RED(rum), WHITE(water), & BLUE(birds)- A Grand Finale TR to Our Year of the National Parks

[HouCuseChickie]

So, here we are...at The Stanley!!!!

It's a beautiful hotel that's loaded with history, but a coworker advised me not to stay here. I know not everyone believes in ghosts, but he said he barely slept and that it's one of the freakiest places he's ever been. I like sleep and didn't need to pay extra for the name, so I just booked the last tour of the night. I honestly didn't find it even remotely creepy. I know some people do, but if anything, I got very happy and pleasant vibes while we were there. We arrived early enough to look around and for the kids to explore the hedge maze. The maze is a more recent addition and a nod to the original movie.

Yeah...in case you weren't aware, The Stanley provided the inspiration for Stephen King's 'The Shining.' The Stanley Kubrick movie wasn't filmed here (filmed at a spot in Oregon, I believe), but the 90s movie that is much closer to the book was filmed onsite. Dumb and Dumber was also filmed at The Stanley. And while there are no great murder stories to go with the it, there are many spirits and freaky occurrences supposedly associated with the hotel. So naturally, we had to visit. Side note...I know it's not true to the book (which I enjoyed), but I preferred Kubrick's movie over the one King put together.

The kids were excited to explore, so David and I went to the bar and ordered some drinks. I have no idea what he had...but I had the REDRUM Punch!

(ok, the drink wasn't really this dark, but I loved how creepy it looked)

This is more like it...

I honestly have no idea what David ordered, but this is it.

The punch was delicious and the bar had such a neat vibe. All of the Edison style bulbs just added to the ambiance...

The kids were having fun looking around, but periodically came back to the bar to check in...

David was content to stay at the bar until tour time, but I got antsy and wanted to explore...so, I did...

(only guests can go upstairs)

 

[HouCuseChickie]

As we got closer to tour time, David and I decided to go look for the kids. I had some trouble finding them (David eventually did), but I got some pics of other areas in my searching...

(if you've read my Disney TRs, you know I like lights)

I know I was going in circles at this point, because I'm back at the maze...still no kids...and nobody is answering their darn phones!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Yes...I know I'm crazy, but I took pics of the interesting stuff in the bathroom as well.

At this point, everyone was finally back together and we were just waiting for tour check in. So, more exploration while we waited...

(could not get a decent pic of this tank!)

...and then it was time for the tour. I had booked ours with the AAA discount, but they never asked to see my card. It wound up being $25 per person with the discount. Unfortunately, during the night tour, you don't get to see the guest floors. They start you out in this room where you watch some of the Shining and then the guide goes over some of the basics...

So, the tour took us to see the concert hall, the hall's basement, the music room, the billiards room, and this old basement hallway. I can tell you right now that I don't see anything in my pictures...well, sort of. We headed off to the concert hall for the first part of our tour.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We all assembled over near the stage. Actually, we could sit on the stage...so I did.

I took a pic of this trap door...figuring it had to be something interesting. It wound up being a door used by Harry Houdini, way back when he played the Stanley.

I basically took a lot of random pics as our guide talked. The history behind the family as well as the hall were interesting and there were some stories of a ghost haunting this space. I took some pics, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary.

(all hand carved!)

It was then time to head downstairs. I found myself taking pics of a lot of random stuff in case something showed up in my pictures. I should know better though...my normal encounters aren't in my pictures. Still, for what it's worth...here's some random stuff...

The mirror is kind of an interesting story. They call it their Mirror of Erised...like in the Harry Potter series. I guess a lot of people have taken pictures and seen ghostly figures in turn of the century clothing appear in their shots. I put my camera on burst mode, like our guide advised. I really don't see anything in any of my pictures, but I do find it peculiar that some are crystal clear, while others are a total blur. I'm barely moving, I didn't change any settings, and the focus was staying the same...so, who knows. Maybe something was happening. I took a TON of pics...but I'll just share a couple of examples.

After this, we explored some of the basement rooms, where we also may have met their ghost, Lucy.

