10/18-20/11 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I stopped at the Haight Carpet warehouse in Woodinville on my way up and picked up a 900 lb load of Konecto flooring planks. There were twenty three 39-lb. boxes shrink wrapped onto a 50-lb. pallet. The autumn colors were beautiful on the drive from the pass to Camp Serendipity.

I arrived at 1:50 and was promptly met by Bert and Ernie. I parked the truck temporarily, gave the dogs their usual hugs, turned on the water, went up to the cabin and got them some dog biscuits, and tied up Rosy the rose bush. Then I went into the crawlspace and got out a crane sling I had gotten from Priscilla when Leonard died. Leonard had used it to carry bricks and stones up high on his projects. I had never used it before. I figured it would be the perfect thing to use to lift the flooring boxes with the porch crane. Then I went inside for lunch.

I was too excited about unloading the flooring to take a nap so after lunch, I went right back down to get the truck. I put it in 4wd because of the damp pine needles all over the damp ground and because of the heavy load. I had no trouble driving up to the upper roadway.

I started out by lifting three boxes of flooring. This, including the sling, made a load of over 150 lb. which the crane had no trouble lifting. From then on, I lifted five boxes at a time which made a load of nearly 250 lb. I lifted them up and over the porch railing rope and swung them over and set them down on a tall sawhorse. Then I carried each box into the cabin and stacked them on the floor under the loft staircase. I took a few pictures of the process.

After backing the truck back down the hill and parking it, I installed the electronic rodent repeller under the hood to keep the packrats out. In the process it looked like I had a low front tire. I got out my portable tire pump and pumped it up from 40 to 45 lb.

By the time I finished, it was after 5:00 and I decided that it was too late to start painting, so I quit for the day and had my shower and dinner.

On Wednesday Bert and Ernie were up on the front porch by the time I was washing my breakfast dishes. I went out and gave them their usual hugs and biscuits. Then I went to work and painted the base coat in the utility room. Everything now had one coat of paint except the bathroom which had three and was finished.

I cleaned out my brush and roller and switched paint. Then I painted the second coat on the living room, the entry room, and the living room closet. By the time I cleaned my equipment, it was time for lunch and a nap.

After my nap, I painted the hall, the linen closet, the kitchen, and the bedroom closet.

On Thursday morning I woke up at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. So I got up and was painting before 6 AM. I painted the bedroom and the utility room. That completed the second coat on everything except, again, for the bathroom which was done. It was now pretty clear that I can finish all the painting next week. The masking is what takes the time, and now that it is all masked, it doesn't take long to paint. I will be so glad when it's all done. Bert and Ernie came around again for hugs and biscuits while I was cleaning my equipment.

I had some time left before it was time to go home so I installed the switch and outlet cover plates in the bathroom, and then took a nap before lunch. I left for home at 12:50 and enjoyed a spectacularly beautiful drive home. The sun was shining and the leaves were even more brilliant than they were on the drive up and much better than they were a week ago. Life is good.