The Stanley

"The whole place was empty.
But it wasn't really empty. Because here in the Overlook things just went on and on. Here in the Overlook all times were one."
                   The Shining, Stephen King, p. 339

Just over a month and a half ago, I had the opportunity to go stay at The Stanley for a couple of nights - that infamous hotel which was the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining. I had seen the movie by Stanley Kubrick a few years ago. And after being thoroughly terrified while watching it for the first time, it became a Halloween favorite.

Then I saw the Ghost Hunters episode when they visited The Stanley in Estes Park, CO. And I knew I needed to go there! A few years later and I finally had the chance.

And it did NOT disappoint!

My sisters and I arrived in Estes Park on a Friday afternoon. It is a beautiful little town situated in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Check-in time at The Stanley wasn't until 4pm, so we had a few hours to kill - which we did browsing through the gift shops and stores along the main boulevard.

After eating and shopping and buying some belt buckles, we made our way up the hill to The Stanley. It sits impressively over Estes Park...you really can't miss seeing it from any point in town.

We still had some time to spare, so we toured the grounds and hung out in some of the very comfortable chairs by the fireplace.

Finally, it was 4pm and I went to check us in. I had been hoping that we would get a room on the fourth floor - that is the floor that is supposed to have the most activity (not the floor that Stephen King actually stayed on - but the floor where he heard the children playing up and down in the hallway). To my great delight, as I was handed the hotel keys, I saw that we were checked-in to room 418...so excited to be on the fourth (and topmost) floor!

We grabbed the elevator (an Otis Elevator, wtih many of its original trappings from 1909) and rode it to the top.

As we stepped off onto the fourth floor, we walked by room 401 - the room made famous from the Ghost Hunters' first stay at The Stanley...and were excited to see (at least the outside of the door) that infamous room.

Our room was around the corner, about half-way down the hallway on the east side...room 418.

The room was cozy...as in not very big. But a beautiful room, nonetheless. It held a queen bed, a dresser, a small beside table, and a chair...with just enough room to maneuver around.

And since there was only one bed, they had brough in a roll-a-way bed for us to use...which my sisters promptly elected me to sleep in. Their reasoning: since we were to be sleeping in a haunted hotel, I got to sleep in a bed all by myself. Gee...thanks.

The room was very nicely decorated. One of the best features of the room was the walk-in closet, which was right by the bed. Instead of a bar to put hangers on, it had a row of hooks all the way around. Which I thought was very quaint.

I joked about the closet being big enough that I could just place the roll-a-way bed and sleep in there. As I was soon to find out, though...it was a good thing I didn't.

We settled ourselves, freshened up, and then headed out to take the last history and ghost tour being offered that day. The tour was interesting. They took us all around the grounds - which consist of the main building:

The manor building (built after the likeness of the main hotel, but just on a much smaller scale):

and the Concert Hall:

We were told the history of The Stanley, as well as the ghostly happenings that have been reported in particular areas. Many of the areas we couldn't necessarily go into. There were so many weddings happening that weekend, and every room in the hotel was booked. For many of the places, we just saw the outside of them.

Room 217 was our first stop. This is where it all started - at least for Stephen King. The story goes that back in the 70s, in the month of October I believe, King and his wife were trying to drive over the Rocky Mountains. However, winter sometimes comes really early to those high passes, and they were eventually stopped by road closure and forced to turn around. as they travelled back down the mountains, they passed through Estes Park and King saw The Stanley sitting on the hill.

Thinking it would soon be dark anyway and that they would need to find a place to stay, King and his wife decided to see if they could get a room in that hotel. However, as they were informed by the manager that the hotel was closed for the winter...that the night before had been their last night open (at this time the hotel regularly closed for the winters due to snow and lack of tourists). The place intrigued King, though, and somehow he convinced the manager to let them stay the night. And they were shown to room 217.

The story continues that King and his wife dropped off their luggage and then left for awhile. When they came back to their room later that evening, their clothes had been neatly folded and put away, and their luggage stacked int he closet. Thinking that the housekeepers had taken care of their things, King later thanked the manager for their thoughtfulness. The manager replied that no one had gone into their room (they were working on a skeleton crew, since the hotel was officially closed) and even if they had, they would not have touched any of the guests' things.

Baffled, and intrigued, King spent the evening exploring the lonely and empty hotel. Other stories I've heard relate that King actually heard the sound of children playing with a ball on the fourth floor. And later that night, he had a dream where one of the white firehoses, attached to the nozzles that are found on each floor, came alive and began chasing one of his sons. This dream went on to become a part of his book.

