Jen Taylor - Full Circle with The Christi Reece Group - Episode 1

In the inaugural episode of the Full Circle, Christi talks with REALTOR® Jen Taylor.  Jen regales us with her fabulous personal adventures and storied career in the outdoor and cycling industries.  She also discusses her other project, El Jet's Cantina + Sky Outpost, coming to the Colorado River in Downtown Grand Junction in 2022!  Please note that this episode was recorded in early February 2020, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

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The full circle podcast, compelling interviews and incredible tales from Colorado's Western slope, from the mountains to the desert, Cristie Reece and her team here from the movers, shakers and characters of the grand Valley and the surrounding mountain towns that make the Western slope, the place we all love. You'll learn. You'll laugh. You'll love with the full circle. Welcome everyone to the inaugural edition of the full circle with the Christi Reece group. Uh , this is our new podcast where we're going to talk to movers and shakers around the Western slope of Colorado and industry leaders and get some stories and some insight and all kinds of good nuggets from cool people that we want to talk to. And I'm honored today to have as our first guest, ms . Jen Taylor. Welcome Jen . Hi, thank you, Christie . So if you have lived around the grand junction area, you might know Jen or know of her, she's infamous in a lot of ways, a lot of great ways. And, but for those that don't know you, Jen, tell us a little bit about your background, and I know that to me, you feel like the quintessential Colorado woman, and, but you did not grow up in your early years in Colorado. I didn't know. I grew up in the Midwest Midwestern roots and good place to be from. I like to say , um, left the Midwest in for college. I went to university of Denver and , uh , stayed in Denver for quite awhile . Um, studied biology, Marine biology. As a matter of fact, I created a Marine biology program at university of Denver and , uh , worked at the numbers zoo , um, through college and, and had my own business. I had an auto detailing company that I'd started actually, before I could drive. I was detailing cars and , uh, grew that business and took it with me wherever I traveled. And I graduated from D U it started racing mountain bikes, and really wanted to, I had a career, had a great job at the zoo. I loved it, but I really wanted to go live the mountain life and go have that gap year experience. And so I left and moved to Telluride to race and , uh, took me to the race mountain bikes, mountain bikes correctly. Correct. And , uh, worked as a mechanic and did all kinds of fun things until your ride . And I realized , this is it . I miss the jet . I was like, where all the generations where , you know, where are the grandparents and where are the, and I thought I could, I came from a small town. I thought I could really kind of plug in pretty quickly. And I realized that people, my age were anything, but they just were kind of more partiers. It was, it was more of a transient kind of scene from , at my age. And what year was that? Jen ? That was 92, 93. And I decided, you know, it was probably not for me. And at that time I met my first husband to be and who was finishing the environmental science program at , uh, at Mesa state at the time and moved to grand junction with no intention to stay well . And why grand junction? Right ? It's so he was at, he was at Mesa state. He was the impetus, but I was ready to go. I was ready to go to the next mountain town Steamboat or park city, or, and after a year I realized there's no other place that I would rather raise a family. There's no other place that I would, I, you realize so quickly a you kind of scratch the surface and you, and you it's, the community is so attainable, right? It's so , um , welcoming and , and , and the people are amazing. The stories that are here are so , uh , diverse people's backgrounds and so humble, and people have accomplished a lot in this town. And I want to back up a little bit, because you alluded to missing that generational influence in some of those smaller towns , uh, because you were very effected by your family and the history of your family. Can you speak to that a little bit? Sure. Um, yeah. So entrepreneurial family, a great story of , um, gosh, yeah. Homestead in Montana and grew up with stories of the family experiences in Montana. And so that's, that's part of the reason I went West, certainly that it really was part of my , um , kind of tapping into the DNA of, of those stories and, and then entrepreneurial backgrounds. So my great grandfather , uh, tool and dye shop , um, my grandfather and my great uncles all grew up in the tool and die shop as well. And they were inventors. They were part of the industrial revolution and they were, my great grandfather invented the seamless flange. And so our family went into the closures industry that the slang term is bungholes. And so the 55 gallon drums that you know , were ever present , um, had a weak spot where the flange, where the seal, the lid, the closure , um, would break. And so he invented the seamless flange and it was kind of a revolutionary