(I know...pretty much pics of nothing)

Lucy seems to reside in a closet in the basement. The guide told us that she likes to close the door on people, but that it's not a given for it to happen. He also noted that the door is very heavy. In the photos above...we're checking out the room. Kendall was still in there as I was walking out. The door started to creak while I was in the doorway and then it started to move. Kendall bolted out of the room and ran right into a metal table in the hall. Not sure what happened in there, but everyone got a good laugh. It was time to leave the concert hall and head back up to the main building...

I had absolutely no blurring once we were up in the main house. An old work friend said she did a paranormal activity investigation at The Stanley and had all kinds of activity in that concert building, so maybe there is more to all the blurs.

And we're back in the main house...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Still it was neat to see everything. I'm sure it's just old electrical, but the lights above me started to flicker as I was looking at this piano above...which supposedly has some stories of its own.

Next room...The billiards room is very cool and this little bar is where Stephen King was actually served his drinks when they stayed here and inspired some of the lines in the bar scenes in the book.

Then it was downstairs. I thought it was pretty cool to see the tree roots still attached to the rock as well as some of the artifacts in the cases.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We also made sure to take no rocks. Supposedly, people who do are left with horrible nightmares.

It was time to leave the haunted hotel and get some sleep.

The kids were pretty spooked, but it didn't take long for them to be out.

Oh, and as for the coworker who stayed at the Stanley...I guess he stayed in one of the rooms where male guests tend to have issues sleeping. He said he had bizarre dreams, heard all kinds of things, and woke up to his bags being packed...like, GET OUT!

As for the tour, while I'm glad to say we did it, I don't know if it was really worth the money. Sure, we got a lot of interesting historical information, but there really wasn't much to it. If any of you ever do want to do it though, I highly recommend booking in advance as it sells out.

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Coming up...We finally leave Estes Park and being the most nomadic part of the trip...but not before one last pass through RMNP.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

DAY 7...definitely day 7!

At this point, both as I type and during the trip, it's hard to believe that we're a week into this adventure. It only felt like 4-5 days for me, but David was already hitting that wall and ready to go home. Part of me was as well, but it's because I was dreading the nomadic portion of this trip along with some of the out in the middle of nowhere spots we'd be experiencing. Still, I wanted to see all of these places...so that kept me going (for the most part).

We packed up and set out relatively early because today was a travel day. We also would be driving through RMNP as part of our getting from pt A to pt B and had promised Sam we'd try and find moose before leaving the park. While it's only faster if we don't stop, the RMNP route is actually a few minutes faster than the alternative. So, we made our way in and started the drive up.

Shortly after entering the park, the most beautiful mountain bluebird flew by the vehicle... but I wasn't fast enough for a picture. Still not bad...4 bluebirds this trip...compared to none last summer.

We were driving up and started to notice the clouds...

Time to drive up...

All kinds of wildflowers along the road...

We stopped because it was very cool to be above the clouds.

It was around this time that Kendall's stomach started acting up. We weren't sure what the issue was, but she rested in the car while we got out. We didn't want to linger too long because we had a lot of driving to do today and we wanted to devote most of our time to moose tracking, so we got back in the car and headed up...

As we went higher, little miss 20/20 vision spotted an elk herd...a big one. So, we got out and took a bunch of pics as well as some video.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I know, I really need to work on my video skills.

We chatted with a couple of women who were also out there with us. They thought we were from Georgia because of the plates on our car, but got a good laugh about our Colorado rental. I took more elk pics and the moon, which was fascinating me this day for some odd reason.

After elk gazing, we headed up to the Alpine visitor's center so Kendall could use the rest room. She wound up throwing up...which put us in a stomach bug panic for a couple of days. None of us got it and she was much better after this (and some napping), so we suspect the altitude was still messing with her. We checked out the elk near this center while K was in the bathroom...as well as the snow.

(ok...I joined in)

The rangers said they didn't want people climbing on them and slipping on the icy surface, so Sam just put her foot on it (with one on regular ground) to say she had her feet in the snow in July. I'm sure there's someone out there that will say we still shouldn't have been doing this and we're just as bad as some of the other less careful tourists we've noted, but it is what it is.

It was time to head down towards the moose part of the park, but we're still above the clouds...

I also took some pics of things I didn't get on our last pass through this part of the park. I tend to put the camera up when I'm nervous...but no gas nerves today.

We arrived at the same trail head where we spotted the moose the other day. Kendall stayed in the car while the rest of us went searching.