The next morning, King and his wife packed up, thanked their hosts, and left Estes Park. Seven weeks later, King - who had been struggling at that time with a suitable story to write - had a complete outline for the book now known as The Shining.

Disclaimer: don't quote this for gospel on my part. This is just how I remember our guide at The Stanley telling the story, and other rumors I have heard. Is it all true? I would like to think that it is, but I can't say for sure. Either way, it is an undisputed fact that King's stay at The Stanley was his inspiration to write The Shining.

From room 217 we continued on our tour of the main hotel. We were next taken up to the fourth floor and told the story of room 401. It is thought that Lord Dunraven - the man from whom F.O. Stanley bought the 160 acres on which to build The Stanley - is the active spirit in that room.

While we were clustered around the door to room 401, the guests who were stying in that room, disembarked from the elevator. You could tell they were a little annoyed that yet another group was outside of their hotel room, being told the ghost stories. But that's what you get for staying in one of the most popular rooms in a haunted hotel! The guide finished telling us the stories, and just as we were leaving to head to another part of the floor, the door to room 401 opened and the man staying in that room asked if anty of us would like to come in and see the infamous closet. The closet was said to be the place where the ghost like to "hide" while in the room. What is it about ghosts & closets? Or ghosts & attics for that matter? Anyway, there had been reports of people going into the closet and feeling like they were being touched and other strange things. No one was stepping forward to take up his offer, so I raised my hand and said "I'll do it!" I went into the room, stepped in the closet, and he closed the door behind me.

The closet was small...very, very small. There was just enough room for me to stand inside with the clothes that were hanging there and the ironing board. Definitely not big like the closet in our room.

I could hear the guest and the others on the tour talking right outside the door. I waited for about a minute - I know, not nearly enough time to have anything happen, if anything was going to happen (but I really didn't want to intrude on the guy for very long) - took a couple of pictures with my camera, then opened the door and stepped. Inside it had felt like...a closet. No heavy feeling. No cold fingers trailing through my hair, or hands touching my back. Nothing. As far as I was concerned...it was a closet.

After I came out, another woman on the tour went inside. She stayed inside for less time than me and came out totally freaked and claiming that there were weird feelings in there. Not to discredit what another thinks they are experiencing..but come on...reall? Yeah...I don't think so.

We thanked our generous host, and continued our tour on the fourth floor. Our tour guide brought us about halfway down the hall toward our room, and stopped us at a point where there is a little nook in the wall and a couch. The fourth floor, back when the place was built, was where the children and their nannies would stay. That was one reason why so much of the activity on that floor was attributed to children. As our tour guide was telling us about the going-ons, she mentioned that, besides room 217 and room 401, there were two other active rooms in the hotel - rooms 418 & 428.

What the...??? Wait a minute...did she just say room 418? Really? Room 418? As in...our room...room 418? The three of us looked at one another. Uh oh. It's one thing to be staying in a haunted hotel...and another to be staying in one of the actual haunted rooms!

The guide told us that a mother and her nine-year-old daughter had stayed in room 418 in The Stanley. The next day, as they were checking out, the desk clerk asked how their stay was. The little girl piped up that a little boy had awoken her in the middle of the night, tickling her toes! The desk clerk asked what the little girl had done when she woke up and saw that. The girl replied "I told him to stop bother me." "And did he?" was the desk clerk's question. "Yes," the little girl replied.

I think I'll keep my toes covered tonight.

It wasn't long after that we finished the tour. The last stop was down in the basement of the hotel. The employee passageways are down there. In some parts you can see where the tunnels had been cut out of the mountainside.

This passageway is no longer used. During the Ghost Hunters' live Halloween show from The Stanley, the two main investigators - Jason and Grant - were down in these tunnels and while inside this tunnel they heard a voice say hello, hello...and then some creepy, ghostly laughter. We didn't hear anythign like that down there. And even if there were a voice, there was so many things going on in the hotel right then, we wouldn't even have noticed.

The tour was interesting. We enjoyed taking it and learning the history of this beautiful old hotel, as well as hearing the ghost stories. I don't mind confessing that we were a little leery as we headed back to our "haunted" room. However...it felt no different as we walked in. And I regret to say...we never really felt anythign out the ordinary while we were in the room that weekend.

