4/30/12 (Monday) Loaded the kitchen range we bought on 11/29/11 into the back of the truck. It had been waiting in our garage for the upper roadway to become drivable.

5/1-3/12 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday. I stopped and visited with Uncle Charles for a while on the way up. I arrived at 1:00 and was promptly greeted by Bert and Ernie. I stopped at the hairpin turn to turn up the water pressure and then I continued driving all the way to the upper roadway.

I got the dogs their biscuits and gave them their hugs. I tied up Rosy, the rosebush, and drove the truck into position so I could unload the range with the porch crane. Then I unloaded my gear and had my lunch.

I tried to take a nap but couldn't sleep so I went down and got the range rigged up to lift it with the crane. After lowering the porch rope rails, I used the crane to lift the range and swing it onto the porch without a hitch. (I mean without a problem; I actually used several hitches within the rigging.) Then I backed the truck down and parked it down below.

After moving the range inside to the kitchen and reading the installation instructions, I started by installing the anti-tip bracket in the floor. Then I made sure I had the right electrical wire, bored a hole in the floor for the wire, and strung the wire over to the hole and up into the kitchen.

On Wednesday, I wired up the stove, pushed it into place, and gave it a try. The instructions said to heat the oven for 30 minutes to burn it off. I turned on the overhead fan to suck the smoke out. I also turned all four burners on and each of them smoked to start with too. Then I happily cleaned up the small hotplate I had been using and stored it up in the loft since I wouldn't be needing it any longer.

With the stove in place, I have a better idea of what I am up against for finishing off the back side. It isn't clear to me how to do it but I will have plenty of time to think about it and figure it out.

After lunch and a nap, I went outside and strung a hose from the cabin down to Chuck, the new giant sequoia tree. Then I connected the hose and used it to water the tree. I'll just leave that hose in place more-or-less permanently.

Next I took a clipboard and a yardstick into the woods and measured each of the giant sequoia trees. The measurements will be recorded in the chart.

I also straightened each of the trees up. The snow had crumpled most of them down almost to the ground and it had crumpled their nylon protective sleeves too. I tried to give each tree protection and growing space inside the sleeve.

Then I hooked up the upper watering hose and gave each of the sequoia trees a half-bucket of water.

Back in the cabin, I cleaned up a chunk of concrete and used it for an experiment to figure out what sealer would be best to use on the water collecting funnel for the drainage channel under the porch. I cleaned the concrete off with a mason's brush and then applied two daubs each of silicone caulk, Liquid Nails, and Vulkem. I'll let them dry for a week or two and see which one sticks better.

On Thursday morning after my exercises I didn't feel like I had much energy. I am coming down with a cold and I decided not to do any hard work. Instead I spent the morning working off a few items on a list I have of touch-ups needed here and there. I worked on scraping off paint drips and drywall mud drips. Then I had my lunch and left for home at 1:00 happy to finally have a working kitchen range up there.