We found fresh tracks, but nothing else...well, nothing else that was moose related.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We felt bad. She wanted so much to see a moose...just scanning every inch of the trees for movement or a glimpse.

David was doing the same...

I sat down for a bit and did my part.

it was a beautiful spot to just sit and take it all in. The water clarity alone is just stunning.

Even the smallest details, like a ground spider's nest in the blades of grass is gorgeous.

Sam also was enjoying testing out how waterproof her boots were and how much the water temp helped cool her feet.

(OK, I did the same thing! Hehehe)

Time to start heading back to the car...

Yeah...she's still stopping to see if she spots anything. And yes, she's balanced on a branch and isn't just squatting in place like that. LOL

And while she's balancing...I'm spending more time being fascintated with the moon.

...and flowers...

It was time to hit the road and head west. And the good news...Kendall was feeling MUCH better. We were cautiously optimistic that she was just suffering from some delayed altitude sickness.

Shortly after leaving the park, we spotted a bird...which I believe is an Osprey...and he's got a nice meal in his talons. He even hung around long enough for me to get the telephoto on the camera. So, no eagles, but still a pretty cool thing to spot...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We saw a number of nests in this area as well. This one is clearly occupied.

The lake in the area also looked pretty nice.

...but we were headed to Steamboat for lunch and had a decent drive after that to get to our hotel for the night...so, we needed to get a move on.

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Coming up...lunch in Steamboat and a drive into the middle of nowhere...otherwise known as, "Sandy didn't do a good job researching this part of the trip." Don't worry, it all works out.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

So, here we are heading to Steamboat, and I tried to take pics along the way of all of the little towns and scenic features.

We drove through some little towns with some neat signs and such...

And back into cutting through the mountains and hills...

Things flattened out a little...well, at least directly along the road...

Looks like storms building...

Another neat little town...

The terrain in the area was still pretty neat...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

And it's sort of changing again...

Gosh, I even remember that blue car in front of us. I'm sure they're perfectly lovely people, but they were going well under the speed limit.

Really pretty stuff out there...

I also took pics of some deer Sam saw while we were stopped for construction. Yeah...construction became a side theme of pretty much everywhere we drove.

We were stopped a while, which is frustrating, but I guess summer is the only time they can do this. At least the flowers are pretty.

And we're finally moving again...

[

Passed some more lovely fields of flowers...

And we're starting to head up...

And now down. We saw lots of signs like this for trucks that aren't able to brake...

We have arrived!

Ski slopes in the summer...

David went skiing here as a kid. I researched it back when the kids were much younger and liked it because it seemed more reasonable, but getting here from Denver in the winter is the challenge.

So, it's lunch time and I didn't want to go hunting around too much for restaurants. The first place David found was only open for dinner, so we just hit the first place I found that was open.

It definitely had a trendy ski town feel to it, but it was nice. We were all dress for the cooler conditions of RMNP, so everyone changed into the summer clothes I packed in our carry on type bags for the day. Well, in their own time...since K is still in a hoodie here...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Hard to tell, but we had a nice little view of the mountains...

In general, it was a pretty cute place...

Soon after, the food came out...and while not cheap, it was good! And they had stuff I could eat.

There was even some drama during the meal. The owner started going around asking everyone if they owned the Jeep in the lot...which we did not. Apparently, some jerk left his golden retriever in there with the windows up...and it was already in the 80s outside. They found him and the dog was OK, but still...not good drama.

After lunch, we kept driving west and took pics of more quirky stuff and scenery. I was driving, so not as many pics in this time. I think Sam was manning the camera and got some fun stuff...

Eventually, it just turned into countryside...

Although, we had another construction stop and I took a video of something kind of neat. I think it's from the cottonwood trees, but it created these white puffs floating through the air that looked a lot like summer snow flurries. We saw it in a few spots, but to me...it was kind of neat.



In fact, the kids really dropped the ball here. We hit a patch of farms after we passed the last of the small towns and there was a herd of pronghorn mixed in with the cattle. David spotted a lone one shortly after that. The kids totally missed it.