thing. So our family namesake, the Rieke Corporation, Rieke closures re Rieke packaging systems is have one of the world's leading industry. It's fascinating. It's one of those things you don't think about needing necessarily, or , uh , you know, it's not a career you think you're going to go into, but it's a fascinating journey. It, yeah, it is. And my grandfather had, they had, they had , um , dozens of patents , uh , between them and between my grandfather and my great uncles and my , and my great grandfather. But there was a moment, a kind of a defining moment F a world war II . We had the Willys Jeep and we had the jerrycan and we didn't have a way to get gasoline into the Jeep. And there was a store at family story. My great uncle had a twisted intestine in the hospital, and the doctor was explaining to the family , um , what it meant, what was happening. And my grandfather had the aha moment , uh, for general patent to , uh, to, to figure out this, he had an engineering moment and, and he designed the flex spout. And so for the flex, yeah, the flex bouts . So for Jerry cans and, you know, Slurpee seven 11, you know, bendy straws, that's that technology. So, yeah, just and mischief, he had the, they, they did all kinds of stuff. They blew up bridges with cop cars on them, and they like sent weather balloons with dynamite over the town fair. And just as you know, they were just so mischievous and all these, I just loved it. I just hung on every word as a kid. And he set the land speed record at one point in a plate. They built, he was a pilot, they had double digit , uh , pilots , licenses, his best friend flew with world Wilbur and Orville Wright and, you know , go to barnstormer days. And anyway, I could go on, but just, yeah, I just loved that kind of irreverence and defining your character and that pioneering spirit and that , um, you know, not taking no for an answer. So w what I know about you , um, and these stories that you tell , um , you obviously have a history in your family of storytelling , uh, mischief, and , and entrepreneurial-ism what a great combination and community I think was that was , um, you know, there's the business side of it, right. And there's creating something where there was where there wasn't something before, you know , and , um , out of need or out of necessity. But there was also these stories of my grandfather getting rid of all the time clocks in the factory, and everybody called him Glen . And it was all the honor policy. And he was there for the families. And he was in the hospital room when they were, you know, when family members were sick or he just, he, he built community in this small town and went out of his way to take care of his people. And so I grew up with this romantic notion of how to build a company and how to build it around the culture and the people, and , um , profit will come as a result of taking care of your people. Right. And that, yeah, to me, that's very important and it's part of my value system. And , um, I have recognized in my professional past that that's , it's also a trigger for me if it's, if I, if I feel like that's being compromised and that philosophy, or that value system is not being upheld , um , with integrity, I have a real problem with that. That's why I love working with you. Yes. So before we get to kind of your current , um, situation and projects, talk a little bit about your , uh, business road. Once you hit grand junction and what you, you participated in a lot of different businesses and had your hands in a lot of different things. And I never would have it's, it's always a matter of, you know, you look back 20 years and you think I had no idea. I had no idea that it would have led to this past . So with an environmental science and biology degree , um, moved to grand junction with the , uh, you know, thinking that I would go back into the sciences. And I ended up working, had an opportunity to , um, to be an apprentice for an outdoor apparel manufacturing company. I'd never touched a sewing machine and all my life, nor did I have a desire to, but I thought, you know, one day when I have kids, I want to be able to make cool outdoor gear for them. And that was the trigger for me that , um, you know, I thought, well , I'll give this a whirl. And so within a year I had this whole creative uprising and upwelling of , um , this newfound love of manufacturing. And I got it. Some people for some reason, have a brain toward designing and pattern making and creating, and it's 2d, it's 3d, it's, you know, volume and dimensions. And, and I could picture it. And it was incredible to me. I was on fire. I worked morning, noon, and night. I just loved it. And your kids were how old they weren't, I didn't have any, didn't have them yet. Didn't have them yet. I worked for them for a couple of fantastic couple, and they trusted me and they brought me on. And , uh , within a year I was helping run their company , um, left there when I left there to work in the cycling industry and help DT Swiss through a bicycle parts specific. And this is way back in the time machine of grand junction in the mid nineties , um, bicycle parts specific was DT Swiss as largest , uh , U S distributor. And they were DT Swiss as a Swiss spoke manufacturer was ready