Awake: 6:18am Temp 57 Partly cloudy Overnight @ Grand Junction, CO
Before breakfast, Kathy & I walk (1hr 5 min) part of the Old Spanish and
Gunnison River Trails for exercise, which included some elevation gain &
decent. We had good phone reception at the hilltop so we called the Foote
household to wish Melissa and Kevin a happy 5th wedding anniv.
We leave @ 12:15pm driving the Suzuki Northeast bound on Interstate 70 to
the town of Parachute, CO. This town originated during the early 70’s when
Shell Oil Company decided to develop oil from shale rock. Many homes were
built in anticipation of workers & their families moving into the area.
When Shell Oil canceled the operation, Parachute became a ghost town
overnight. Sometime during those ghost town yrs, Orley & Thea drove around
looking for property & bought a small house on 20 acres. Parachute slowly
recovered & became a successful senior retirement community.
Through the yrs, Orley & Thea developed a living tree farm that they
attended to during the summer months as a hobby. Orley is now retired &
just recently demolished that small house, poured a new concrete basement
& with the help of nearby neighbors, framed, sided, shingled, wired,
plumbed & added heating to a new structure of 4000 sq ft. Orley & Thea
toured us thru all the rooms & basement. The workmanship is 1st class.
Before the small house was demolished, Orley built a large woodworking
shop so he can make all his own cabinets, drawers, etc. I had no idea
Orley was so talented. This is his 1st home building experience. Maybe he
himself didn’t realize he had so much talent.
On his 20 acres, 3 natural gas wells were discovered, so now they receive
a monthly check for that as well as free gas to heat their home. We agree
to visit them in the future to see the finished project. I’ve known Orley
for over 30 yrs. They are good people.
8:15 Dinner: Leftover fried chicken
Late evening: Eat popcorn & watch movie on cable: “ Ship of Fools.” A
rather sad movie I thought.
Today’s high temp=73 Lights out: 11:01pm
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