Good morning! Already it’s Friday! Two more days before I take down camp and head back to Albany. It’s been a very cloudy week but relatively rain free, at least compared to the previous week or even last year. With the end of vacation coming up on Sunday, we will already be in August, today marks three weeks to Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️.

The rain had stopped, but now it’s restarted and around 69 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector. ☁ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 66 degrees. The second half of this week has been quite muggy and cloudy although each day we’ve had a bit of clearing skies. The cowboys, or a guess graizers or farmers are out on the pasture across the street rounding up cows using four wheelers on this somewhat wet morning. 🐂🐃🐄

Today will have showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Cloudy ☔ , with a high of 74 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. It was humid. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1975.

Today’s plans will be similar to Wednesday, probably head into Watkins Glen later to get on the internet and then for a hike in the gorge and a swim in the pool. 🏊 I’m hoping for more sun later, but I’ll take it hour by hour. I need paper towels, matches and gasoline too. ⛽This morning, I’ll probably hang out at camp for a while, laying in the hammock listening to the radio, maybe going for a short walk later on.

Tonight in the Finger Lakes, the sun will set at 8:24 pm with dusk around 8:55 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clouds ☁with a chance of thunderstorms ⚡ and 70 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy ☔ , with a low of 66 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. South wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was sticky. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1966.

As I brought my kayak all the way out to Watkins Glen, I really should put it to use at least once. 🚣 Especially as Saturday will be one of the most beautiful days of vacation. One option I’ve been thinking about is backtracking to Montezuma for a day and paddling along the Seneca Canal. That’s about an hour each way. Another option, is to put in on Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen and paddle the Montour Falls Canal, assuming that the lake isn’t too choppy and the canal isn’t flooding and mucky from today’s rain. After I did that I could hit up the Watkins Glen pool and deck one last time to soak up the rays before its done as far as I’m concerned for the year. Then obviously, one last hit of the Glen Dairy Bar.🍦🍧🍨 Another fall back is paddle and fish Lamoka Lake after visiting the Sugar Hill Firetower. Going to be such a beautiful and hot day on Saturday.

Come Sunday it’s the tear down that campsite day. ⛺ Yeap, vacation is coming to an end and I’ll have to head back to the old Albany to make more money, 🏢 so I can continue to invest in my future. 💰Going to be such a nice day, I’m thinking maybe I should get an early start taking down camp on Sunday, maybe hike Enfield Glen before eleven,🏊 then go swimming in the Gorge pool until 12:30 or one, then be back to Albany NY by four. 🕔

Despite the lack of sun, it’s been a good vacation. 😥I’m sure I will probably have a few more opportunities for weekend trips this summer, and I look forward to hunting season and my November road trip, which I’m thinking will have a day or two in the Finger Lakes, although the focus will be primarily more on the Western New York and probably Pennsylvania. West Virginia remains a possibility but not a certainty at this point, I’m still evaluating my options. 🗻

I love being out in the wilderness, and look forward to owning my own land and living off grid in a low tax high freedom state. 🔥🔫🐂 I wish everyday could be as much fun as my camping adventures, and not just be the daily grind in the city, with the toilet and refrigerator I’m always struggling with at home, or all the restrictions that come with living in the city. The rural landscapes and the hills and valleys really stir my soul and remind me there are things to life beyond that dirty, rundown apartment in the city that the rent keeps going up on.

When I get back home, I have to schedule an oil change for Big Red and I have an eye appointment on Thursday.👀 I have a coupon from the General for a $50 synthetic oil change and tire rotation, which is a good deal but it does mean having to bring it all the way back up to DeNoyer in Colonie.🚗 But then I shouldn’t need an oil change until late winter or early spring, and I’ll have contacts for the year.

I am going to create a new Facebook Page for my blog over the next few weeks. 📰 The new changes to Facebook API makes it impossible to automatically post from my blog to my Facebook profile, but if I have a page I can continue to easily post all my posts and photos to Facebook. I’ll probably share some of what I post on blog and Facebook Page to my personal profile but looking at the tools and options available for Facebook Pages, I think I make the switch sooner rather than later.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️ when the sun will be setting at 7:54 pm with dusk at 8:23 pm in the Finger Lakes. Figure about 15 minutes earlier back in Albany. On that day in 2017, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 75 and 56 degrees. We hit a record high of 95 back in 1947.

Good morning! It’s already August 🌻. Two weeks to Altamont Fair Opens 🎡. Yeap. Summer is rapidly coming to a close. I don’t mind that much, I like hunting season and November camping. There is nothing quite as beautiful as the stark blue skies on the land and in the woods in November.

Cloudy and 68 degrees in Hector, as I lay back at the hammock, listening to the local country music station, thinking about my mid point of the vacation. ☁ It’s humid but with the breeze and relatively low temperatures as I lay in the hammock doesn’t feel half bad. There is a south breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 67 degrees. There was some sun for a while this morning, but it’s come and gone, and without the sun the low voltage disconnect has killed the light strings.🐄 There is the light smell of cattle in the air, but then again I’m camping across from a cow pasture. Haven’t seen the cows yet this morning though.

It’s the hump of the vacation but at least for this morning it looks like the rain will hold off. 💦At some point I’m going to get a book out of my truck📘 and read for a while then I may go fishing at Foster Pond. 🎣 I’m not convinced we are going to get much rain today but without the sun I’m probably going to have to start the truck or go for a drive as the UV filtering through isn’t going to be enough to charge the battery.🔋 Plus I think I would like to go to the Watkins Glen library to get the latest podcasts and catch on the news and alike using my laptop. 💻 I also want to visit a winery that I met at Finger Lakes Wine Day at the Capitol which is nearby but maybe not today.

Today will have a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11am. Cloudy 💦, with a high of 78 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 69 at 11am. South wind 10 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 87 degrees. The record high of 101 was set in 1933.

I don’t know how much rain we are going to get, but I tell you I’m prepared should it rain later. I collected up firewood for tonight and it’s under the tarp. 💦 I will probably head into town then and see if I can get on the internet at the library. 💻

The sun will set at 8:26 pm with dusk around 8:58 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clouds ☁ and thunderstorms ⚡ and 74 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a south-southwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 26 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 12 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 9pm. Some storms could be severe, with hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain. Cloudy ☁, with a low of 67 degrees at 5am. Six degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 6pm. Southwest wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 64 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1976.

Already starting to think about my November trip. 🚗 Probably for that one I may stay one night in the Finger Lakes National Forest then head west to the Western Finger Lakes and Southern Tier. I think I would camp at some of the state forests in Allegany County for a few nights, do some small game hunting. I might also want to visit the Zoar Valley and maybe Letchworth State Park. I might do an overnight at Stoney Pond and then visit Montezuma when the birds are migrating.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Altamont Fair Opens 🀼/strong>󸐠when the sun will be setting at 8:07 pm with dusk at 8:38 pm in the Finger Lakes. Before eight back in Albany. On that day in 2017, we had rain, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 79 and 64 degrees. Temperatures start dropping as we head into August. Typically, the high temperature is 81 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1959.