3/14/11 Called Tom Hammond and had him fax a copy of the loft stair engineering specs with his stamp on it to the Chelan County building department.

3/15-17/11 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at 12:30. The driveway hadn't been plowed since last week and there was about 8 inches of new snow over my old tracks. I was able to get in and park in 4WD but it took quite a bit of jockeying. Even with the new snow, the snow had shrunk down quite a bit so there was only a foot or two on the ground on average.

After moving my gear to the cabin, I split some wood and started a fire in the stove. Then I had lunch and a short nap. Afterward, I hung a tarp around the bathroom to provide privacy for the scouts

Bert showed up so I went out and gave him hugs, biscuits, and gravy on the porch. Then I split two firewood rounds and stockpiled the wood for the scouts. Then I sawed off the ends of some small logs in order to make room for a storage rack at the Grid E3 corner of the foundation for left-over plywood and OSB. I'll have the scouts carry it down from the cabin as a service project.

On Wednesday it had rained overnight so the snow was in even worse shape than before. After breakfast, I split and stockpiled some more firewood. Then, to get an idea of what the snow was like in the woods, I snow shoed around the outside trail to the spring and looked for the sequoia trees. Paul and Brian were both uncovered and looked good but the rest of them were still buried under the snow. I cleaned some debris out of the spring.

Next, I cleared a bunch of stuff out of the bedroom. This will make more room for the scouts and it will also help get ready for drywall. Then I vacuumed the floors both upstairs and down. After that, I went outside and started making the rack for storing the plywood and OSB. Finally I called Mike and asked him to plow the driveway so the scouts could get their bus parked.

On Thursday morning, I tightened all 42 bolts on the loft staircase. They each took about one full turn. Then I laid a fire in the wood stove so that it will be ready to light as soon as I arrive with the scouts.

Bert and Ernie both showed up so I went out on the front porch with them and gave them both a good dose of hugs and a couple biscuits apiece.

I put a few more things away to tidy up for the scouts and then Mike showed up. I moved the truck out to the road so he could clear off the parking area. In the process he ran into my gate log and tore the end of it up a little. It is still buried under snow so I can't assess the damage very well, but I think it will still be usable. I got my axe and cut away some brush that would have been in the way for the bus to park. Then I shoveled some snow away from the corner of the driveway to make it easier to get the bus in, and I cut steps in the snow and cleaned up the trail from the driveway to the foot of the concrete stairs. Finally I finished making the rack for plywood and OSB.

At least two gray jays showed up for peanuts while I was working on the rack. I was glad to see them. I haven't seen them for quite a while, probably because I haven't been working outside very much. I hope they show up again when the scouts are here.

I left for home at 1:00 looking forward to the scout visit.