3/9-14/26 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 6 days: Monday through Saturday.

I had a doctor's appointment for an Echo test in Seattle first thing in the morning which gave me a late start. I also had to stop at the post office and the tax accountant on the way which delayed me further.

I arrived at 2:00 and found that almost all of the snow on the ground was gone. I brought my gear up to the cabin in two trips and brought it in through the back door for the first time this year. I hoisted the flag between the two trips.

Once I got settled, I unpacked my gear and built a fire to warm the place up for my shower. That made up for the bathroom heater not working. By that time, it had started snowing outside.

On Tuesday morning, the temperature outside when I got up was 23 degrees and there was about 3 inches of new snow that fell overnight. After practicing the piano, I swept the snow off the back porch and the back staircase. Then I had my lunch and a nap before I walked to the grave. The road had been plowed, so I walked in my street shoes. I downloaded the news headlines which I read when I got back to the cabin.

On Wednesday morning, the temperature outside was 24 degrees. There was about 2 more inches of new snow on the ground, but it was snowing pretty heavily. I practiced the piano and then realized that I had made a mistake. I had failed to get my Sorel boots out of the truck the day before so now I had to scoop away the snow in front of me with a heavy square-nosed shovel to get down to the truck to get my boots.

With the Sorel boots on, I went for my walk. The road had not been plowed so there was about 8 inches of snow on the road cut by the ruts made by it looked like 2 vehicles. I walked in those tracks. I walked to John's place and talked to him and Nate for a while. I showed them my lightweight Helle Hansen down parka and let them try it on. They were impressed.

I did not continue walking to the grave because the deep snow slowed me down too much and I was exhausted. When I returned home, I used the lightweight aluminum scoop to shovel the snow off the concrete staircase. Then I went inside and read the news headlines.

Ellen called and alerted me that a winter storm was on the way, and we discussed whether I should go home early on Friday. The pass was closed already on Thursday and there was a possibility I would have to spend Friday at the cabin and go home Saturday, if not later.

On Thursday morning, the temperature was 25 degrees and there was about 2 inches of new snow on the ground. It was snowing, but not heavily.

I watered Tiger, practiced the piano, and worked on the puzzle for a while. Then I had my lunch and a nap.

When I got up, I walked to the grave. The road had been plowed, and it was snowing lightly. I brought my umbrella which kept me nice and dry.

On the way back, when I was right at the 1 mile marker, a little bird, which I think was a chickadee, started walking in front of me right at the edge of the plowed pavement. It always kept 8 or 10 feet in front of me, pecking occasionally at something on the ground, and flying ahead 10 feet or so every once in a while.

This pattern continued all the way up the hill to the Smith's house where the bird was joined by another one and the two of them left me to continue my walk without them. That was fun and unusual. That was one curious bird.

When I got back, I built a fire in the wood stove and had another nice shower.

On Friday morning I woke up to a call from Ellen telling me that the pass was closed and that I would have to stay another night and come home on Saturday. Outside, we had gotten 20 inches of new snow overnight and it was still snowing.

I got a call from Robert who was concerned about my travel plans. He was glad I was going to stay on Friday and go home Saturday.

After practicing the piano, I went outside and dug out the trail from the front porch to the flagpole and then the left half of the staircase to the truck using the nice lightweight scoop.

While I was at the truck, I hailed a guy in a tractor who stopped and asked me if I would like him to scoop out the driveway between my truck and the road. I eagerly accepted his offer. His name is Rick Hines, and he works for Leavenworth Electric. Neither of us had a business card on us so we agreed to connect later so that I could pay him.

That solved a big part of the problem of getting my truck out so I could drive home. I spent a lot of time digging snow away from the truck, and using Cindy to lop the vine maple bushes off that Rick had exposed when he had dug the snow from around the driveway.

I finally quit and went in for lunch and a nap at 3:00. When I got up, I tried to find a red binder containing the electrical diagrams and specifications for the cabin. I expected to find it in a file folder in the 4-drawer file labeled "Electrical", but when I found that file empty, I had no idea where to look. I searched every tabletop, drawer, shelf, and any other place I could think of in the cabin to no avail. I gave up and decided to continue my search when I got home.

In the evening, after I had gone to bed, the power to the cabin went out. I didn't let it affect my sleep and decided it would probably be restored by the time I got up. It wasn't.

On Saturday morning, the power was still out so I entered survival practice mode. I built a fire in the wood stove. Then I went outside and fetched some more firewood and brought it up to the front stoop.

With the fire going, I put on a teakettle of water for coffee. I was surprised at how quickly it started whistling. I made a cup of coffee and sipped on that as I made my breakfast.

First the toast. I took Nancy's advice and just threw the bread on top of the hot stove. It started smoking right away so I scrambled to get the second slice going and to find a big spatula. With that, I turned the first piece and found it was already toast. Then I turned the second one and right away took both of them off the stove. They were just right.

Next, I cracked 3 eggs into a small pan, poured a little hot water into the pan from the teakettle, and put the pan on the stove. Things stopped happening so fast, so I watched as the egg whites slowly cooked.

When I figured they were done, I ate a delicious breakfast of toast and eggs. Not bad for a beginner cook.

Next, I turned my full attention to packing up my gear and securing the cabin. My plan was to drive to the school bus turnaround where I can get cell and Internet services and call Ellen. She told me that the pass was closed but they expected it to open soon. When we hung up, I drove to Cole's Corner and stopped at Leavenworth Electric's establishment hoping to find a way to connect with Rick Hines.

Instead, there was no one there. Just then, Ellen called me and told me that the pass had just opened. I drove out onto US2 and looked to my left. There was the "Road Closed" barrier and an endless line of trucks and cars waiting for the road to open.

I had no such barrier and I believed Ellen, so I headed West with the highway all to myself. I only saw an occasional vehicle, usually on-coming, all the way to the pass. It was a delightful drive. I got home early in the afternoon very happy to have made it. Now, to find the electrical diagrams.