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AZ & Flying Diamond

November 2023
It was supposed to be the time to build a shed. It will be a social visit to Chuck and Kathy and a week of playing music with my friends, Ethan, Bob, Sandy from CB at Wocnis' house, pick up tools in Texas and the long drive back to Colorado. Read more
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  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 1

    Long drive to AZ

    November 3, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    I drove away from Crested Butte in the evening as I was not able to sleep and figured I would sleep in the car on the way down which is what I usually do because I really like driving at night.

    I took two naps along the way for about an hour each and drove on after a good cup of coffee in the morning all the way down to Flying Diamond airpark where I arrived at sunset. The sunset drone flight is a nice start for getting started making this land mine. There is work to do, but the course is action and the timing of it are uncertain.

    I called the building department of Pima county and found out that I need a permit for the no permit required shed after all. You don't need a permit to add the shed if the main residence already exists. This is different than I was told at first. Apparently it depends on who you talk to. Now I will need an RV permit as that will cost less than building a 1500 square foot house.

    Why can't you just do what you want to do? Build a 500 sqft tiny home? I'll start with the hangar then and maybe a bigger shed/tiny home since I'll need a permit anyway.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 2

    The lot and Chuck and Kathy time

    November 4, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    I woke up after a solid 8 hours sleep in the car where I'm snug as a bug in a rug, I hear a tractor but it's not a tractor, it's an airplane and it takes off and I managed to get a video of it. Then it hits me, I'm standing on my own land. This is my private airstrip, how cool is that! Let's get that hangar and airplane going!

    I walk around the lot again for the third time now and I look to see what the best location is for a hangar. After flying the drone and taking a lot of video of the land I site both the hangar and the shed.

    Jill is switching from being nice to "I'm getting lawyers" . It's always been one of her traits to switch from nice to nasty and back. I do not want to lose this land, this is my sanctuary and hideout. So I won't be building until I have some kind of a certainty with how this paperwork plays out. Which means that I need to drive back and deal with it, ugh.

    I go to Chuck and Kathy's for dinner and we have a great time talking about my adventures on the Camino and comparing them to their adventures as well as hearing chapters from the book Kathy is writing.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 3

    Busy day Sabino w/Chuck

    November 5, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Chuck and I walk the dog and talk about my experience meditating in the Camino. Chuck is mostly a realist but he listens. He is going to usher at church and I'm off to the airpark to meet with Bob, first I get in a nice conversation with Kathy, she is clued in, she writes about it.

    At the airport I met with Bob my new neighbor who is down from Seattle we also meet with Ron who is a character from the Wild West with a gun on his hip and we try to figure out how to get rid of the CCRs because they're so restrictive.

    Then I talk with Bill my neighbor on the other side and we have for more intelligent conversation about the limitations and what can be done which is not much. But apparently I'm okay to stay a few days here and there without being a permanent residence and they won't give me a hard time about it and that makes all the difference for my goal for now with the land as small building.

    I drive back to Chuck and we go hike in sabino canyon he shows me a back trail that is very nice and has great access to the back reaches. Then we go pick up some Mexican food that takes a long time to come out but we're sitting and having beers at the bar. All is good.

    We rushed through dinner at his house for me to be able to pick up Ethan in time, unfortunately the train gets delayed in the last 4 miles and it takes an extra hour of waiting. Ethan and I reconnect and we drive to Wocnis' house.

    I'm tired from all the driving around Tucson it's kind of nuts. I'm not used to it.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 4

    Hanging with TPW

    November 6, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    We have a project with Ken to lift up a giant flower pot which Ethan and I help him with and get done.

    Ken and I drive to Tucson, it takes a half hour drive one way to go get groceries and medication for his wife Melinda, who had her fifth operation this year.

    Ethan and Ken are interested in seeing my land and we decide to go. I'm able to bring three heavy boxes with us in the car and we stash them there. Another 2.5 hour drive. I'm spending too much time in a car it will be hard to get used to these driving times here.

