9/30-10/2/08 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at 11:30. Bert and Ernie greeted me about the time I got parked and I fed them each a pig's ear. After moving in and having lunch, I carried the three new roof panels up to the cabin and stored them under the eaves on the upper roadway. Then I unlashed the ladder from the lumber rack and brought it back up to the cabin. Finally, I dismantled the lumber rack and removed it from the pickup. I stored it in the crawlspace of the cabin. The gray jays and Charlie the chipmunk hit me up for peanuts during the process.

Before I went in for the night, I went up into the woods and inspected the water line trench and the springbox. Everything looked good. Bert and Ernie and the gray jays found me in the woods and paid me a visit up there.

On Wednesday, I laid the water pipe in the trench and adjusted it so that it runs continuously downhill with no humps that can trap air. I used a couple of 2x4s as levers in order to bend the pipe. When it was finally lying correctly in the bottom of the trench, I backfilled the entire trench. Then I retrieved and wound up the rope that I had used to tie back some tree branches, and I brought all the tools back and put them away. I am happy to finally have that 75 feet of pipe properly buried.

Bert and Ernie and the gray jays visited me periodically during the day as I worked.

While I was in the trailer for lunch, I discovered water running out from underneath the trailer. At first I thought a pipe might have broken, but after looking more closely, I determined that it was the water heater that was leaking. I guess it's about time it failed. It must be nearing 40 years old. I shut the gas off to the water heater and turned the water bypass valves so as to bypass the water heater. I had to do without running hot water. If it isn't one thing, it's another.

On Thursday morning, I disconnected the gas supply to the water heater and capped the line with a plug. Then I disconnected the water pipes and took the water heater completely out of the trailer and put it in the truck bed. I measured the hole it came out of and cut a piece of metal to fit over the hole from one of the damaged roof panels I had stored on the cabin porch. I screwed the piece of metal over the hole so that it is mouse-tight, and in fact I think it is also ant-tight.

It was the ideal time for the water heater to fail. The weather is nice and cool and the mosquitoes are gone from behind the trailer so it was pleasant working back there. In the summertime, the mosquitoes are thick back there and it would be miserable working there. I am also glad I have time to replace the water heater before winter sets in. I left for home at 1:15 and on the way, I stopped at Doug's RV in Startup and ordered a new replacement water heater. I'll pick it up on my way back up next week.