Here's where things take a bit of a turn for me. In everything above, it all looks lush and green, but Colorado changes considerably as you get to the western portions. You also lose the towns and such as you get farther from the mountains. Now, I hate calling places "nothing" and I did it last year when we were driving through certain parts of WY on the way to Cody, but northwestern CO also has a lot of nothing. We hit a point where we were the only car on the road for miles (watched everyone else turn off) and there were no towns or anything. We're still in CO at this point, but you can see how things have changed...

Basically, we'd gone from mountains to high desert. So, we turned off of the highway down another desert road to go to the town.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We went through another 6-7 miles of nothing before we started seeing some kind of industrial equipment. When we got to the end of the road, we saw a Chevron sign and several sites. Still no people or vehicles, but the stuff looked active, so it wasn't some abandoned site.

I don't know why stuff like this freaks me out so much, but it just does. My mind starts racing about things like what happens with a medical emergency or what if it's one of those tiny towns that has a hotel, but really doesn't take to outsiders. I know crazy stuff! David is still mocking me for my fears over this place...which I know are unreasonable. There's nothing wrong with this town...I just spook easily. David even got on me...saying I grew up in a small town, but there's a difference. I grew up in a NYC metro area small town (i.e. one town on top of the next), and my small town had around 20K residents with a small borough sitting in the middle that added another 7K to the mix. Rangely has a little over 2,000 residents and there's very little around for miles and miles. It's hard to describe, but it sort of made me feel trapped. I mean, I even looked up how far to Salt Lake City in case I wanted to fly home or worse...how long to drive home (LONG). Again...I know this is all crazy on me, but it is what it is.

It wasn't long before we turned that I saw the hotel. I had seen it in TripAdvisor and Travelocity pictures and the blue roof sort of stands out...as does the building size up against a lot of smaller structures. It got really good reviews, so I still felt good about booking it. Now, had I researched this better, I would have known that the quarry part of Dinosaur NM was in UT and I would have been better booking in Vernal, UT ...more lodging options, better pricing and more populated area with better dining (or at least more plentiful from what it looked like). But...it is what it is and here we were in Rangely, CO...closer to the CO part of the monument (some of which was recently closed due to a rock slide) and Dinosaur, CO...which has seen better days. I guess now I knew why I found 0 lodging in Dinosaur.

We checked in and got settled. The front desk staff was very nice and the room, while a bit odd with its blue sheets, was spacious and comfortable. The TV was probably circa late 90s, but it worked and it wasn't so bad watching without high def. We certainly had lots of channel options.

Rangely doesn't have a lot of dining options (two open at dinner that night), but the Mexican place got decent reviews...so we headed there. The reviews were good and it wasn't just locals, but we weren't impressed. And sorry if it sounds gross, but my food looked like vomit.

Here's the food...

We drove around a bit after, but there wasn't too much to see. There are things to do in the area that will bring in tourists, but not anything we could really do just driving around town. And let's be honest...residents were sitting in their yards and staring at us driving around, which didn't help my feelings. I do, however, enjoy the name "Loaf n Jug!" It would seem less fun and unique after we saw a couple more of these later on in our trip.

(I recognized the logo and later found out it's Kroger gas...and I could have used my discount!)

And we're back...

This hotel was also important for another reason. We packed a lot of stuff, but with being active during the day and then cleaning up for dinner...it just wasn't enough for two weeks. So, we had to do laundry. I was breaking my cardinal rule of "no laundry while on vacation." Thankfully, this place had several machines as well as a change machine (several places we stayed didn't have one). Suitcases also make for great rolling laundry baskets!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

(no elevators...so at least we were on the 1st flr)

I noticed signs above the washers about no oil field clothes being permitted. So, I guess that explains a lot of their clientele. They offer a private laundry service for those guests. I also noticed that some kind of off-road rally was coming up, so I guess they were expecting a lot of ATV drivers in the near future.

Oh...and while I was waiting on my laundry...I busted into the carrot cake. There were no open tables or desks, so sadly...I was eating from the floor!

Clearly, I wasn't the only one breaking into snacks!

We'd be checking out the next morning, so I had to pack all of the clean clothes and prep for more nomadic life before getting to sleep on our Smurf sheets.

