7/18-20/18 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Wednesday through Friday.

Ocean wanted to cut her visit short because she was homesick, so I took her to the airport early Wednesday morning. That left me free to go up to Camp Serendipity for three days. Unbeknownst to me, while I was at the airport, Ellen took a message from Bobby, the DNR fire guy, asking me to call him. When I returned home to pack up, I saw the note and decided to wait until I talked to Robert before I returned Bobby's call.

I arrived at Camp Serendipity at 1:30 and found that Robert was already there. Bobby had visited the property and he and Robert had talked. Bobby found a couple minor infractions and Robert assured him that they would all be fixed or that they weren't infractions after all. After Robert left at about 2:00, I called Bobby and he told me that everything had been taken care of.

I brought my gear up to the cabin and discovered that I had caught another mouse in the crawlspace. I disposed of the carcass and reset the trap. Then I hoisted the flag and had my lunch. Since the berry patch was still in the shade, I decided to skip my nap and pick berries instead. I got a Cool Whip container full of them.

Then I wrapped duct tape around the end of the copper discharge pipe where it connects to the hose trying to slow down a leak in that joint. Robert thought it should be fixed. I think that joint froze and split one winter and so it needs to be replaced.

Before I went in for the night, I carried a length of hose from down below up to the cabin. I will use it to replace the section I robbed from the run from the privy to Dan.

On Thursday, Dave called first thing and we had a short conversation. I saw that Robert had showed up, so Dave and I cut the call short.

I opened the discharge valve in the cabin and then went down to see the effect of my duct tape repair. It was sort of effective; it cut the leak about in half. I decided that I need to replace the split fitting.

Robert worked on replacing the hydraulic seals and adjusting the control levers on his loader while I sprayed the driveway. We had an on-going discussion all the while. When he finished his work and was satisfied with the result, he climbed down and asked me to take a picture of the exhaust manifold of the loader engine and email it to Tess. He needed it to prove something to Bobby.

I took the picture, but I told him I didn't have cell service and we would have to go to the school bus turnaround for that. We got in his truck and drove down there, but there was still no service. So, we continued on to North Shore Road where we got service and where he showed me a recent job he had done. Then he brought me back to Camp Serendipity and he headed for home at about 10:00.

Next, I took the extra hose up and installed it between the privy and Dan. Before I turned it on, I went up to check on the cedar trees. As I was walking up the trail toward Paul, I heard a commotion and just caught a glimpse of one or two deer that I had spooked. I think they were licking the salt lick.

As I proceeded through the brush toward the cedar trees, one of the deer was evidently just standing there watching me and as I got close, the deer bounded away. I don't usually get so close to them, so it was a fun and exciting experience.

The trees and the irrigation system were all doing great. I opened the valve to water cedar #12 and Brian and then went into the woods. I filled a bucket at the spigot near Dave, and carried the water up to Andrew. All the sequoias seem to be thriving this year, some better than others, but all of them surviving.

On the way back, I put the extension ladder back in the crawl space where it belongs. Then I went back to the cabin for lunch and a nap. I was still recovering from that cold and I was still feeling sick. The nap really felt good and I think I needed it.

When I got up, I went down and picked a 16 oz. cottage cheese container full of blackberries. I was surprised that so many had ripened in just 24 hours.

On Friday morning, Robert called first thing and told me of his plans. He wouldn't be over today, but he planned to load the logs and send them to Everett on Monday. I told him that I would be meeting with Dave and Bill on Monday and wouldn't be up to Camp Serendipity until Tuesday. I would just have to miss out on seeing the logs go.

After breakfast I went back to the berry patch and picked another batch of berries. After that, I took the duct tape back down and wrapped a couple more turns around the leaky hose fitting. I tried it out and I think I cut the leak in half again.

Then since I really didn't feel like working, I spent the rest of the morning unwinding the string from the axe handle I had repaired and then scraping the handle smooth. I think the axe is as good as new now. I tried it out by splitting a block of wood and it worked fine. I left for home at 12:40 looking forward to when this cold will be completely gone and I can get back to normal.