1/11-14/21 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 4 days: Monday through Thursday.

I had an eye doctor's appointment before I left, so I got a late start. It rained all the way to the pass which changed to a light snowfall from there on. I arrived at 2:00. There was only a skiff of new snow on the ground, so I had no trouble parking at the foot of the staircase heading out.

I shoveled the snow off the first flight of the concrete stairs, but it was too frozen from there up. So, I just walked over the frozen snow bringing my gear up to the cabin in two trips. I hoisted the flag, built a fire, had my lunch, and practiced the piano for the rest of the afternoon.

On Tuesday morning at 4:00 the power went out. 12 inches of snow had fallen overnight. I built a fire in the stove and shoveled the snow off the back stairs and stoop. Then, at first light, I walked to the school bus turn around to phone the PUD to find out when they expected power to be restored. On the way I met Rebecca, who was staying in the Bartholomew's cabin. I asked her if she knew any details about the power outage. She did not so I told her I would let her know what I found out after making my call.

When I tried calling the PUD, my phone quit working for some reason, so I gave up and walked back. On the way I encountered Rebecca again who offered to walk back with me to call on her phone. The two of us went back to the school bus turn around. She called and found out that it was a regional outage and was expected to be restored at 12:00 PM.

As we walked back, I invited her to come and visit our cabin. She eagerly accepted and asked if she could bring her partner, Marc, with her. I said absolutely, so Marc joined us, and we went to the cabin for a brief visit.

Because of COVID-19 they decided not to come into the cabin but just to stand in the inner entry doorway. From there I answered some questions and showed them the model of the log house which I had told them about. I took a couple of pictures of them in front of the granite outcropping I had told them all about, and then they left.

Since the power would not be on to help me cook my breakfast. I set about cooking on the wood stove. I heated the coffee water in the tea kettle, cooked ham and eggs in a pan on top, and made my toast by dangling slices of bread from a piece of wire in front of the fire.

After breakfast I shoveled the concrete steps clear as I made my way down to the truck. There I listened to the radio to see if there was more information about the power outage. There wasn't any important information, so I went back up to the cabin bringing my snowshoes with me.

I used the snowshoes to make a trail up to the woodshed and then I used a stout rope to drag three rounds of firewood, one at a time, down the trail from the woodshed to the cabin.

Since it was almost lunchtime, I decided to have my lunch and I started by cooking more toast at the wood stove. I took a picture of me cooking the second slice.

Before I finished, the power came on at exactly 12:00 o'clock. I should have trusted the prediction. After having my lunch, I practiced the piano. It stopped snowing at about 1:00 o'clock when I went down for my nap.

When I got up more snow had avalanched onto the back stairs, porch, and stoop, so I shoveled them clean again.

On Wednesday it had rained all night. The power went off at 3:00 AM but came back on at 6:00 AM and stayed on after that. After breakfast I played the piano, listened to the radio, and then went outside to work. The trail I had made was pretty solid, but it took some repair work to fill the occasional hole. I shoveled the snow off the top of the mixer and then brought the ladder up to the privy and used it to get on top and shovel the snow off the roof. The temperature was above freezing so the snow was not frozen. That made it nice because I was able to shovel off the entire roof using only the aluminum scoop shovel. Usually there is ice in the snow and I have to use a square-nose shovel to chip it away.

When I finished, I took the stout rope back to the woodshed and used it to drag three more big rounds of firewood down to the cabin one at a time. Then I had my lunch and a nap.

When I got up, I split and stacked all six rounds of firewood. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon writing.

On Thursday morning I practiced the piano, spent the rest of the morning writing, and left for home at 12:45. It had been a fun week with a little more exercise than I am used to. It's all good.