to open up their U S uh, plant and worked with a couple of people, namely Paulita , who is still here in town. I was the general manager and , and , um, we opened the, the U S sales and distribution and production facility here in grand junction. One of the spoke machines was named Jennifer because I was brought down, they called it also the pig. So laugh about that. So , um, then, so step four, flash forward a couple of years, then I did have, my first son decided to stay home and , and, you know, do the job that was most important to me , uh, with him, which was, you know, raised my kid. And , uh, and yet I was still restless. And so my sisters and I, two sisters, we , um , saved money for a cabin and the opportunity to buy the company that outdoor apparel manufacturing company came up. And we , uh , redirected those funds and bought that company and set everything aside , uh , and sat for two years and worked on the brand, the patterns, and decided to go into a production company , uh , outdoor apparel, manufacturing, brand dedicated toward kids and getting kids outside. So it was a mission driven business called mountain sprouts , um, for Nabisco, for the trademark, we were denied and , uh, for mountain sprouts, because the jolly drink jolly green, giant sized hit sprout. When you get denied from the U S PTO, you get a stack of all the similar , uh, similar companies that had also been denied for the same reason. And , um, yeah, I hired a , kind of an ambulance chaser attorney patent USB Tio , lawyer, and , and we won, we beat Nabisco and then the flood Gates, open sprouts, grocery, and all kinds of PBS, you know, the , the kids channel and get away for lots of other businesses. Well, there were a lot of other things, a lot of other similar light companies that had been denied previously, and then they were, you know, then, then the flood Gates kind of opened . So it set a new precedent who remembers the sprout mascot, no matters that nobody, nobody, but back in the back in the nineties, that was still relevant. So anyway, so we, so we grew up out in sprouts and it was, again, it was mission driven. It was , um , last child in the woods had come out with Richard Lewis and nature deficit disorder was starting to pick up some steam and it was all about the importance of getting kids outdoors. And so we served on the outdoor foundation after industry association. We were a case study. Um, we grew the company and we, and we , um, it was an exciting time. It was really, really an exciting time and raise my kids in the business. Uh , yeah, it was a great family endeavor and we had some really special employees. And , um, I , I dressed my kids in your clothing. I loved Kelly. Some there's some neat stories. My, my goal was, was to always, was to see a mountain sprouts apparel item in a secondhand store because those memories and the momentum and the quality of the product, et cetera, would, you know, that would carry on into the, you know, for a legacy. So , um, yeah. Then in 2006, we sold the company , uh, to the investment group that had also just started mountain khakis. And , uh , I folded , I had a couple other brands as well that they, that they purchased, they purchased me essentially, and, and the brands that came with it. And , um , I came into the mountain khakis , uh , leadership team, and we rolled out a kids' division for mountain khakis, and we also had mountain sprouts and mountain khakis itself. And yeah, we, so it was more outdoor apparel and really telling the outdoors . Now it was the family story of , um, the outdoor lifestyle. And really that's when I really started to lean more so into the brand play and really creating this, the brand voice. And I, I started to really , um, kind of define where my skill sets were. And also as a leader in the company, really defining the EQ versus IQ , um, you know, how you lead a company, how you build the culture, how, and particularly from afar, I worked remotely , um, mountain khakis was designed that design headquarters was in Jackson hole yet. I, you know, ran the marketing and brand division from grand junction is a partner in the company. Everybody else was in Charlotte. So , um, it was a kind of a unique time and it was really exciting too . Yeah. So fast forward to today , um, why shouldn't say fast forward, because the project that you're working on now, and , and we'll talk about that transition too , but the project you're working on now has been a long time in the making. So has , when did this idea for this riverfront project or doing something like this in the grand Valley, kind of start as a little twinkle in the back of your mind in Baja chasing tacos chasing. I was a great trip in 17 years ago. It was 2003. Um, was that 16, 17, 17 years ago , uh, with my best friend, her family, it was a kind of a crazy circus for 14 days in a 31 foot RV, just chasing it for me, it was chasing the best fish tacos and, and , uh, we were coming back through at the end of the trip. And , um, my star , all of our kids had little Luchador masks and my son Jett was three. My son Skyler was , uh , seven and jet was just hell on wheels. As a young kid. It was just, it was just a little tornado everywhere. Uh, it was amazing. We all survived that trip and he was so