9/4-7/13 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 4 days: Wednesday through Saturday.

I got off to a very late start so I skipped visiting with Uncle Charles on the way. I arrived at Camp Serendipity at 5:15 PM. When I moved my gear in, I was happy to notice that there were no mice in any of the traps. Maybe the last caulking I did actually sealed up their way in. We can always hope.

Since it was so late, I went straight to the shower and then had my dinner.

On Thursday I spent the morning stacking the firewood that the scouts had piled up in front of the cabin. I stacked it two-deep against the front of the cabin. That still left plenty of room to get my truck past it. The plan is to haul firewood up from down below with the truck and stack it on the new stack against the foundation.

After lunch and a short nap I took the wheelbarrow, a splitting maul, and a sledge hammer down to the parking area where I proceeded to split three of the big rounds from the ponderosa log I had bucked. I split each one into five or so pieces. These pieces were small enough so that I could lift each one off the ground and get it into the wheelbarrow. I could then lift it out of the wheelbarrow and up onto the tailgate of the truck bed. And then I could roll the piece into the bed. The three rounds pretty much filled up the space available in the bed so I drove that load up to the upper roadway. I forgot to tie up Rosy, the rosebush, so the bush scraped the truck as I went by. Fortunately Rosy didn't tear my rear-view mirror off.

About that time Bill called and we had a nice long chat. We had been playing phone tag for over a month and this was a more-or-less arranged call. We are trying to put together a visit where he and Dave will come up to Camp Serendipity for a fun time and maybe get some work done. I suggested that installing all the knobs and pulls on the cabinets and doors would be a good project for the three of us. Bill and Dave are going to set the date and let me know. I'll get the knobs and pulls.

Bill told me about the property he has just acquired near Packwood. It sounds very nice to me and I am eager to see it one of these days.

After Bill hung up, I proceeded to stack the firewood. I was surprised and dismayed at how much room it took up. I stacked it on top of the stack of "scout" wood and that truck load took up nearly all of the space that was available. Since there are another dozen or so similar rounds still down below, plus a bunch more bucked up firewood, I am going to need a lot more space to stack it. I have a plan for maybe doubling the space, but even at that it won't be nearly enough. The firewood move will probably get spread over multiple years. Let's hope that was a hundred-year ice storm last winter.

After backing the truck back down, I sharpened the teeth on the chainsaw and then bucked two more rounds from the ponderosa log on the inside of the driveway turn. That will make it easier to drive into the driveway and it will make it possible to get the scout bus in there. The gap in the log was pretty narrow and tight before.

I also went out to the road and bucked two rounds from the same log where it stuck out pretty close to the road. I'm not sure I cut it back far enough for the snowplow but at least it is a lot better. I also bucked up a fairly good size log that was lying up against the PUD transformer box. I had reported it to the PUD and they said they would clear it, but they hadn't done it yet so I did.

When the saw ran out of gas, I decided that I had done enough so I called it a day. I was very sore and tired when I went in for the night.

At 10:30 in the evening I was awakened by a very violent thunderstorm. I have never seen it rain like that up there. I got up, went out on the porch, and made a video of the rain running off the roof. I also watched the lightning and listened to the thunder. It was delightful being cozy and dry.

On Friday morning it rained cats and dogs so I did some odd jobs inside. First I strung an extension cord at the top of the pantry to provide power to the phone. Then I planed the top of the pantry door because it was sticking. Then I deflated the inflatable bed that is in the living room and tucked it in a corner out of the way. Then I shimmed the base of the porch bench because it was a little loose. Then I experimented with an old Delta faucet that I got from some garage sale to see how it worked at low pressure. I was surprised to find that it works fine. Maybe it is too old to have the new EPA approved flow restriction in it, or maybe the new faucets would work just fine. It makes me wonder. In the experiment I connected the faucet to a pex-mounted shut off valve so at least I know that it is not necessary to replace them with ball valves as I did in the kitchen. That will simplify the plumbing.

Next I made a video giving a tour through the cabin. And finally, before having lunch and a nap, I vacuumed the first floor.

When I got up from my nap, the sun was out so I went up to the spring and re-built the dam. I moved it about halfway up to the springbox from where it was. That leaves the old dam site a little drier and allows me to see better how to build the new springbox extension. I cleared off a lot of mud and moss from the rock and concrete and began to think about exactly how I was going to build the extension. It's a little more tricky and complicated than I thought but at least now I know better what I am up against. I'll need to do a lot more thinking.

Next I got out the post hole digger, the Warthog, and a big steel bar and dug a posthole for a flagpole. Paul Hendricks had suggested that erecting a permanent flagpole would be a good project for the scouts when they come up in another couple weeks and he had suggested a site for the pole. Unfortunately the bedrock is very close to the surface everywhere up there so the hole I dug is only about 16 inches deep. It is solid granite below that. We will have to make that work.

Before I quit for the day, I turned on the valve and watered the giant sequoia named Brian for about an hour and I masked the floor under the jambs of the doors that had not yet been varnished.

On Saturday morning, I varnished the five interior doors that had not yet gotten their first coat of varnish. I left for home at 12:30 satisfied that I had at least gotten some work done and feeling rejuvenated after spending four days in the woods.