    We have our first session playing together again. It feels good to be back on the bass with my group.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 5

    More time at Wocnis'

    November 7, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Ken and I get up early, he gets on his e-bike and I am on my mountain bike and we go for a ride in the sahuaro Park west of Tucson it's absolutely incredible for sunrise.

    We brought coffee with us and as we're sipping a man from Florida is taking pictures and starts talking to us. He mentions that every shout he takes with his camera is like a momentary meditation. Interesting thought because I had just made my own realization that it would be impossible to meditate while taking photographs. Taking pictures is a form of chasing something but it's also a form of creation and in that sense you could be in the zone.

    We're doing a good job hanging up with a cup of coffee on the back porch and then we go to lunch at the sky Rider Cafe which is at the Marana airport.

    It feels really good to be on the bike and get exercise it is so critical for me. It also helps me with Ken to discover this place, this is my new home. It is still going to be strange and it will take time to settle in.

    We have a ditch project at Ken's and we help him get that all cleared up it's kind of fun to work hard in the sunshine a couple of beers later and we are playing music again.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 6

    Third day at Wocnis'

    November 8, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    There is some talk about making a fire with all the rubble in the yard but it requires a permit and there isn't that much room to do it safely. Instead we drive down to Bob's sister to pick up a big roll of green grass carpet. We also do a quick shop and we drop off Ken's bicycle at the shop which allows me to grab a CO2 cartridge that had been stolen out of the back of my bike bag.

    We end up doing our lunch at In-N-Out Burger.

    I'm really tired in the afternoon because I'm not sleeping well in that room there is a weird energy in there. I called that building department again because I can't make heads or tails out of their website and this time I speak to Wil Schuiteman who is patient and helps me really well putting together what I'm trying to accomplish so now I have a good plan and supposedly I can actually build a shed without a permit and without having a main residence. I think I better get it in writing and have it recorded at the county so when the satellite picture comes in with changes that they won't give me a hard time like they are giving Ken about his sheds right now. I also called the flood control department and get some bad news that I need to have my culvert engineered. I'll probably need to talk to his boss to make sure that they understand this was probably engineered before and I will also need to get documentation of that from Ned the prior owner.

    We start our music session at the standard 5:30 and we play a great set, good solid playing by everybody, truly enjoyable.

    Off to bed but sleep doesn't come even though I am pooped tomorrow night I'm going to sleep in the car just to see if it is different.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 7

    Fourth day at Wocnis'

    November 9, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Ken and I set off for another bike ride, early one and it is colder than last time. I actually wear two T-shirts and a wind jacket. The desert can be chilly. We ride, stop and drink coffee, talk, and go to the another stop, this is a special spot. On the way back we have the rare sighting of a Bobcat in broad day light. Wow.

    Back at Wocnis' Ethan and Sandy are jonesing to go to lunch. We barely take a break and all four are in my little Honda again. We try the stock yard cafe but it is closed so we go to the more upscale Bisbee Breakfast Club. The conversation is all about the old west and the experiences of the grandfather's of Ethan and Ken. Gun fights and other wild west stories.

    I try to call the Pima county building department again, but I can't get through.

    I spend some of the afternoon in the hammock I set up in the back between two trees. I'm starting to see how I'll be spending my afternoons in Arizona...

    After I get through, I start on the documents required for a zoning permit that will allow me to have my non permitted, ie non inspected shed, recorded in the Pima county documents. I'm finding that flood control is a powerful department in AZ county government. Ken is running into issues with them with his accessories.

    No music for Bob tonight, but the others didn't rally so we skipped it and sat in the kitchen talking with the heat on. AZ cold snap.

