1/31-2/4/22 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 5 days: Monday through Friday.

On the drive over, it was snowing from Index all the way to Camp Serendipity. I had to be in 4wd all the way but I was not far behind a snowplow, so the driving was fairly easy but slow. I arrived at noon.

There was a lot of new snow on the ground, but I could see no evidence of any plowing activity. I parked at the entrance by barging in over 8 to 10 inches of new light but wet snow.

I made one trip up to the cabin to stomp out the trails, shovel off the staircase, and hoist the flag. I reached the cabin at 12:30. I was happy that all four heaters we were working fine, and the temperature inside was 65 degrees.

I made four more trips up from the truck with a lot of gear including a stepladder and a bunch of light fixtures. After having my lunch and a nap, I built a fire in the stove to warm things up for a shower. Except for the times I was carrying gear up, it snowed most of the day.

On Tuesday it was 26 degrees outside when I got up. After practicing the piano, I went out and shoveled off the stairs again. Then back in the cabin I inventoried the light fixtures that I had and brought those to the loft that belong up there. I distributed the rest in a sequence for installation. I learned that the bedroom fixture was missing, and I forgot that that one was still on order. I began working on the first kitchen fixture and ran into a few snags. It took a considerable amount of jury-rigging, but I made some progress. After lunch and a nap, I finished installing both kitchen ceiling light fixtures. It was not easy. I took a picture of the result.

Just as I was finishing dinner, John called, and we had a delightful long conversation. Somewhere along the way, I slowly came to the decision that I was going to begin depending on electric heat instead of wood heat. The chore of harvesting, splitting, and stacking firewood is getting to be tedious and I am beginning to run short on supply. It will be nice to simply relax in a warm cabin and build a fire only when it is fun.

On Wednesday morning it was 12 degrees outside when I got up. I practiced the piano, listened to the radio, and began working on installing the hall light. Again, I ran into snags. The parts didn't quite fit. The screws for the Chinese made fixture have different threads than the screws in a standard American octagon box.

After lunch and a nap, I jury-rigged parts to make the fixture work and got the mechanical part done.

On Thursday morning it was 12 degrees outside. I practiced the piano, and then finished the electrical work on the hall light fixture and completed the installation. I took a picture of the result.

Next, I installed bolt caps that had never been installed on the toilet. Ellen had decided that we should finally install them and today was the day. Next, I installed a beautiful wood toilet paper holder on the log wall next to the toilet.

After lunch and a nap, I made some crude measurements in the loft to see how those fixtures were going to fit. The fixtures hang from fairly long chains, and I wanted to make sure the chains would be long enough or extendable if they weren't. I finished the day by practicing the piano and doing some writing.

On Friday morning the temperature outside was 17 degrees. Robert called early in the morning and caught me up on his activities of getting their business ready for opening. It's a lot of hard work, they are making progress, but they are a week behind their schedule.

After practicing the piano, I went up in the loft and made some accurate measurements. I was happy to learn that the chains on the fixtures were long enough and they were going to work fine.

After having my lunch and packing up my gear, I left for home at 12:45 pleased with the work I had gotten done this week.