We slept in this morning and almost caught up on our sleep from yesterday. We found mochas at the Montana Coffee Traders in downtown Whitefish, then headed for the building supply center to get a quote on the lumber needed for the hangar and inquire about delivery to Eureka. No problem there, they will deliver it to the building center in Eureka when they do their regular store deliveries (this is the same company) who will then deliver it to the airport. We made the drive to Eureka and after lunch at Cafe Jax (on their new patio!) we visited Craig E. to give him a copy of the permit. We discovered that there is a hangar planned for the near future on the lot next to us. However, this guy wants to build 60 feet wide instead of 50 feet. That means our hangar has to move 10 feet south, Craig says the decision is ours. Well, guess what, the guy is in town from Minnesota. John and I headed out to the airport to take a look. We found that moving that far south would put us into a downhill situation...meaning fill dirt. Nope, we're not doing that. However, we determine that if the guy wants to pay the extra cost it'd be okay. Then we discussed making a lot swap.....meaning John loses the southern exposure he wanted for possible solar panels on the south wall (we are at the end of the front taxiway, last hangar lot), but less hassle for building. John figures he could put the panels on the roof if he decided to do it. So, we made a call and got Mark (previously know as "the guy") out to the airport. We showed him where the fill would be needed and right away he offered to pay the cost. Well, John says what would you think of a swap??? Mark was immediately agreeable. It turns out he wants to do a 60' building now and later add another 40'! He is a mechanic and wants to open an FBO (fixed base operator for you non-aviators). It'll be 6 years from now, but we'd have a mechanic right next door :) He and his Dad already are the fuel operators for the airport. So, we made the deal to swap and called Craig. Later in the day we went into his office to confirm the deal and will get a letter saying the airport boards approves our hangar on lot 8 instead of 9. Afterward, we met with the concrete man and got our estimate (ouch). He said he'd be ready to start on the 11th, but that just won't work for us, so we are sticking to the original date of the 13th. The truck driver just called and will be at the airport tomorrow at 6:30pm. Perfect! That is when the crane driver we found can be there! Things appear to have fallen in place and John is doing the happy dance.
John and I are bantering ideas around about the Hawaii trip, emptying our house before we go, when to move over here, etc. We may just put it all in storage and come over here in January even if it has not sold. We can live here at the condo for the cost of utilities. That's the place there in the photo. There are 3 units in the building. It's a great place and so quiet. I can imagin being here in the snow!
Here's a couple of shots I took at our property today, down on the road. That's Aspen Lane looking south, the road we'll come in on from the main road. The second one is our driveway starting up the hill to where our house will be. We were surprised to find that the building hasn't started over at the neighbors. We thought they were supposed to have begun by now. The power route has been staked, though, including the detour onto our property where they will put our transformer and meter (we signed an easement agreement last month for this).
We did have a showing at home yesterday. Haven't heard on that one, but Gary called today and said there was someone from Oregon that saw it last week. He is being transferred and they have to move to the area in 3 weeks. They are home packing their house up and getting it on the market. They are considering a contingent offer, so their agent wanted to know if we would look at a contingency. We'll see what happens from here.
That's all the news from today. It has been a busy day, but we've accomplished a lot!