DAY 2 [sat 10/8]
28 degrees last night. went out to breakfast. gigs and gordon installed floor. went into town, gigs bought us gifts, horse knocker and coat hooks. gigs cooked dinner tonight, buritos.

DAY 3 [sun 10/9]
woke up to sea of white heavy frost on ground. everything in camp frozen. gigs and gordon built door awning. g&g trimmed front and back trusses. nicole built door steps. gigs, gordon and nicole walked all corners of property. so peaceful.

DAY 4 [mon 10/10]
gigs went home. first rain. no leaks.

DAY 5 [tue 10/11]
early morning went down into town and had breakfast at cm bar and grill (best omelets). saw deer on our way down. saw moose on upper road. wes headed out and asked if we needed anything. gordon installed all window trims. finished caulking and interior foam. planed front door ; opens smooth now. added shelves. hung gigs 3-headed horse hook. nicole started on switchback.

DAY 6 [wed 10/12]
gordon and wes installed front gate. wes put up "bailey's" sign. gordon started to build shed. sandy and nicole exchanged gifts; candles, organic shampoo, organic soap - cast iron pan, tomatoes from her garden, home made cookies, eggs from her chickens (fertilized by rooster, better, has lecithin) - they get ~ 3 eggs a day. sandy and nicole walked down switchback and sandy pointed out trees, plants, etc. here's what we have (just on switchback): tamaracks, oregon grapes, maples (red leaves), fur (5 branches & flat), douglas fur (5 branches, round), huckleberry (red leaves, soft diamond shape), raspberry, salmon berry.

DAY 7 [thu 10/13]
gordon finished storage shed. gordon, nicole, jim and michelle met for dinner in sandpoint. on our drive down the mountain, saw elk bed. first night driving back to cabin at night.

DAY 8 [fri 10/14]
mama moose & babies visited! right at our front door! gordon woke me up at ~ 7:30. he want out to go to the bathroom, and while he was going (in nature), he heard branches crackling. he looked over, and there was mama moose and peek-a-book and guardian eating the tall grass. he woke me up. what a sight! heard coyotes howling. misty morning gifts. mama and babies slowly left. we got to work right away, not many days left. put front braces on cabin, and middle brace underneath. stained shed. organized wood. dissembled tent. brought everything up hill to cabin; 80 lb. bags of cement, etc. final exterior stain/sealant. as gordon was putting drip edges on, nicole played cat and mouse with a chipmunk, we named chipper. would put seeds in seed box, and he would come in box, hoard them in his mouth, go store them somewhere and come back. saw a snake. gordon put up name plate on gate. nailed 'no trespassing' and 'no hunting' signs on wood and nailed to gate posts. hope these stay and the hunters don't do any destruction. ended work day and went for typical daily water and wood gathering and dinner prep. just as sun was setting, heard wolves howling back and forth from different ridges, sounded like one was lost.

DAY 9 [sat 10/15]
head loud noise, didn't see anything. did our first long hike into the mountains; across our creek up into the west ridge. found a rough dirt road, likely atvs/hunters use. found feces, think it's a wolf. lots of hair and red berries in it. hiked a bit more and saw another poop, same. picked up lots of garbage along the way, mostly beer cans. back to cabin work. put in four interior braces. removed mule pen poles and metal stakes that prev owner left in. met our other neighbor, dave. he saw a grizzly and black bears on our property. said we could go up and meander his prop any time. went to evergreen to get more supplies. bought pear tree. sandy gave us apples. finished planting pear tree. went to wes and sandy's cabin for a goodbye get-together. full moon. what a way to spend our last night.

DAY 10 [sun 10/16]
closed up cabin and shed. met wes at bottom of switchback. said our goodbyes, till next time. driving into montana saw a bunch of turkey's in heron crossing the street. took pic. rainy and windy drive thru montana. sad to go.