9/14-19/10 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 6 days: Tuesday through Sunday. Troop 100 scouts joined me Friday through Sunday for their annual planning session.

I bought an Electrical Permit and requested an inspection before I left. I also went to Stoneway Electric to buy some padlock hasps for double pole QO breakers. I was shocked to discover that they charge $6.25 for a bent, 2-sq-inch piece of beer can metal that must have cost them $0.01, or less to make. That UL label must be worth the six dollars.

I arrived at Camp Serendipity at 3:40. Bert and Ernie spotted my truck and came right down to greet me and get their usual treats. I moved my stuff in, puttered around for a while, took a shower, and went in for the night.

On Wednesday it was a little chilly in the cabin so I started a fire of cardboard in the stove. That warmed the place up just right. I screwed the cover plate I had brought with me on box I. I put an expensive padlock hasp on each of the double pole breakers that needed them. I called the local L&I office to make sure that my inspection got scheduled. I was told to call Don Millar in the morning at exactly 8:00 to schedule it.

Next, I took a weed cutting tool and a loppers down and cleared a lot of brush away from the perimeter of the parking area. I also cut away branches to provide walking headroom.

During lunch, I aspirated a slug of saliva while I was eating an apple. I did a lot of violent coughing trying to clear it. I got on the bed with my head over the edge and down close to the floor so that gravity would help get the stuff out of my trachea and larynx. While I was coughing upside down like this, I had a visit by a very interested Jehovah Witness who had been a general contractor. He was interested in my project so after I stopped coughing, I showed him around. I declined to take his literature and he understood.

I had been feeling as if a cold were coming on, so I took a dose of Zicam. Then I took a bunch of straight limbs I had cut from the holly tree in Seattle, and with Gus’s hatchet, I cut the lumps off to make a half-dozen staves. My plan was to have the scouts use these to carrying the big firewood rounds I had cut down to the cabin. I tied a length of rope to each stave so the boys could lash the stave to a round so that two boys could carry it. They would each have one end of the stave for a handle. The chipmunk came around for peanuts during the work.

Next, I pulled a very stiff 10-2 UV resistant cable from where it was laced through studs, joists, and the margin between the floor and the wall. This had been part of my temporary wiring, but now that the permanent wiring was all done, it was no longer needed. It would only confuse the electrical inspector if I left it, so it was time to remove it. It took a little doing, but I got it done. I also used a coffee can as an arbor to roll the wire up so it would store a little better. I put a bunch more stuff away to tidy up the cabin and then I took a shower before quitting for the day.

On Thursday, I called Don Millar at two minutes before 8:00 and he answered. He told me that Thursdays are the days that they come to the Lake Wenatchee area and that Dave Westerman would be up to inspect later in the day. That was good news.

I went up to the cabin and did some last minute things to get ready for the inspection. Then I vacuumed the loft and the loft staircase.

When I went in for lunch, I was greeted by the flock of gray jays. While I was feeding them, a chipmunk joined in the fun and got his share. Dave Westerman showed up right after lunch and proceeded to inspect my work. He disapproved of it and gave me a list of half-dozen things I needed to fix. Some of them surprised me. I need to install more receptacles. I need to install them along the edge of the loft balcony. That was a complete surprise. Another problem was that I had installed a 50 Amp breaker, a 50 Amp receptacle, and AWG 6 wire for the dryer, as advised and sold to me by Home Depot. Dave said that it must be a 30 Amp breaker and receptacle and AWG 10 wire. Fortunately I had installed a spare 30 Amp breaker and #10 wire for a future 240 volt supply in the crawl space. He told me to simply redirect this for my dryer. That will be easy to do but I still need to buy a 30 Amp receptacle. I think I’ll just run that 50 Amp circuit down to the crawl space for some possible future use down there. Maybe a welder.

Another problem is that I had covered the conduit going to the dosing tank before I had it inspected. I will have to dig a few holes down to the conduit to prove that it is deep enough. If it isn’t, I’ll have to cover the shallow parts with 2 inches of concrete.

The main thing, though, is that I have permission to insulate and cover the rafters. That is what I want to get done before winter so that I can heat the place and keep the plumbing from freezing. I’ll still try to get the electrical problems fixed and inspected as soon as I can anyway.

