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Leaving in a SuperDuty… 🛻

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The plan is to key into the Ford Pass app to fire up the SuperDuty at 6:25 AM and be rolling down the highway by 6:30 AM tomorrow. Pack everything but the cooler and toothbrush tonight, already loaded a bunch of gear last night. And just drive, no dilly-dallying or side trips until I am well into West Virigina.

The Hills of West Virigina are calling and I must go 📞  or so I tell myself in my extreme mental illness as I roll down the highway with my cruise control locked  at 2 MPH above the legal speed limit, because it unlikely to draw the attention of cops but keep me up with the speed of traffic and make it possible to make it there by dark. Waze says it’s about 8 1/2 hour drive, but I figure 10 hours with neccessary pee and fuel breaks. But no side trips planned on the way down, though I’ll probably do some on the way back next Saturday, assuming Thursday doesn’t turn to snow and ice. It depends on the models, but I want to be cautious, ☃️ as weather can change quickly on the Allegheny Front. Canaan Loop Road is relatively flat and near a major state highway, still I don’t want to get stuck in a foot of early snow.

Packing is moving forward, I really want to have as much done before getting up tomorrow morning, doing a quick shower and rolling by 6:30 AM. Avoid drinking too much coffee ☕ lest I have to stop and pee too much, though I still figure I will do my first break at East Worcester even if It is a brief one. 🧻 Then keep on pushing ahead. 🛣️ No time to dilly dally, miles need to be completed. Probably would be better to stay over in Pennsylvania but I don’t want to do this on this trip not just because they raised the rates at County Bridge and you have to reserve in the advance. 👨🏻‍💻I just don’t want to waste a whole day both directions staying over in PA. I just want to get down there and get camp set up for the week. 🏕️ I do expect West Virigina to be bitterly cold and somewhat damp on Saturday evening but Sunday looks beautiful. As does the rest of the week, ☀️ though Thursday has the possibility of a cold rain, I am watching for the risk of it evolving into snow. 🌨️ I guess if it’s really bad, there is always Blackwater State Park Campground, I am sure if it’s still open, they’ll have plowed roads. Hoping that forecast is wrong, other models show other things.

Blueberry pancakes this morning, 🫐 I was low on flour so they were a bit liquidity and thinner then normal but whatever. Packing, and now a quick shower 🚿 and then I want to deposit my New York State 🔌 power rebate check, you know the $100 bribe the governor sent but didn’t arrive to me until after Election Day. 🗳️ I voted for her regardless, even if I do own guns, burn my garbage and drive an F-350 SuperDuty. Maybe it was a mistake, 😡 I don’t know, I’m not building my off-grid cabin in New York regardless. Get the propane tank filled this morning, so it’s one less thing to do in the evening. Not sure if I am going to stay until 5 PM in the office, 🏢 I’d rather have more time to shop and get packed and get sleeping 🛏️ before the long drive tomorrow.

Map: White Rocks
Map: Empire State Topography

Almost heaven 👼

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“The radio reminds me of my home far away
Driving down the road, I get a feeling
That I should have been home yesterday.”

Not sure if I’ll make it to West Virigina on Saturday, it’s a very long drive to do one day but I sort of want to do it, and I don’t feel like pushing the low-70s on the speedometer on SuperDuty (on 70 MPH interstates) is likely to kill me like the feeling I got with Big Red rolling down the highway at that speed. A lot depends on weather and traffic, though at a certain point, you are pretty much committed to making the trip in one day – but I don’t want to drive in the dark at all if I can avoid it or at least make Mount Storm before dusk.

I did a bunch of packing tonight, but there is a lot I can’t do until Saturday morning. I will get propane before work and hopefully a pallet I can use for fire starting that first night. I also will go shopping on the way home, pack a few more things, and retire early to bed in hope of being on the road before 6:30 AM to build in enough margin for breaks and a quick stop at supermarket for anything I overlooked and hopefully make it to set up camp before dark at around 5:40 PM in West Virigina. It might be an 8 1/2 hour trip on paper, but that never covers what things take in reality, even if I do focus on driving the speed limit and avoiding distractions.

I got even more sold on West Virigina today when I started poking around on maps and tourist information around Elkins and Parsons. That’s a part of the National Forest I’ve never been in, started when I was looking at a Walmart in case I needed mid-week supplies, but then I realized all the possibilities with the Allegheny Highlands Trail, WV 72 for a Scenic Twisty Drive, Otter Creek Wilderness, and several hikes and observation points out that way. But not so far from Canaan Heights which will likely remain my base camp for the week. I also want to drive up Dolly Sods and hike over to Bear Rock, and maybe Spruce Knob Mountain and Seneca Rocks just for shits, though I’ve done that before. And also a few days just hanging around camp, riding my bike around up there, enjoying a relaxed day or two. Did more of that tonight, when I pulled my maps out of the closet. I realized how much of the southern 2/3rds of Mongonhella National Forest remains unexplored by myself, much less going further south to New River Gorge or even Virigina and George Washington NF which I heard is pretty nice, away that is from the tourist trap known as the Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah National Park. Anything with the name “park” in it, I want to stay far away. Tourists go to parks!

