Construction Journal Entry Week of 8/31/14

9/1-5/14 I went up to Camp Serendipity for five days: Monday through Friday.

On Monday, Labor Day, after spending a fun day in Leavenworth and Icicle Creek, as part of a four-day family reunion, Ellen, Marilyn, their cousin Elaine, and I arrived at Camp Serendipity at about 8:00 PM. I turned on the floodlights to make it easier to haul our gear up from the car to the cabin.

There was one mouse in the bedroom trap, so at least a pattern is beginning to emerge.

We spent the evening taking showers, making up beds, having a good time talking, and the ladies watched a movie while I had my shower and went to bed. During the night, I felt the beginnings of a sore throat coming on.

On Tuesday morning, we ate a fancy oatmeal breakfast that Elaine had prepared, and then we did some touring of the cabin and the property. We hiked the loop through the giant sequoia grove and past the spring. Shortly after we got back, the loggers showed up and put on a demonstration for us. Robert climbed up a couple big trees and cut off branches in preparation for falling the trees. While we were watching, somebody noticed the sheep across the road, so the women went down to watch the sheepdogs round up the sheep and get them off the road. They got some nice video shots of the activity.

We left at about 2:00 and headed for Deception Falls and then to Skykomish for the final events of the family reunion. Ellen and I then headed for home.

On Wednesday I came back up to Camp Serendipity in the afternoon. I arrived at about 5:30 and carried up a kit for a bathroom above-the-toilet cabinet, along with my usual gear. By this time there was no doubt I was developing a cold. I sniffed salt water and went to bed early hoping to fight it off.

On Thursday, the loggers showed up just as I finished my breakfast. They cut down a bunch of trees clearing the gulley between the privy and the road. That is where they will set up a high lead, or high line, to use in getting the logs from the back of the property down to the road.

In the process, Robert falled one Doug Fir snag uphill over the roadway so that I could use it for firewood. They bucked 8 rounds out of the trunk right in front of the privy so it would be easy for me to roll them down to the cabin. I was very happy about that.

When they left at about 2:00, I went to work and rolled all 8 firewood rounds down to the cabin and stacked them under the eaves. Then, after a short nap, Earl showed up. He had a look at the progress of the loggers. After he left, I bucked up the trunk of a small alder the loggers had falled up by the privy and I cut up the fir branches from the firewood tree. I wheeled the alder and branch firewood down to the cabin and stacked it.

I went to bed early again after a dose of Nyquil.

On Friday morning I overslept. I woke up when I heard the loggers working at 8:30. I had my breakfast and watched them for a while. They were loading brush and pulp logs into a dump truck and hauling it away. I began putting the bathroom cabinet kit together and stopped after I learned that it was too short to fit over our toilet. I need to think about options before I do any more. I dosed myself up with Dayquil and Dristan, in order to get over the mountains without damaging my ears, and left for home at noon. It had been a busy, stressful week and I was looking forward to a quiet weekend hoping to get over this cold quickly.



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