🔀 but the thing is as soon as it comes in a lot goes out. I am continuing to invest heavily into my retirement accounts 👴 as now is the time to do it while I’m relatively young and making good money, 💵 and also into my investment accounts so they can continue to grow and own my own land eventually. While interest rates are up on my savings account — close to 5%, with inflation I figure it’s better to be going into the stock and bond market, especially over the long term. There will be a recession 📉 but eventually we’ll come out of it and things will grow. I am hopeful I can pay back my savings account in the next few months, especially as some of those short term expenses like vacation come and go, though soon I’ll have heating bills, though so far I’ve avoided using the heat, though yesterday ♨️ I finally put the screens in my window and patched the air leaks around the door, 🪟 as I know I’ll need the heat before long. I have the heated blanket ready to go but I haven’t put that on the bed yet, though I will be ready when those days come.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 49 degrees. The record low of 15 occurred back in 1976.

Yesterday, I rode out to Voorheesville 🚲 and spent a lot of time reading and watching video and reading material for yet another Udemy class that I get free from the library. 📱 Last week I finished a class called the Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis, now I am a few hours into a class on Remote Sensing and QGIS. Basically it’s all about using data collected from satellites 📡 to learn about what is happening on the earth’s surface. 📚 I was going to go down to the library last night but I was tired and comfortable in my bed, after enjoying that soup that I made earlier int he day. 🛌 I figure this is the time of year to learn more, and Remote Sensing is only going to improve my GIS skills, especially combined with the use of raster math both in QGIS and R programming language.

As previously noted, next Saturday is Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 when the sun will be setting at 4:32 pm with dusk at 5:01 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy skies, snow showers and temperatures between 43 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 48 degrees. Opened this morning in Vermont. We hit a record high of 71 back in 1928.

More darkness than light 🌃

Despite the nearly full moon, it was so dark last night at 7:30 pm while I was transferring buses by that guady old state office building downtown. It seems like more and more of the time I’m walking in the darkness or delaying my morning walk due to darkness. More time to enjoy delicious food I’m cooking up in the kitchen in the morning.

Good morning! Bumping over the Hump Day and the middle of the week and the night to day balance. Partly clear and 42 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌅 Calm wind. You’ll need your choke on this morning until it warms up this morning and maybe gloves 🧤. It’s a bit chilly this morning at least for the fingers on the morning walk. 🚶 Fog around and the air tastes of silage. 🐮 Autumn is here. 🍂 The fresh bread was good this morning. 🍞

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 70 degrees at 3pm. Typical for today. Maximum dew point of 51 at 6pm. Northeast wind 3 to 6 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 68 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 2017. Amazing how quickly the average temperature drops this time of year.

Bed time was at nine o’clock. 🛏 I rose at five to cook. Early to bed, early to rise. ☺ Peas soaked overnight, with pea soup cooked this morning for lunch. Whole wheat has been baked. The dough was been kneaded for ten minutes – I find watching YouTube helps pass the time and is rising overnight for morning baking. Also will bake squash and zucchini at the same time to save energy. On the griddle this morning was oatmeal – banana pumpkin pancakes topped with frozen strawberries. Yum!

Last night was brown rice, lentils, black beans with lots of turmeric and Chipotle pepper spice with green beans. 🍲 I cooked that this morning, made crispy in the broiler last. 🍏 Then non-fat plain Greek yogurt with shredded apples with ginger, cinnamon. Yum. It was a great to eat as I was hungry after attending a planning board meeting in Colonie regarding a proposed solar farm in the Albany Pine Bush.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:47 pm with sun having an altitude of 45.8° from the due south horizon (-25° 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 🏅 starts at 6:09 pm with the sun in the west (262°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (269°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:46 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:12 pm, which is one minute and 46 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-southeast (112°) at an altitude of 10° from the horizon, 226,705 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 7:47 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 66 degrees. The dew point will be 51 degrees. There will be a east-northeast breeze at 5 mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 56 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over today.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 , with a low of 44 degrees at 6am. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 7th. Calm wind. 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 52 degrees. The record low of 24 occurred back in 1947.

Last night I went up to a scoping overview meeting in Colonie over a proposal solar facility in the Albany Pine Bush, next to a known butterfly site. While they didn’t take scoping comment at this meeting, and I had to leave early to catch the bus home around 7 PM due to the next bus not being another hour, and it wouldn’t have worked with the connecting bus back home. I honestly didn’t want to drive up there, as I don’t have parking downtown, and Lynne was out of town so I couldn’t get a ride there, but it was important for as many Save the Pine Bush members as possible to be there.

Riding to the Colonie Town Hall on a bicycle at rush hour this evening was fun, bypassing all the cars stuck in traffic on the shoulder. 🚘 The hills on Lark Street aren’t that bad, Northern Boulevard is nice with the bike lanes, the merge onto US 9 from Northern Boulevard is a bit sketchy due to the narrow shoulder just past the ramp. The rest of US 9 for the most part has a good shoulder. Honestly, I did not mind the ride. Plus it got my exercise part of the day in with my morning commute downtown yesterday.

I do wish there was more CDTA Route 182 buses in the evening, had to leave the planning board meeting a few minutes early. 🚍 Or more daylight, I would have ridden back downtown if not already dark. But I certainly wasn’t going to ride US 9 after dark, especially without a bike taillight — which I lost this past weekend mountain biking up at the Thacher.

A picture perfect autumn weekend on tap. 🍁 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Maximum dew point of 58 at 12pm. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 76. Maximum dew point of 59 at 4pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 68 degrees. Heat wave! Even warmer next week. I really should take Friday off. Maybe I will.

I am also thinking of requesting off October 16-20th to go down to West Virginia. This is the week after Columbus Day Weekend, probably somewhat beyond peak color, though I expect it to be late this year due to the mild weather. That said, it will very a lot depending on my elevation, and I’m not necessarily set on going all the way to WV — it’s such a long multi-day drive in my old truck. I could do a trip to Allegheny National Forest as an alternative, or maybe the Tug Hill Plateau and North Country. That’s a trip I will explore this afternoon most likely as a blog post.

Looking ahead but maybe not forward, next Wednesday is Last Sunset After 6:30 PM 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 6:33 pm with dusk at 7:00 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 60 and 47 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 67 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 1891.

Andy Arthur.org

Search Results for: elm ave rt 32 park ride