See what tomorrow brings 📆

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And like that, Election Day 2026 came and went, thoughts drift to the next year at work and the legislative session – and well getting ready for heading down to West Virigina.

Heading upstate on the train yesterday, I was noticing how steadily the yellow-orange haze from New York City smog faded away, 🌇 how much cleaner the air was in Albany, how empty and depopulated the streets of Albany where. People were complaining about the lack of parking down by the Hollow last night for the post-Election Party, but it didn’t really seem like an issue after being in Midtown. I of course got good and drunk 🍻 and ate lots of good food, 🍔 knowing this will be the last for a while as I don’t buy such things are the store. If I think Albany is so quiet compared to Midtown Manhattan, I can only imagine how quiet it will be in West Virigina. Saturday at this time, I hope to be well on my way down to Interstate 88, rolling along at 67 MPH making as few stops as possible and maintaining speed to hopefully make it one day. Can’t believe I’m doing it, maybe I’ll change my mind and end up somewhere else.

Rain today so taking the city bus 🚏 and the shuttle 🚀 over to the Enterprise. Full day back in the office doing the legislative stuff, gathering and loading lists, putting in data requests for the next legislative session. It is dark out at 5 PM so when I get back from vacation I will need to make sure the lights are up and working well on the bike 🚵‍♂️ for those days I ride in on the morning and need to ride down to the yokel local bus home. The bus is certainly different then the Amtrak 🚉 to the city, many more stops, not as dirty and dingy. And it moves a lot faster then the taxis 🚕 in Midtown. I got my $100 Hochul and the Legislature ™️ check in the mail on Wednesday, or maybe it was Monday. That will put maybe 2/3rd of a tank full in my gasser SuperDuty. ⛽ I still think in my mind the reason all those Republicans through the bums out is they drive diesel pickups and fuel up trucks and tractors 🚜 for business. But it’s not just farmers that drive diesel vehicles, as many businesses use vehicles and equipment.  🚧

Still trying to fix my incident of barbercide 💈 where on Monday on my way down to the city, I reached to trim a bit of uneven hair and forgot to put on the cutting guide, and ended up with a big bald spot on the side of my head. When I was down in city, I tried to hide it as much as possible by wearing a cap. 🧢 It has grown back a bit, but I cut it shorter somewhat on Monday and went even further today, so try to balance it out. Not quite shaved bald, but very short. The flipside is it won’t get so greasy down in West Virigina with a week of not showering and wood smoke. 🚿 Speaking of which, I need to get in the shower and get out to that bus, it won’t wait.

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Map: Raecher Hill State Forest

A politcal pause

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I had to pause a bit when I was briefly on the balcony during the NYS Democratic Party Election Night and the expected result came on the screen a few minutes after 9 PM that Kathy Hochul won the 2026 Election. Not at all unexpected, still to see the news sat kind of uncomfortably in my mind, but then again so does all of this partisan politics. I am often a ticket splitter, though weighting the evidence of candidates this year, I voted straight-down the line blue, for Democrats in every office, first time I voted for a Democrat for Governor since 2026 with Elliot Spitzer, and we all know how that worked out.

Truth is I never get really excited about all the partisan clap-trap and party platforms. Maybe because I am well aware that the most ambitious of policy platforms are always watered down, a product of both compromise and reality of physics and law. A slogan, a mailer, a press release is easy to create but hard to adapt into reality. My hats off to the public policy people and lawyers who actually have training, skills and experience to turn such ideas in to law. Still I know most of it isn’t real, at least in the slogan side of things, even if we all are victims of the law and public policy. Ideas are not practice, and laws often are used by powerful groups of people to impose their will minorities and downtrodden, either in the sense of benevolent action or evil.

What I enjoy in contrast is the numbers and communication used to promote candidates. Using targeted communications to get the messages – based on polling and data – out to voters so they understand the candidates and the big picture issues they are voting for. Winning elections is fun in the sense of the game, but I hardly have an passion for or affinatinity for the Democrats. I am not wrapped up in a cult of personality, and indeed I am mostly a ticket splitter and protest voter. I like to have fun with my ballots, hell I voted for Trump in 2024 and for many libertarians and green party members over time. But I do like winning the game, and delivering results for my clients and candidates.

Saturday …

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I think I am going to try to drive down to West Virginia on Saturday, assuming I can get a very early start and run into no issues on the way down.

I just think it would be awesome to wake up there on Sunday, after a long trip down, but also it would test in my mind whether or not I can handle so much driving in one day. If not, there are places I can overnight including in New York and Pennsylvania, such as campgrounds or motels, but my strong preference is to make a go of it, with a clear decision needed probably at inflection points of Unadilla for Long Pond, Sayre (stay on NY 86) for Sugar Hill, and Troy Penna for Allegheny National Forest. Beyond that, I would have to research campgrounds and motels, but I am pretty tempted to just push through and make it to camp in Canaan Heights West Virginia even if it means popping caffeine pills and driving into the night.