he would, he was in character, the whole trip. He was L jet and , uh, on my friend, Greg shoulders in Tijuana , we were, I remember the moment we were our tacos up a store where shaved being shaved in the background. They're making our tacos and we're getting ready to come back across the border and Jet's beating up he's on Greg shoulders beating up on him, wearing his mask and said something about El Jet. And I said, I still haven't had the best fish tacos. And this moment, this little kind of epiphany kind of cataclysm, it was like, it presented like El Jet's Cantina just sounded really good. And I could, it just kind of populated all these senses for me. And I said it out loud. And Greg said, you should do that. I said, I'm going to do that. And I started the business plan on the way home, just downloaded the thoughts and started writing notes. And every year through the years of mountain khakis and working in the corporate corporate culture, we sold to , uh , we sold to Remington arms. We were with Remington arms for five years and being part of the executive staff there , building a brand, but launching a direct mail catalog for both companies and doing so many incredibly formative things, launching retail , um , launching mobile marketing tours and all these things that I knew were leading to something bigger and more contributing to. I was learning all the while. Lots of challenges and lots of just strife again, with the values and the philosophical, the corporate , um, you know, the pocket, that's never deep enough kind of thing. Right. But there was always something that would contribute back to this bigger vision. And when I felt out of control, in some aspect of corporate culture, I would lean on this. I would come back to it and it would surface and I would work on it and I would think this is something that's going to do it. Right. It's gonna , it's gonna align all of those things. It's going to be B Corp. It's gonna be servant leadership. It's going to take care of the people. It's going to take care of the trails, the river, the community that's astride , and it's going to do all those things. It's personal for you. It's very personal. Yeah, it is. So hold up your book there , uh , for those of you are watching on video. Um, so it went from this idea. I'm going to work on this on the way home from Mexico to where are we now? I mean, you you've worked your butt off on this and it's, your vision is absolutely amazing. It's going to be such a gem in the grand Valley. Talk a little bit about El Jet's Cantina and the Sky Outpost and where things stand right now. So, yeah. Thank you. Um, so working so 17 years of visioning and then , um, and really pulling tidbits from other , um , trips and experiences in different places and really , um, placemaking itself and learning about third place theory and learning about all these things that philosophically, I was like, yes, that that's it that connects in that. That's what makes something memorable. That's what galvanizes conversation and really , um , feeds the senses, stimulates the senses, right? So it was collecting all that four years ago, roughly. Um, I took , uh, Rick Taggart and ed Chamberlain , um , local leaders and legends in the Grand Valley down to this spot on the river neck next , where the Jarvis property was , um , still referred to as the driver's property at the time. And I said, this is where I picture it. This is, this is my vision. And this is where I picture it. And the Tamarisk was overgrown and you couldn't see the river. You could barely hear it. And you, there was a murderer's cry that came from the Island of the Island that kind of runs in the middle of the river. And they looked at me like, you're insane. And it was like, I it's, it's altruistic. I know, but it's this. I can't let it, won't let go of, it's a pain in my ass and it won't let go of me. Like I have to, I have to download this. I have to see it through, there's something that's a stewardship part of this. Well, it's amazing that you could see that vision in this overgrown property. That's been vacant. How many years? I mean, it's, it's, it's not abandoned property, but it's really been neglected neglected for sure . And yet it's near the confluence of the two great rivers that come together in our community and what a revitalization this can be. And , and it was a , it was a incredible time that we had a new city manager, Greg Kaitlin had just come into seat. And , um, the Las colonias project, it started with Sarah and Thaddeus and Bonsai and all of this converse . Everybody was kind of keeping a conversations to themselves. So nobody really knew we heard rumors of each other's , you know, but , uh, but we weren't sharing a whole lot just yet. Dominique bastion with sunshine, polishing had come in a couple towns were vying for her business. And , uh, and we all kind of came to this. It was really something special for the timeline of grand junction and the timeline of our city, to your point, that the prep of the river , the river front property, with all the decades of work, that some of the founders of, you know , Watson Island, the lion's club, Brian Mahoney, all those guys, James Rob , that had been working on to clean up the river. Those guys are the ones that really