After Dave left, I vacuumed the first floor and walls really good. Then I called the building department and scheduled a building inspection for next Wednesday. I think I also need their permission to insulate and cover the rafters.

On Friday morning, I set up and arranged the furniture for the scouts. I put the two extra leaves in the big table and arranged it and three other tables to form rows with chairs on one side facing the easel I had set up. I also set up the OSB table on the big sawhorses on the porch. The scouts said they were coming up on Friday but they didn’t say what time. I figured they might be up in the late afternoon or evening so I decided to shower and shave before lunch.

The gray jays showed up all morning and I was glad because I want them to show up when the scouts are here.

After lunch, I went out to the road to see about some commotion I was hearing. It was just a couple of horse trailers that had stopped and by the time I got there, they were on their way again. But just then, Rick Morrison came down the road on his bicycle. He stopped and we chatted for a while. He had just had a hip replacement and he was a little stiff and sore from that. We went up to the cabin so he could see what I had done lately. We had a real nice visit. He said he liked the open, bright effect that I had achieved with my shiny logs and my skinny-profile loft staircase. I reminded him of how grateful I still was for his helping me carry the four big windows up the hill to the cabin. We caught each other up on news of what’s been happening with mutual acquaintances.

After Rick left, I took a nap, and then to kill the time until the scouts arrived, I read. I got a lot of reading done because the scouts still weren’t there by dinner time. I fixed and ate my dinner and then read some more until Ellen called at about 9:00. Just about the time we were about to hang up, I heard the scout bus toot its horn. We hung up and I went outside with my lantern and helped the bus park and the boys find their way up and down the concrete staircase carrying their many heavy loads of gear.

The boys settled in for the night in the loft and Paul Hendricks, Rod Gowdy, and Bill Dunnell set up their cots on the front porch. I went back down to the trailer and went to bed.

On Saturday morning, I got up to the usual wonderful breakfast that Paul and Rod fix and serve. The scouts went to work on their planning for the next year. They took a break mid-morning and went outside to do some work for me as a service project. They hauled the 29 rounds I had cut out of that big grand fir log and stacked it under the eaves of the cabin. I helped with the stacking and worked up quite a sweat. When they went back to planning, I took a nice shower and then went down to the trailer for a nap.

I was happy that the gray jays showed up, but they turned out to be a little too much of a nuisance in the kitchen. They weren’t too hard to shoo away, but somebody had to be there if there was food out. Bert and Ernie also spent a lot of time on the porch begging for dog biscuits and food scraps. They are much better mannered than the birds so everyone seemed to enjoy their presence.

Bill’s brother, Dave, showed up to take Bill back with him to visit their dad in Wenatchee. While he was at Camp Serendipity, Dave showed quite an interest in the project and spent some time looking it over and asking questions.

After they left, Ken and Betsy Tarleton drove up with Kyle, an exchange student from Hong Kong who is staying with them. Ken had a sore leg so he stayed behind while I took Betsy and Kyle on a tour of the trails to see the springbox and the intervening property. We got back just about dinnertime.

We had a steak dinner that was one of the best I have ever eaten. They had gotten some very fancy and expensive steaks somehow and there were enough for all the adults and the boys. Rod grilled the steaks over charcoal.

In the evening we were sitting out on the porch talking while Bert and Ernie were sleeping at our feet. They had eaten all the meat scraps and seemed pretty happy. I was concerned that Mike and Shirley might wonder where the dogs were so I called. It rang five or six times and then went into an answering machine. I left a message apologizing for possibly waking them up – it was 9:45 when I called – and I explained that the dogs were with us.

A minute or two later, Shirley called back to tell me that it was OK for the dogs to stay or we could send them home if we wanted to. Then I asked her about the Boy Scout 100th anniversary Jamboree that she had attended as a Forest Service representative. It turned out that Rod had visited her booth and remembered her. They chatted about it for a while.

When I went down to the trailer to go to bed, the dogs followed me and then they went home.

On Sunday morning Bert and Ernie were back first thing. We had a great breakfast of ham, eggs, spuds, and hotcakes. The boys finished up their planning, they packed everything up and loaded it on the bus, they cleaned up the place and left for home at 12:30 after lunch. I followed them out and shut the gate. It was a fun week.