7/19-23/21 I went up to Camp Serendipity for five days: Monday through Friday.

I arrived at 11:45. The temperature was 80 degrees. After bringing my gear up to the cabin in one trip, I hoisted the flag, and then had my lunch and a nap.

I woke up at three o'clock, did some exercises and read. It was too hot to do any work.

On Tuesday I practiced the piano first thing and then sanded and varnished the board that I would use to mount the coat hooks Paula had given us in the entry room. Then I picked about 1/2 tub of blackberries and then went out and checked the trees.

The flow of water to Paul's irrigation system was a little too fast so it was flowing over the top of the funnel. I turned the valve to restrict the flow back to a slower stream.

The cedar trees and the sequoias that I looked at all looked good. When I looked at Earl, I scared a grouse, so I didn't go any further. I didn't want to disturb her anymore. I brought 5 gallons of water to Andrew, and then wheeled a load of firewood from up by Runty back to the cabin. I listened to the radio for a while and then had my lunch. I sanded and applied the second coat of varnish on the board and then had my nap. When I got up, I sanded and varnished the third coat on the board.

Then I went outside and did some more surveying. I used the rope I had thrown over some high branches last week to haul a heavier rope with a pulley high up in the tree. Then, with another stout rope, which ran through the pulley, I pulled up the end of a 100-foot tape and a plumb bob string that was attached to it.

With the end of the tape held fast, high up in the tree, I measured from that point to the center of the Grid G3 column and to the E3 corner of the foundation. The problem was that in order to measure the distance, the tape needed to be nearly level. But with the cabin so much higher than all the other points I had established so far, this was the method I had hit on. The plumb bob established a new point that could be located accurately because it was down at the level of other known points.

When I had made the measurements, I took all the rigging down and went up to the loft to add the data to my map. I swung two new arcs on my map which I would use to establish two points of the cabin on the map. I was pleased with the concept because once those two points were established, the entire footprint of the cabin could be fixed on the map.

On Wednesday it was cooler in the morning which was welcome. When I turned on the mosquito fan at the front door the bearing howled so badly that it wouldn't work. I moved the fan that I had in the back to the front and plugged it in instead of the howling one. Then I took the howling fan apart to get inside so I could clean it out and try to lube it. One bearing was accessible so I used WD40 on it and got it to work without howling. I left the other fan in place and will use it until I see a need to switch.

After practicing the piano, I had my breakfast and strung a light rope up a second tree using the same technique I had before.

I noticed that the flagpole was out of plumb more than usual and I thought the ground needed to be tamped to firm it up and plumb the pole. I used a big hammer and a short 1x2 to tamp the ground and got the pole standing up straight.

Some time later, I heard a loud crash and discovered that a gust of wind had blown the flagpole completely over. The part that was underground was completely rotten and tamping the ground didn't help. I had a flagpole kit that attaches a short flagpole to a wall at about a 45-degree angle. I used that to mount the flagpole to the end of a projecting log at Grid A3. I need a ladder to mount or remove the flag, so I decided to mount it on Monday when I arrive and leave it up until Friday when I leave. According to flag etiquette, you can fly the flag at night as long as it is illuminated. Fortunately, my flood lights at that corner are aimed right at the flag, so I will turn them on at night.

After lunch and a nap, I installed the varnished board and the coat hooks in the entry room. I was happy with the result and took a couple of pictures.

On Thursday I practiced the piano and then went out and picked some more blackberries. I rigged up the second tree using the rope I had thrown over the day before. Then using the same technique, I measured two more distances which fixed the position of the cabin on the map. I was very happy with that development.

After lunch and a nap, I called Earl and he invited me over for a visit to see his flight simulator project. I drove over to his house and spent the rest of the afternoon with him.

On Friday morning I picked some more berries and re-measured one of the lengths I had surveyed the day before. It had dawned on me during the night that I might have made a mistake and sure enough my earlier measurement was off by two feet. I corrected the drawing to fix that error.

I practiced the piano and then got a call from Robert who updated me on his recent activities. Then I spent the rest of the morning vacuuming the first floor. I left for home at 12:50 grateful that the weather was sort of cooling off.