changed the narrative we're coming in, just, you know, it was a much easier process of , um, and momentum , um, with , with really continuing the story and, and turning something , you know, it's been blighted for sure. It was, there were super fun sites down there. It was the 8,500 junk cars that image that we see so often , um, you know, there were , there was all kinds of stuff in the ground and now the city has taken it upon themselves to make it right, to clean up the property, working with the , um, the DOE the cleanup and all that, that was, that was done back in the late eighties and early nineties. Um, and so now it's time for private sectors to step in and really make something of it. And so the four years ago, we, we, Rick introduced the subject, introduced Greg again, that our , our newly appointed city manager and , and off we went and I said, this is my vision. This is what I want. I'm committed to it. I'm committed to the Riverside neighborhood, but I, I'm not , uh , I need to, I need the city's commitment as well, and I need to be able to see the vision for what will be around it. And that's when the conversation and the charette process started with , uh , to , to create what would become riverfront dos Rios. So talk about the obstacles you faced and the support you've gotten from the various entities that are involved in this process. You know, I'll , I'll start by saying , um, kudos to the city. And I don't mean to sound like it's just , uh , you know , placating. It certainly isn't, you're not that kind of person, Jen. No, I tell it like it is, and you're honest. And so when you give kudos to somebody they're deserved, so yeah. Yeah. And we would , there were times where we absolutely locked horns. There were, there were moments and there were moments of frustration on my part. And I know that there were moments of frustration on their part with me, I'm sure. But, but in the end we came to this weight , we laugh because I walk in and everybody hugs. I'm like, these are probably the only hugging things that you guys have. It's big. We get very communal it's kind of like we should be sharing. We should be having a beer while we're working on this, but it's , um, it's just been this incredible collaboration with all the departments of the city and bringing everybody together, incorporating people's feedback, departmental feedback. It's been absolutely it's evolved together. And I think that's the importance that has it's part of the DNA of the project. And it will continue once we , I call it building an iceberg in the desert. It's like 90% of the work is below surface. Nobody's seeing that it's the non-sexy part, the very tippy top that's that is visible, which will be the Cantina drink and margaritas and beers, and having amazing fish tacos on the river is going to be incredible and having a place to stay awesome. Kind of fun, eclectic lodging opportunities. Um, that's, that's the result of all this, but what happens is that collaboration will continue to build momentum for people that are down here experiencing it. They're going to have some level of ownership, some degree of ownership. They're going to take some of that with them, and they're going to contribute some of that while they're there and that their sweat equity in the saddle kind of thing, while they're there. And that to me is when we've , we've really succeeded, especially, especially if there's a, there's a level of failure in this too , that at what cost, if, if this is, if this is built and designed envisioned , um, and it's not done honoring the Riverside neighborhood and the history and the texture and the , um, the realness of what Riverside represents and those stories that, that, that community in that neighborhood represent, then I have failed. And if the, if the residents have it's really about being a bridge, the mission of the entire thing is to, is to create and celebrate community culture and confluence. And that's boom. That's what it comes down to for me. Um, so interestingly, we were going to try to keep our podcasts to 20 minutes, and there is no way we're going to cut this story off. Cause there's so much to tell. So we're going to keep going. Um, Jen, we have a , um, a plat , I guess you would call it a design , um , document up here on the wall behind us for those watching on video, you may not be able to see the fine detail. So , um , talk about the elements of the plan. And , um, while you're talking about it, remember that some people aren't going to be able to be seeing the document here, so yeah . Yup , yup . Noted. Um, there'll be some online, so there's a momentum in launching the whole plan. And I'll just mention, before I go into the details of the site map , um, people are wondering about the timeline, when will this go live? And , um, basically the city is working on the infrastructure for the , uh, development at large for riverfront industrial starting this year. So it will be about 12 months about midyear 2021. I'll be able to break ground and really kick up some dust metaphorically, literally. Uh, and then it'll be about a 12 month build out. So 2022 , 2022 is our year. It's got a good ring to it. So, so , um , thank you. And I'll kind of lean over here just a little bit. Maybe I won't because