3/29-31/11 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I arrived at 1:30. There had evidently been some new snow since last week, but it was mostly melted off. The driveway was bare mud. Bert and Ernie came over for their usual hugs and biscuits while I closed the water valve down and moved my gear into the cabin. It was fairly warm out and it wasn't raining, so I didn't bring a jacket or raincoat with me from the truck.

After setting the thermostats up to 65, I started a fire in the stove to take the chill off. Then I had my lunch, and afterward, I called Terry at Marson and Marson to talk about the latest drawings he had sent me. They looked good to me but Terry wanted to do an on-site visit before he would be satisfied with the design. We scheduled for him to come up to Camp Serendipity on Wednesday April 6.

Next, I went to work on item #27 on my list that had now grown to 47 items that need to be done prior to drywall. Item #27 is to provide backing for the ceiling drywall all along the log wall at Grid A. After some chiseling on the end of the 2x4 I had cut for the kitchen area, I fastened the 2x4 in place and completed half of the job. I still had the utility room to go.

It began to rain early in the afternoon and by nightfall it was raining pretty hard and steadily.

On Wednesday, it had rained cats and dogs all night and it continued to rain all day. I was glad I was working inside. I went out on the porches several times but I didn't go out in the rain at all.

Earl called fairly early in the morning and we had a nice long chat. He had gotten back about a week earlier and wasn't too happy that the weather has been so bad. He sounded really good and he told me that his Parkinson's wasn't much worse than it had been when they left. He was eager to get back on his motorcycle if only the weather would clear up. We talked quite a bit about owning firearms, and a few other subjects. It was good to talk with him again.

Next, I finished off item #27 by fastening the 2x4 down at the Grid A wall in the utility room. This was a little tricky, as was the other one, but I eventually got it done. I also finished item #11, an easy one, which was to take down a supply of cords, ropes, and bungee cords that were stored in the bedroom closet and move them to the crawl space. Then I had my lunch and a short nap.

In the afternoon, I polished off item numbers 32, 37, 38, 42, and 45. These were fairly easy also. They were to move various things I had stored in the utility room, the linen closet, the bedroom, etc. and to store them in new places out of the way of the drywallers. It rained all day so it was sort of pleasant being able to work inside a cozy warm cabin. I was wondering how I was going to get my gear down to the truck if it was still raining the next day when I planned to leave. I didn't make a plan for that though. I just wondered.

On Thursday morning, it was still raining cats and dogs and it had rained all night again. Things were really wet outside, and I could see that the truck was parked in a muddy field surrounded by big puddles that were almost lakes.

After breakfast, I finished item #14, which was a simple matter to remove and store the covers from the overhead fans in the bathroom and the utility room. Then I went to work and got a good start on item #47, installing a pantry shelf above the linen closet.

This is a fairly involved job. I had brought the lumber I would need with me, and I took the time to make a drawing in order to design the structure correctly. I got the frame installed and cut the plywood deck for the pantry shelf and fit it in place. All that remains is to screw the deck down and cut and install a couple boards for the ends to provide drywall backing for the inside of the linen closet. That will have to wait until next week.

As I had my lunch, I watched the weather to see if the rain might let up before I had to carry my gear down to the truck. I was pleased that the rain seemed to be slowing, the clouds seemed to be lifting, and it was getting lighter outside. By the time I got my gear together and closed up the cabin, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. More serendipity. I left for home at 12:30.

The serendipity came to an end, however, when I drove up to Stevens Pass. When I got there, I found that the road crew had blocked the road at the pass and one of the guys told me that the avalanches were too dangerous for the crews to work on removing them any more for the rest of the day. They had abandoned the work for the rest of the day and the pass would be closed at least until tomorrow.

I turned around and drove over Blewett and Snoqualmie passes without any problem except that I burned up more gas and got home later than usual. I saw a lot of high muddy water on the way, some of it over the roadway, but at least I got through.