12/11-13/18 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

Robert called me before I left and told me that there was a lot of snow at his place and that it was snowing heavily and was supposed to continue all day. He said he was going to talk to Mike, so I asked him to try to get Mike to plow my driveway before I got there. I didn't call Earl because he had told me that he wouldn't be home.

The signs were posted on Hy 2 that chains were required past milepost 58. But at Skykomish a semi had jackknifed so I was detoured through the town and around the problem. There was snow on the road and I used 4wd past Scenic and made it fine. It was slow going, though.

I arrived at Camp Serendipity at 1:00 and saw that the driveway had not been plowed. It didn't look too deep and I figured it might be light, so I got aimed, got a run at it, and barged the truck into the driveway. I made it in about 50 feet and then got high centered on some very heavy, wet snow. It was about a foot deep.

I got out and dug the snow away all around the truck so I could walk around it and open the doors. I also dug most of the snow out from under the truck that it was high-centered on. Then, using my new scoop shovel, I packed the snow down in front of me and then tramped out a trail from the truck to the foot of the concrete staircase. Then I shoveled off the entire staircase, and finally, using the scoop shovel again, made a trail from the top of the stairs to the flagpole and then to the cabin.

Next, I started a fire in the wood stove, hoisted the flag, and went back down to the truck to get my gear. It was now 2:00 and there was 3 inches of new snow on the stairs that I had just cleaned off. It was coming down hard.

I shoveled the steps off again on my way down, then brought my gear up to the cabin and had my lunch and a nap. When I got up, I split another big round of firewood and stacked the firewood.

Robert called me while I was in the shower and told me that Mike had been over to plow my driveway in the morning, but at that time there was only a couple inches of fluffy snow on the ground, so it wasn't worth plowing. All that snow had piled up between that time and when I arrived.

Robert also was concerned about a coil of cable that he had left someplace up there, and he didn't want it to get covered up when the driveway got plowed. He asked me to look for it.

On Wednesday morning, there was another foot of snow that had fallen during the night, but it had also gotten rained on, and then frozen. The result was a quarter inch of ice on top of about 20 inches of snow.

After breakfast, I shoveled the stairs off again, made the trail to the truck, and shoveled the truck off and all around it. I dug the snow away from the tires and was able to move the truck forward and back about 6 or 8 feet. The plan was that when Mike or Josh showed up, they could clear the driveway behind me so that I could back out into the road. Then they could get their tractor in to finish the plowing job.

With the truck ready to move, I post-holed from the truck over to the big cottonwood stump which is where Robert thinks he left the cable. As I walked, the ice layer was banging right into my knees with each step. It was annoying but not much of a problem.

I dug all the snow away from around the stump and then stuck the shovel deep into the snow in a close pattern probing for the cable, but I didn't find it.

Then, at about 11:00, Josh showed up and plowed the driveway behind the truck. When he was ready, I backed the truck out and he came in and finished the plowing. I was up near the big stump watching for that cable and directing Josh where to plow and where to pile the snow.

He uncovered the set of skidder tire chains, but not the coil of cable. When Josh left, I used the shovel to probe the last couple patches that hadn't been plowed and I hit a cable. I was very happy as I dug the cable out and coiled it up. Then I realized that this was probably not the coil Robert wanted because it was too short. I carried it over and draped it over the skidder's blade anyway, so it wouldn't get covered up again.

After lunch and a nap, the doorbell rang, and it was Byron. He had just stopped in for a visit. We had a nice chat and he told me that it was common for people to sell houses that didn't have their occupancy permits. He said that as long as the buyer knows what they're getting into, the realtors put the deals together. That gave me a feeling of relief in case something should happen to me before the cabin is finished. I am still resolved to get that occupancy as quickly as I can. It has the highest priority next to logging when Robert is on site.

After Byron left, I went down and worked in the crawlspace, shoveling dirt, making measurements, and strategizing how to approach the job of draining and keeping it dry. It's a pretty daunting challenge.

On Thursday the temperature outside was 29° when I got up. It had rained again and there was another six inches of snow, or slush, on top of what was still there from before. Dave called right after breakfast and we had a nice long conversation. Then I went out and shoveled off the steps and the truck again.

Next, I went back to work in the crawlspace and began to have some serious misgivings about my approach. I could see that my plan to install a plywood floor on 2x4 joists resting on stone pillars resting on bedrock was going to be a nightmare.

I had my lunch, packed up, and left for home at 12:30. I had plenty of time on the way home to think things through and I decided to change my strategy. There are only about five items left on the list to get done before the final inspection. Two of the items were hard and the rest were easy. I had been working on the hard ones first saving the easy ones for last.

I decided to reverse that and get the easiest ones done first and then do the hard ones for a couple reasons. The two hard ones are the railings and the crawlspace. Both of them are easier to work on in the summer. And my plan for the crawlspace was to build the floor after getting the water to drain out with no puddles, and then to insulate the cabin floor. But for final inspection, the building department only cares about the insulation and not the water problem. So, my new plan is to first knock off the easy items, then insulate the floor, and finally finish the railings. Then, after passing final inspection, finish fixing the crawlspace floor, as well as working on trim and a hundred other projects the building department doesn't care about. I feel good about my new plan.