2/16-18/10 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at 12:30 and was soon met by Bert and Ernie. There had been no new snow since the last time I had been up which was three weeks ago. The snow on the ground had melted down quite a bit. It looks like El Nino is going to give us an early spring.

After moving in and having lunch, I started a fire in the stove in the cabin and worked on the last tread. The notch needed to be worked down deeper.

On Wednesday I finished working the notch down until the tread fit. It took many trips up and down the new staircase to test the tread each time. I used a block plane, a hammer and chisel, a scraper, and Rasputin to work the notch down before I was satisfied with the fit. I got the tread and the drilling jig braced into position before I went down to the trailer for lunch and a nap.

After lunch, I drilled the holes and installed the bolts to fasten the last tread in place. I was very pleased with how it turned out. After I had gone into the trailer for the night, Bert and Ernie showed up for another round of dog biscuits. They usually aren't out after dark like that.

I called Mike Tutino and Mike Dickinson to get recommendations for plumbers and got two names. I also put the Wenatchee phone book in my bag to take back home so I can start looking for plumbers in the yellow pages.

On Thursday morning, I dismantled the special sawhorse I had made, put away all the tools, swept the place, and prepared the last surfaces for varnish. Then I varnished the surfaces that were due for another coat. After I cleaned out my brush, I took some pictures of the staircase, closed up, had lunch, and left for home at 1:30 feeling very good about the staircase.