Earlier int he day I had convinced my sisters to get tickets to go on an actual ghost hunt of The Stanley that they offer on the weekends. So, our night of ghostly stories wasn't over quite yet. It turned out to be kind of an interesting night...but I'll save that story for the next posting.

Sweet dreams.

Area 51

Area 51 - the words alone conjure up images of UFO's, aliens, and government secrets. There are people who will swear Area 51 is a top-secret military installation where the government has performed experiments and reverse engineering on captured UFO's (and perhaps still does).

Ever up for an adventure, my sisters and I decided to hop into the jeep one Saturday morning in May of 2005 and head on out to this secret area. We knew the general area that the top-secret base was supposed to be: out by a little town called Rachel. We found Rachel on a map and knew how to get there. Through some digging on the internet we found some instructions on how to find the infamous Area 51.

After driving a couple of hours northeast out of Las Vegas, we felt we might be on the right track when we came across this:

What better place to find an area supposedly used to house downed alien spacecraft and aliens themselves, than on the Extraterrestrial Highway!

We drove along the desolate highway and eventually wound our way through some mountains. On the other side we discovered a large, flat, nearly empty valley. The only thing we could see on the horizon, was the small "town" of Rachel, NV.

As we came down off the mountain side, we found the next landmark to Area 51 - a dusty, dirt road hanging a left off the highway...marked by a single black mailbox. That was it. Nothing else to let you know what might be down that road. But it was the 2nd of our landmarks, so we hooked a left and started down the dusty road. It went on straight FOR-EV-ER (name that movie)...or at least felt like it. Finally we got into some hills and began negotiating the twists and turns. Suddenly we came upon the next clue that maybe we were in the right place and skreeched to a halt.

Crazy. As you can see in this picture, there was no other indication that you were about to cross over into restricted area...no fence, no line...nothing but these signs.

From a respectable distance, we stopped and read the signs. The most disturbing part was on the light white warning sign...at the bottom it reads "Use of Deadly Force Authorized." Don't have to tell us twice...we will keep our distance!

We sat there in the jeep (we were too chicken to get out and walk) and looked around. We spied what looked like cameras set up on the hills.

Were they watching us? Did they know we were there? We joked that by now they probably had zeroed in our the license plate of the car and knew everything there was to know about my sister. I don't have to tell you that it was kind of creepy seeing those cameras and signs in the middle of nowhere.

But then it got even creepier.

As I sat in the back of the jeep, looking through the view finder of my video camera I suddenly noticed something white off to the left side of the screen. I looked up in the direction, but couldn't really tell, so using the camera, I zoomed in.

While researching on the internet before heading out to Area 51, one thing that kept popping up over and over again was the legend of the white jeeps. Those who have ventured out to this area before claimed that men in white jeeps would sit and watch you. And we wondered: were there really men who sat out in white jeeps, watching as you approached the perimeter? Isn't that why they had the cameras?

Well, as I zoomed in...I saw what it was. Mostly hidden by the curve in the road...sat a white jeep! As calmly as I could I announced to my sisters that it seems we were really being watched. And with that...we were outta there. I kept my eye one the jeep, and as we drove away it followed just far enough behind to keep us insight, without us being able to see the occupants. We were kept in sight until we had rounded the bend and were well on our way of getting out of there.

Had we really found Area 51? We had definitely found some place that was being closely guarded. We kept a nervouse eye out for any cars, planes, tanks, whatever that might suddenly descent upon us. However, we made it back to the highway without any incidents.

After driving for 3 hours...10 minutes looking at pretty much nothing but desert and signs...we decided to extend our trip a little longer and pay a visit to The Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel.

Little more than a double-wide, this "inn" and cafe seemed to pretty much be the heart of Rachel, NV. There was one car parked in the lot, but we headed in anyway. Part cafe and part souvenir shop, one whole side of the double-wide was filled with every imaginable souvenir sporting some sort of alien theme. The walls, too, were lined with photographs of well-known people who had stopped by the Little A'Le'Inn. There were also news articles and magazine stories about UFOs, aliens, Area 51. We had a great time browsing through everything and enjoying all the "kitsch."

We bought our souvenirs, jeeped into the jeep and said our good-byes to the Little A'Le'Inn and Area 51. Another weird adventure under our belt.

I have been back just once more, to Area 51. A few years later my sisters and I participated in the Extraterrestial Full Moon Midnight Marathon, 1/2 & 10K (we just did the 10K). We didn't go on teh dirt road to the boundary of Area 51. But our race did start from the Little A'Le'Inn and ran along the highway at midnight...with only the light of the full moon to light our way. It was pretty cool to run in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, the only close encounter I had was with a cow.