then you can't hear, but , uh, so on the far side, so the total campus , um, is about it's five acres, more or less 5.2 technically. And I'll point around just a little bit. This is Riverside neighborhood , uh, to the left. Um, this is the river , uh, down below the river side Parkway is up above the map and then over to the right is , um, is where the river front of dos Rios will continue on over. Um, as, as the next develop, the next developer will take that on. There's more of a retail kind of riverfront Plaza area over there. We're in a North, South East, West orientation. Here we are. Okay . So the river's on the South. So the rivers on the South side, correct? Yep . So the riverfront trail weaves right down through the lower portion , um, on your side, Christie , uh , is where the Cantina will be. Um, the Cantina will serve margaritas and beers. We're developing , um, my business partner, I mentioned way back from the way back machine Paulita that I worked with the DT Swiss, he's my tequila partner in the project. So we're importing , uh , L jets , tequila, lots of fun. Um, figuring out how to do that. That's exciting. Um, and then , uh, and then , uh , Mexican beers and then the one domestic beer will be our own El Jet's , uh , Mexican lager. That will be a partnership with Jim Jefferies and Edgewater. So we're really commute again, put telling that riverfront story. Um, there's a permanent coffee truck , uh, with my partner there, Karen Mahoney, and then there's a permanent , uh, food truck, large March . We just , uh, just acquired large March . She's our she's awesome, great tour bus. That's 1978 tour bus it's so killer. So she's the permanent food truck. Um, and then there'll be guest food trucks , uh , that , that come in and out. Um, two spots for guests , food trucks, we've got a greenhouse, so that we're always serving freshest a fresh , um, am I , I'll just mention that my partner in the food truck and , um , El Jet's Cantina is she's critical to, to what this , um , will become, has, has dreamed to be and will become her name is Alicia Gutierrez and she's , um, her incredible chef , incredible chef . I don't love to cook. I just have to, I love to eat incredible food. And so that's where I'm at least she's, she's that in so much more, she's really the culinary and the culture partner in all this. And , uh, yeah, she's, she's profound. And so , um, food will be served on Frisbees . It's all. To me, this is theater. When you step into my zone, you're , you're in my place and I'm taking you to some, I'm taking you to another world and watches are not welcome here. So that's, that's the idea. I'm Trent it's transportative in that sense. Um, then we've got a trailer , uh, that'll be on a , on a , on a , a stage , uh , that that will be on a trailer. So it'll kind of Rove around pending , uh , the sun's location , uh, the fountain, the Zocalo we've , uh, I found historic photos of the old Riverside park fountain , um, from the early 19 hundreds. And so recreating that , um, and then we get into, so as part of the Cantina, it's really a deconstructed. The , the goal for me is that this whole thing is billed as if it has grown out of the earth itself and really paying homage to the industrial grit that this ground has the stories that it has been celebrating. That to me is, you know, the old junk cars and the old junk trucks. And , um, it, it was super industrial and there's grit in Riverside. And that's the story that I want to tell. So everything's very patina and imperfect. I love celebrate and perfection and , um, in, in everything. And this'll be a great example of that in the end. There's a volleyball court. Um , there's a climbing area right along the riverfront trail. There are public , um, palapas, that will be two story down below. There'll be , uh , hammocks about 20 hammocks hanging, and then up above shaded platform, like a shaded deck, those will be on the river as view sheds kind of , um , celebrating that that's all public access, that's all public access yet . That's important partnership with the city right now, and then a grant funded , um, hopefully with the lion's club, hopefully with the lion's club saying that , um , say that again. Uh , they've been such, such stewards of, of, you know, the history of rivers riverfront, so generous. Yup . Um, and all of this, by the way, is all give back. So there are three major beneficiaries of the revenue structure of the operational models and with the capital improvements as well. Um, Riverside community , uh , is one of the recipients cut MOBA, Colorado plateau mountain bike trail association , um, with regard to the outdoor rec, the hospitality nature of this as we connect to the trail system and then , uh, um, the riverfront as well from one riverfront. So that's, that's a big part of the give back making sure that we're taking care of the, of the environment around us and the , and the community. So we transition out of the Cantina , um, shade structures and hammocks everywhere at fire pits and big, big Kiva kind of old conversation style fire pits, you know, that were kind of conversation pits from the seventies. Um, and then we get into some of the lodging aspects. We've got , uh , six vintage caravans, Airstream style caravans, right