11/19-21/12 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Monday through Wednesday.

On the way I stopped and visited with Claude McVey. At the time I did not know that that would be my last visit with him. He died two days later. The weather was rainy all day but it turned to snow going over the pass. There was slush on the road but I had no problem getting over in 2wd.

I arrived at 1:10. Bert and Ernie were right there to greet me in spite of the rain. After giving them their hugs and biscuits and after moving my gear in, I built a fire in the stove and had my usual lunch and nap. It was a real pleasure to see the water steadily running out the end of my drainage system. I'll see whether or not that makes much difference in how wet the crawl space gets this winter.

The 4x4 brackets that hold up my scaffolding stick out beyond the drip line of the roof, so each one had a load of snow on the end and the water followed the 4x4 back before it dripped off making my porch all wet. I made 5 short ropes and tied one around each 4x4 inside the wet part in the hopes that the ropes would cause the water to drip out beyond the porch so that the porch would stay drier. We'll see whether or not it works.

I made the measurements for ripping the last ceiling board and chose and marked the stained boards that I had left. There weren't enough to do the entire job, but there were 16 feet or so of them.

It continued to rain cats and dogs the rest of the day and all night.

On Tuesday, I built another fire in the stove first thing. Bert and Ernie showed up for another round of hugs and biscuits. After breakfast, I went to work on the ceiling. I ripped the boards that I had marked and then nailed them up. There were a lot of complications of the measure once, cut twice type, as well as the complications from the limited room to swing the hammer. After lunch and a nap, I ripped and installed another 8-foot board. This one was no easier than the others. Then I ripped and stained a second 8-footer.

It rained all night again, but on Wednesday morning, there was a brief snow flurry and the weather cleared after that. I wasn't sure what to expect about the weather but I knew that snow was forecast for the pass and since it was important for me to get home before Thanksgiving, I figured I'd better leave a little early.

I installed the 8-foot board I had prepared the night before which completed the ceiling under the eave except for about 6 feet at the Grid 1 end. That space was wide enough to take a full width board plus a narrow tapered one. I cut the full-length one to length and stained it. That was as much work as I decided to do this week. I quit early, had my lunch, and left for home at 11:45. It was snowing and there was snow and slush on the road, but I made it over with no problem. I am a little disappointed with how slow the progress is going on the ceiling, but that's the way this project goes. It's a good thing I enjoy this type of work.