5/10-14/21 I went up to Camp Serendipity for five days: Monday through Friday.

I arrived at 10:50, brought my gear up in one trip, hoisted the flag, and built a fire to take the chill off the cabin. Then I had my brunch and my nap.

When I got up, I went outside and did some surveying. I don't know the exact elevation of any point on the property, but it is not important because the contour map I will draw will be consistent with whatever elevation I assume. I think the elevation is about 1800 feet, so I arbitrarily assigned 1805 to the contour line I had drawn last week.

Now I established benchmarks on the roadway for the 1800- and 1810-foot elevations by embedding flat rocks in the roadway on which I wrote the elevations. I also wrote 1805 on the rock I had used for the contour last week. The first of the new markers is near the driveway entrance and the other is at the start of the hairpin turn with last week's marker in between. This positioning convinced me that 5-foot contour intervals is a good choice.

On Tuesday, after practicing the piano, I used my Contour Strider to lay the clothesline rope on the 1800-foot contour. Then a I marked a bunch of points with sticks as I had done before and measured all those points from known points, also as I had done before. That gave me the data to draw another contour line.

I went in for brunch and then proceeded to draw the 1800-foot contour line on my map. Then I had my nap. When I got up, I noticed a bunch of mason bees busy using the bee block that I thought they had abandoned. It was good to see them back. I sat in Dave's Adirondack chair and enjoyed watching the busy bees going in and out of the block.

Then I removed the temporary bracing that had been holding the baseboards in the bathroom while the glue dried. Now there was just one small piece left to do in there, which was to the left of the cabinet behind the wastebasket. Then I made the last bullnose for the utility room by gluing three pieces of baseboard together and propping them up so the glue would dry.

On Wednesday I slept in. When I went out to hoist the flag there were two deer walking under the flagpole and I had spooked them when I opened the door. They ran up the roadway and turned right onto the Sequoia trail. It was good to see them.

Robert called and asked if I wanted him to return the house jacks I had given him, and I told him no thank you. He will probably scrap them.

After practicing the piano, I installed the last little baseboard section in the bathroom. Then I installed the last bull nose corner in the utility room and in the process ran out of glue. I'll wait with the rest of the baseboards until I get some more glue.

Next, I went out and strung the clothesline rope along the 1810-foot contour using the Contour Strider and the same technique as before. It works extremely well. Then I went in for brunch and a nap. After I got up, I spent a couple hours writing. Then I went out to the woods, checked on Paul, and brought 6 gallons of water to Andrew.

On Thursday after practicing the piano, Dave called, and we had our usual delightful conversation. Then I went outside to do some more surveying. I established 3 new points from which I could measure to the new contour line. I measured 14 points on the 1810 contour and then went in for my brunch.

Before I took my nap, I drew the 1810 contour which goes across the roadway just below the hairpin turn. After I got up from my nap, I established the 1815-foot benchmark which is up in the hairpin turn. Then I went into the crawlspace and spread the last sheet of plastic on the floor. It was getting hot outside and it was a relief to work in the nice cool crawlspace. I also switched the fan down there to summer mode.

On Friday morning after practicing the piano, I sat in Dave's Adirondack chair for a while and watched the mason bees again. Then I took in the clothesline rope I had used for the 1810 contour and coiled it up ready for the next contour.

I left for home at 12:15 happy with my surveying and mapping methods.