Long Overdue - I know

It's been, what, 2 weeks since my last post? I know. I'm a slacker. Sue me. No, don't sue me because I need all the money I can get my hands on & in this day & age, someone might literally sue me for being a slacker.

Anyway. I said I would post pics of my trip to The Stanley Hotel. So here they are. And here are some of our sxperiences we had.

First, the experiences - paranormal, of course! When we first got there and got to our room, Popeye started snapping pictures - and his battery drained on his camera after 2 pictures. Now, those in the ghost investigation field claim that spirits draw energy from sources around them to manifest themselves. Well, we took pictures later in the evening (Popeye with a blanket over him pretending to be a ghost) and we got a pic of an "orb". No known reason why it was there or if it was anything - but that picture is still on Popeye's camera - so you won't be seeing that one.

Then, after I went to sleep, Popeye decided to hold his own investigation. So he went poking around the hotel & ended up on the 4th floor. The 4th floor is known to have sightings of children playing and a grumpy old man who doesn't like women. So Popeye sat down on a little loveseat in the hallway & after a few minutes of just sitting there, he heard footsteps walking towards him in the hallway. The floors are carpeted but have hardwood underneath. So he looked around and no one was there. No one on the staircase (which was in plain view)& no one in the hallway. So the next morning he tried to get me to debunk the sounds. I walked around the bedroom while he sat outside & nope - that wasn't what he heard. So then we went upstairs & I walked around up there. Nope - definitely a man's footstep (nice to know my footsteps are "dainty") and closeby... Soooo - that was Popeye's experience.

My experience happened in the middle of the night while we were sleeping. I heard a loud bang - like the closet door banging shut - & sat up in bed. After I went back to sleep I felt a tingling sensation directly in the middle of my back. It kinda felt like when your hand falls asleep - but it was as if it had pressure, too. It was weird. It didn't freak me out, I just took it in. But I also am a vivid dreamer - so who knows! :)

The next morning we checked out and went on our ghost tour. It was very interesting. We toured the whole hotel - including the infamous room 217. We tried to get into room 402 but it was occupied. (Darn tourists having to stay in haunted rooms...) We went into the formal dining room - which has since been converted from formal dining room to theater by Stephen King in his most recent remake of "The Shining" back in 1995 or 1999 - something like that. I took loads of pictures in each room - but in that room there is DEFINITELY an orb (not dust like "orbs" usually are). I'll post that pic below. And then we went into the pusic room where it is big & white & beautiful with a beautiful piano sitting in there. One of the couples touring with us told us that they saw & heard a man playing that piano the night before. Our guide checked with the front desk & no one had played it - I guess they keep a log or something of who's playing what pianos & when... Anyway - COOL! I wish that had happened to US! We ended our tour in the tunnel beneath the hotel. There are little caves along the tunnel for workers to go and see how the hotel is resting on the foundation. Popeye took my camera & switched it to movie mode & took it into a little cave. He filmed for a few minutes & then on his way out we got a distinct "EVP" (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). Seriously, we did. And we can't explain it because it's right next to the microphone & you can hear me talking in the background - still a distance away & there are no other tourists around... Unfortunately, I don't know how to edit my movie to just play the EVP without the rest of the babble/rustling - so you all will have to just trust me on this. Unless you can walk me through it - and then I'll try to post it!

So that was our trip. We shopped in downtown Estes Park, stopped in Boulder & made our way back to Littleton to get our kids from my mom. It was a wonderful trip. I had been working really hard on losing some weight for this trip so that I could wear a certain pair of slacks that have always been too tight. And now they fit perfectly.

Enjoy the pics!!



Notice the orb in the upper lefthand corner? Clearly not dust.



Me & Popeye in front of the hotel.



Popeye in front of the waterfall out in the courtyard behind the hotel.



Me in the pants that I was talking about.



The view coming into Estes Park from HWY 36. Gorgeous!

That's all I'll bore you with. The rest are staircases, rooms, and really just weird shots trying to capture ghosts on film!

We're going back in July - hopefully - and we're taking the kids!