in there with , uh , with fire pits, the idea of the pocket neighborhood. And , um, one of the lens lenses for me is what's the campfire conversation. What's who am I targeting? What's the, what's the conversation that's happening around the campfire. So , um , creating more of those conversations centers , um, is really important. So right around the , the caravans kind of have their own Ponderosa, if you will, they've got their own, like their own , uh , um , little, a little staged area. And then we get into, there were , so there are six of those, there are 28 of these adorable little A-frame hard cited . A-frame, they're kind of like large pup tents if you will, but they're , A-frame cabins. They're big enough to fit two , two twin beds right here. Um, the wall tilts open , um, the whole complex will be tight grid tied to Xcel , to regular power, but everything is offset with solar and geothermal. So it has an inviro story with it too, but that's , uh , that, that reverses the meter. Um , and then we get into the outpost. So this is where the actual outpost itself will be, which is the laundry bath house workspace. It's a flex space all the years of working with mountain khakis and Remington. I had these , uh, had 50 executives from all over the world that were ready to come to grand junction, to experience grand junction and experienced the river. And I didn't have a place give them an experience other than a hotel, a meeting, and a conference room. So that's one of another lens for this too, is making sure that I create this flex space , um , that would be welcoming to, you know, whether it's business endeavors or weddings or whatever it might be. But in the meantime, pop, open your laptop, drink a beer and get some work done while your laundry is running and the Footloose economy and being able to, to service that. Um, yeah, it's kind of creating a utopia and an adult summer camp where kids are welcome along the riverfront . We've got nine permanent surf shack. Casita's there , um , on slab, they have a kitchenette and a bathroom, and then they have an outdoor shower as well , um, hammocks and a deck and a fire pit . And the idea for me is that anybody where riding or walking or strolling on the riverfront trail, there could be theoretically like drinking coffee on the front deck of , of the Caseta , the surf shack. You could practically high-five those people. There could be a conversation that's happening. And for local people that are riding by to say, I want to come and stay here. And for people who are here visiting grand junction for the first time saying grand junction is awesome. I want to come back here again. And maybe we should look a little bit, you know, we , we know that once you scratch the surface of grand junction, what an amazing place it is, right? Yeah . Some days you have to get off I 70 and 50 and get into some of the more interesting parts of the community. Exactly. We just have to pull people in. And so , um, yeah, so that conversation taking place, and then we get into, this is my, my , uh, I call it the ranch, the ranch manager's home. We'll be right in the middle. That's a , that's my residence. And then in , over here, we continue with more of the lodging . This is more of the camping, traditional camping. If you will, there are three sites, there's the classic , the full, the full size motor home. There's just a few of those. I promised my dad, I would build him up, build him a motor motor home site, but not going to take care of that. Um, and then we've got the truck and trailer more of the Airstream with the truck pulled behind kind of scenario. Um, my mom has one of those, so I promised her I'd build her one too . And then , uh , and then the rest are really more of a sprinter van kind of adventure vehicle rooftop tent, more of the adventure traveler. That's who , that's what this is really catered toward. Um, that's the vibe, that's the culture. That's kind of the that's again, that is spree. That conversation that's happening around the campfire. So I'm 28, 28 campsites in total plus 28, 10 campsites down along the river that are all the primitive campsites. So four different styles there. And then everything else is built environment where I've created the lodging. We've got five different yurts, these little bubble yurts. My teepees are great . This is I've had that . It's been in our family for many years. And , uh, yeah, so certain six altogether campsite. So 20, 22, you'll be starting to assemble or 2022. You'll be ready for your first visitors will . Yep . Exactly. We'll be drinking. Margarita is on the river and you'll be staying on the river. I will be. Yes, I'll be there. I'll be one of your first guests. Awesome . I'm so excited about this. What do you hope that this project does for grand junction? That's a great question. Um , I think that, I think I hope that it contributes to really telling the story of what we already know and love about our Valley. What we're also passionate about grand junction to me is very personified. It's very, I think of it as the largest mountain town in Colorado. It , we already have that personality here. We already kind of have that howdy way about us that do again, very humble and very approachable. Um, and I think that there's