The Queen Mary

My first foray into haunted travels began with a ghostly excursion aboard the Queen Mary.

It was October...my favorite month - love the warm days, the fall colors, and Halloween! - and my sisters decided to take me down to Long Beach for my birthday. They had found that The Queen Mary gave ghost tours of the ship during the month of October. I was excited...and a little nervous...I had never been on a "ghost tour" before. What would it be like??

The tour turned out to be pretty creepy...it took us down into the very bowels of the ship...into places that most tourists don't have access to, unless on a tour like this.

Our tour group wasn't too big...only about 20 or so of us. And our tour guide was pretty cool. She had been a guide aboard the Queen Mary for quite awhile, and admitted that she had yet to see something herself...but if she ever did...that would be her last day of work on the ship! She did have a lot of interesting stories that she shared with us as she took us around.

As we made our way down deep inside the ship, we found ourselves in small, tight corridors that only allowed you to walk single file. And since we always have the Easton luck on our side, the three of us seemed to find ourselves constantly in the very back of the group! What was up with that? We were always bringing up the rear.

The three of us took turns with who would be the very last in line. I don't mind admitting...it was not a pleasant sensation! When I think about it, I can still feel myself down in those tiny corridors, in almost complete darkness, with the constant sensation that someone was always right behind me...even though I was the last in line. Was someone...or something really following us? Probably not...but it's hard to convince yourself of that when you are in the moment!

The part that I remember most from that tour was when we were taken into the area that used to be the First Class Swimming Pool.

Incredibly creepy down there! Of course, the fact that it was an empty pool, in a semi-state of disrepair, and dark definitely added to the ambiance of the place as the guide told the stories of the many ghost sightings that have been reported from that area. The most frequent reporting is of a little girl, who is supposed to peek out from around the corners at the tour groups. So I kept taking pictures of the entire place, hoping something would show up.

I kept thinking: "What in the world would I do if I suddenly saw a little girl peeking around a corner at me? Or if an image showed up on one of my pictures?" I have yet to answer that question...

Nonetheless, I did a pretty good job of freaking myself out just thinking about the possibilities.

Our tour from there on led up into the more habitable parts of the ship. We were led to a room which they have never been able to remodel. According to the stories, everytime they would work on the room, they would come back the next day to find everything ripped out and in a disarray.

  

Wait! Is that a ghost in the mirror? Oh no...never mind...it's just my sisters. :)

Another cool part of the ship (but nothing to do with ghosts), is this corridor...which runs the entire length of the ship. Which is VERY long!

Our tour eventually came to a close and we emerged topside unscathed. No ghosts visited us that day...no spirit showed up in our pictures. But the day was not a complete waste. We did get in a game or two of shuffleboard...

Though our ghost hunt turned up no ghosts...it was an awesome trip. And it got me and my sisters hooked on ghost tours. It's a fun way to not only hear ghost stories, but to learn about the history of places. I was definitely looking forward to my next one.

Top Ten Reasons to Love Guatemala

I thought I would finish up the reminiscing of my trip to Guatemala with my Top Ten Reasons to Love Guatemala. So here we go...

10. Beautiful, soaring cathedrals.

9. Understated paint jobs.

8. Fantastic upkeep of buildings.

7. Door-to-door laundry service.

6. Strict child-labor laws.

5. Large, spacious taxis.

4. Inconspicuous store security.

3. Awesome ancient history.

2. Pimped out buses.

And the Number One reason to love Guatemala...

Drum-roll please...

Pineapple Soda in a Bag!!!!

Thank you, thank you...and maybe this will inspire you to visit Guatemala someday.

Chichicastenango

I just love to say that name: "Chichicastenango." Come on...say it with me. You know you want to

Our second day in Guatemala, we took our chartered bus to a little town called Chichicastenango, a couple of hours northwest of Guatemala City.

This was our red limousine...it rode about as well as it looks.

 

This is ChiChi...looks like a fun town, right? You might be asking..."Just what is there to do in a town like that?" Only one thing...shop! Chichicastenango has a great market. You can find just about anything there:

Jewelry.

Cloth.

Live chickens bundled up in a plastic crate...you know...the usual.

There is also a beautiful church in the town.

Where it seems the whole town gathers...not necessarily to worship...but to...ummm..hock their wares.

Prime selling space, right there.