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Coming up- We leave Rangely for a bit to go to UT for Dinosaur NM, and then back through Rangely so we can move on to Moab, UT.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

DAY 8

There was no gym at our Rangley hotel and due to the lack of people and lack of cellular range, I was afraid nobody would find the body if I passed out alongside the road...so, no running today either. It's not a knock on the town...it's just that running 6-8 miles in a place like this, where service was already weak for me, could be dangerous.

We got a cart and loaded up the bags...

Had a nice breakfast, courtesy of the hotel...

I also popped in to take a pic of the pool. The kids were ticked that I didn't let them swim, but I didn't want to be traveling with wet bathing suits.

After breakfast and check out, we headed to Dinosaur.

On the way, we also drove past a sign for Bonanza, but it turns out that this was Bonanza, UT. There is another Bonanza in CO. Lots of little dino things in Dinosaur, but not much life here. It looks like it was tourist trap popular at some point, but clearly, it's been a while.

So, we turned in Dinosaur and started heading towards Utah.

And it wasn't long before we crossed the state border.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

So, that's now state #4 for this trip!

In fact, the UT side of Dinosaur NM isn't far from the state line.

Sam didn't see them, but David and I spotted several deer on the way in. Of course, I missed taking pics, but I was busy looking at scenery.

After going through the entry gate/guard shack area, we stopped at the vistor center for stamps and to just check stuff out...

We were sort of pressed for time, so we drove back to the quarry (vs. taking their tram).

Once inside, it's like walking into something out of your school science books. It was cool to me, but to David...it was that little dinosaur loving kid that was coming out and was suddenly giddy that I insisted we drive into UT vs. seeing what's on the CO side. I took a lot of pics, so I'll just share some of the standouts.

(if you look at my reflection, I'm no longer in RMNP attire. It's Keen sandals, shorts and a tank...because temps will be around 100 until we get back into the more mountainous parts of CO. At least it's a dry heat)

 

[HouCuseChickie]

A little size perspective!

I will say that it's pretty darn cool to be able to touch some of the big bones still held in the quarry. I also heard that visitors have declined since they stopped the excavation process. On one hand, I can appreciate the preservation aspect...but on the other, it's sad. When you consider the concentration and abundance of bones in that quarry wall, you realize that everything around the quarry is probably loaded with bones and there are probably tons of fossils all over the entire monument. I mean, it would be silly to think the bones just stop where the glass wall starts...

Also neat to see where some of the dinosaurs taken from the monument ended up. These are the two I've seen, but it gave me this odd full circle feeling...to be at their "home."

We had started on the first floor, so it was time to go up top.

It's the only skull in the quarry that's like this, so it's hard not to take a bunch of pics...

We went outside and took a few more pics. It's funny...that's the Green River out there and we will meet it again in another part of UT as our travels continue.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We waved good-bye to Dinosaur NM...

Driving over the Green River...

I don't know if it was the river or my silly panicky feelings, but looking east and seeing all of the nothing again sort of got me anxious.

And we waved good-bye to Utah (for a few hours)...

We thought about the Pickle Stop in Dinosaur, CO, but we really needed to keep going. I do at least appreciate all of the dinosaur themed streets.

We actually ended up going through Rangely again as part of the navigation to get us on to our next destination...

When we turned in Rangley to pick up the next road, we found ourselves on the Dinosaur Diamond...which I guess is a section known for all kinds of finds.

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Coming up...the scenic drive to Moab, check in, and our next national parks.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

There was still a lot of obvious signs signs of industrial influences and interests as we were driving from Rangely...

The farther we drove, the more trees we saw. In fact, we also saw this small observatory up in the trees. So, I'm guessing this is a great spot for stargazing.

We wound up pretty high in the mountains after a bit...where the roads cut into this crazy mountain cow pastures.

And while 20/20 didn't see them, David and I spotted more deer...not that I got them on camera either. Either way, it was turning into a really beautiful area...

As we came down, we noticed the terrain ahead starting to change again. It was more high desert sort of stuff again and the rocks were beginning to change in structure and starting to look a bit more reddish. The temps also started to climb again too!

Before picking up the interstate and leaving CO, we drove through a small farming town. We couldn't quite figure it out, but I did see a woman who was dressed like the Amish I'd seen in Pennsylvania Dutch country. I'd later read that the population of Amish is growing in CO, so maybe that's it...or some of it...since some homes were modest, while others were downright spectacular.