more of that that's starting to surface, and I think the more texture we can bring into the Valley and, and underscore that a little bit more, give it some, give it some more highlight. Um, that's what I hope this does. I hope it creates another pause point on the river as well, so that people can locals and travelers can really get down and appreciate and recreate and just pause on the river and the view, the view shed from this, everything is aligned to that, all the lines, the vegans and the Latinas in the Cantina, everything is in the palapas , it's on alignment of the different canyons with the , uh, with the monument, which is what you look right across at right. Cross the river and done a ton of design work on this every way. Yeah. Sitting down there with the river, kind of just crawling up into our bones. Like that's what this has been. Um, lots of layers of people that are involved in this too. There's an amazing team of people that believe in this and this and are part of it. And , uh , that's that whole own, it's much bigger than me. That's for sure. Well, stewardship, we're going to be so lucky to have this. And I, I was just mentioning to you a couple of months ago that I was looking at some unique places to stay out in California. Cause my family and I like to stay in tree houses and just really unique places around the world. And , um, I said there isn't really anything in grand junction like that right now. Right. And this is going to be such an amazing project. Um, anything else you want to share about El Jet's Cantina and the Sky Outpost before we wrap up? I think that , uh, I just really fortunate. Um, I feel fortunate that it landed with me. It's kind of like Parenthood for me, with my kids. I felt they were never mind. I'm a steward to my kids. Right. I get to be, I'm the lucky one that I get to facilitate in this life and I get to, I get to be their caretaker and that's how I feel about this. It's um, it just, it channels through me and I just feel really fortunate and I feel really fortunate to be a resident of Riverside and to listen and learn and be a steward of the culture in the past as best I can. And I would have, it would have been a huge misstep on my part if I hadn't , um , followed vet the desire really that the call to live in Riverside. And I just, it's the coolest community I've ever lived in. Wow. Yeah, that's correct. The most amazing people. So, and , um , I would be remiss if I didn't mention, cause we said we were gonna cover that transition period right now you're selling real estate and I think those compliment each other really well. I mean, you're learning so many things about the real estate industry and the migration of people in and out of our community. And you talking to people about this project all the time and it's yeah. It's like sparks all day. Every day. It's incredible to me. I can't even capture it. I can't even, yeah, it just, there's a smile says it all. It's been this , you know , learning about this development and then, and then leaning forward into my community and traveling for 15 years, two to three weeks out of so many months out of the years and then just making the conscious and strategic decision to commit to my community to lean forward. So I never moved away and, and to be able to build and propagate. So my mission with, with the real estate side is to build and mindful outdoor centric community, one person, family business at a time. And I absolutely believe that. And to really celebrate that outdoor just nature of our community and you know, whether that , whether you're like grillmaster getting it going on or you're just, you know, enjoying the hammock, like that's the outdoors that I want to celebrate and I really want to propagate in our community and the more mindful conversations. And so, but learning that the skillset and the tactical side of it all has just been really fulfilling that it's a romantic notion to me, there's a Zen of real estate that I had no idea would be a part of this it's really kind of caught me by surprise of really letting go of the outcome and , and stewarding people's journeys and being there in this incredibly emotional, stressful, exciting time in their lives. This transition that is one of the top five of any person's life and , um , and , and being trusted and , uh , and pulled into their journey is really something that does not escape me every single time. So, and the team that I work with your team is extraordinary. Well, I'm honored to work with you and you are a fantastic agent and a fantastic steward for those people that, and trust you with that process. So thank you for all your hard work at the Christie Reece group and also on El Jet's Cantina and Sky Outpost. We're super excited. We blew right past our 20 minutes. Didn't wait a long ways, but I'm sure nobody's going to turn this off because everybody wants to know about this project. So, and more about you. So thank you so much for sharing about yourself today and about your project. And thank you to those of you who are out there listening to this , uh , first edition of the full circle here in the grand Valley and the Western slope of Colorado have a great day, and we'll see you next time. This is Cristie Reese , checking out. Thanks for listening.