    Cherakauwa national monument is a place to visit in South Eastern AZ per Wocnis' for the CCC work done there.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 8

    Fifth day at Wocnis'

    November 10, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    I slept a bit better. The room has a weird vibe that I can't figure out but it keeps me from peaceful sleep. Coffee, sit and chat in the morning sun. The conversation between these long time locals of Crested Butte tends to revert to old time memories. My history there only goes back 27 years and I learn a more about life back in the 70s in that little town.

    Ken makes fantastic breakfast burritos for lunch. His bike is fixed so the bunch goes on another 2 hour outing to Tucson. Quick Walmart and pot store for Sandy. Basically we're spinning, just waiting to play music and hanging out. I try to be productive with my shed permit but I'm at a stand still. I'm looking at some RVs in case I will need one to satisfy the county. I hang in the hammock and finish reading my book. I never read and I'm getting used to sitting still and having time to do this.

    Ken takes us to Saguaro National Park West where we ride our bikes in the morning so Sandy and Ethan can see it. It's way more fun on a bicycle. That's how it is, life is better on two wheels than on four.

    It's Friday night, our music night, and we play a session but it's cold out and it's over too soon. The acoustics are more difficult outside. However, I did completely lock in with Ken and that is a first and it's exciting. By 8 we're snacking in the kitchen on pizza and other items. I eat too much again. Off to bed early.

    The Picture Rocks neighborhood is a back water on the other side of the western range that borders Tucson. The land is flat and there are not many views. The nearest food store is 25 minutes away just like it is for my location. There are a lot of planes flying overhead. This is the corridor I'll be using too as it avoids the jet traffic on the other side of the range. I get more used to Tucson and surroundings and it starts to become clear that I picked a pretty decent place as my foothold in the area, and I have friends here.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 9

    Last day at Wocnis'

    November 11, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Sandy jumps in the car with me as I drop Ethan off at the train station, he's going back to Alpine, TX. Then we drive to my land that Sandy hasn't seen yet and I need pictures of the culvert and measure it for the zoning permit. I'll have another take on my shed location and pick Sandy's mind on the layout. I'm sticking with what I have figured out. It seems to make sense.

    We also drive by an RV that's for sale and on the way stop at a cotton field. I had never seen one before and walked on to see the plant up close and fell the raw cotton.

    I'm starting to look at a good size for an RV and I might have to spend a bit more but I still get something a lot nicer that fits the 28ft width or the hangar if the county won't allow the non permit shed without a main residence. We'll see.
    Nice dinner by Bob and we played in the kitchen to stay warm. Missing Ethan but Wocnis' really got going and was having a good time. I was pooped. It's been a great week. Tomorrow I'm hanging on the lot again and I can go ahead and submit the zoning permit.    Read more

  • TravelerAZ & Flying Diamond
    Day 10

    Wocnis to Flying Diamond

    November 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Another great ride with Ken and this time Sandy joined us on the same track we did before. Fun times cruising around even if the work out wasn't very challenging.

    It's car packing time, and a shower. Sandy Ken and I are still sitting on his back porch yacking and I'm trying to get the zoning permit for the non permitted shed dinner online, but the website must be down for the weekend. Saying the goodbyes and I'm off to my land. I still can't figure out what to do, it's such a mess that I can't just live there.

    The light bulb good off and I am clear on one thing, the purpose of this parcel at the airpart is for me to fly. So a hangar is the end goal.

    While walking the land again, it is clear also that there are too many possible ways to build that hangar and they depend on rules that are still changing, supposedly. Also it's too expensive to build even the lowest end hangar when factoring in an RV. It would be best to get it right instead of as cheap as possible. Let's make some money, wait and see what it can look like and then make the move next year or even later. For now build the shed and don't even ask, they could turn it down. If they come and say that I broke the rules then I can can lean on Wil Schuiteman of the county saying it was ok to proceed. I can then still get the RV permit.

    I sit on the lot and watch the sky. I see lots of shooting stars and imagine what it would be like when it is warm out on the rooftop.    Read more

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