Stamps Like Champs

The WiFi at our hotel in Estes Park was really slow, so I didn't even bother to try blogging. Now I need to catch you all up on the last few days.

We left Manitou Springs Tuesday morning and went into Denver. There, we went to the Molly Brown House and took a tour. The house was gorgeous and the self-guided tour was really good. Molly was such an interesting person!

After the Molly Brown House, we walked over to the state capitol building so Steve's parents could explore. T.R. will be happy to know that Steve's parents have stopped at several capitols on their way to Colorado and plan to stop at more. We went in the building, but, sorry T.R. - we didn't get the stamp or the passport. Steve and I don't need more things to add to our trips between parks, breweries, and www.atlasobscura.com. :-)

We continued our trek to Estes Park, and stopped at Buffalo Bill's gravesite. He's buried on the top of a mountain with a gorgeous view of Golden, CO (and the Coors building). We had a gorgeous drive through a National Forest to get to the Carousel of Happiness in Nederland, CO. All the animals on the carousel are hand-carved by a Vietnam War veteran. He wanted to build the carousel in memory of two of his fellow marines who were killed in combat. The twirling girl at the top of the carousel is based on a real girl, who is now 26 years old and comes to visit every year. We all got on the carousel for a ride and I'm pretty sure we were all grinning from ear to ear. There was just something so fun and nostalgic about riding the carousel! Steve's parents continued on to the hotel, but we stopped at Busey Brewery after our carousel ride and had some delicious beers!

After dinner, the four of us ventured into Rocky Mountain National Park to get a lay of the land before we hiked there the next day. On the way out of the park, we got up close and personal (from a safe distance) to some bull elk!

Molly Brown's House

Gorgeous stained glass in Molly Brown's house

Denver Capitol Building

Proof for T.R. that we went inside :-)

Buffalo Bill's Grave

The pretty mountain view from Buffalo Bill's grave

The view of the Coors building (the largest building in Golden, CO)

The Carousel of Happiness

Ready to go!

The Twirling Girl

Steve's parents ready to go!

Beer in small glasses

The view from our room in Estes Park

Selfie on the bridge (the same bridge in the previous picture)

Elk!!

They were so big!

The next morning, we woke up real early to get some hiking done in Rocky Mountain National Park. We had previously purchased the timed-entry permit that let us into the park (Bear Lake area) between 5:00- 7:00 am and Steve's parents thought we were nuts to want to get into a park that early, but we all saw how quickly the crowd came in, so we were pretty happy with hitting the trail by 6:00 am! We did the 1/2 mile loop around Bear Lake. Then we hiked to Nymph Lake and continued that trail to Dream Lake. All of these were gorgeous mountain lakes and I could have sat there all day staring at them.

The next hike we did was to Bierstadt Lake and that lake is so lucky it is pretty because the trail there was definitely trying to kill me. If you remember from previous blogs, or you just know me, you know I am terribly clumsy. Every single rock and tree root on this trail was out to get me and my hips are certainly feeling it today! We hiked the 2 miles to the lake and realized it was only another mile to the shuttle stop that could take us back to the car, parked at Bear Lake. We all voted that shorter sounded better. But we were wrong. It was very steep switchbacks on the side of a mountain with a perfect view of the road thousands of feet below you. I had visions of tripping over formerly mentioned rocks and tree roots sending me to my death and therefore had a fear-of-heights-induced panic attack. Thankfully Steve kept me calm and upright the whole way down. I did it...and I never need to again.

We ended the day with a really fun tour of the Stanley Hotel. This hotel is what inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. The hotel history was really interesting - the Stanley brothers built it after one of them had a full recovery from a terminal diagnosis of tuberculosis. They never turned a profit, and all the owners after them up until the current one, never turned a profit either. The Stanley brothers just built it to hang out with their rich friends.

In 1974, Stephen King had already published Carrie and he was working on another manuscript, but got writer's block (sound familiar??). His wife suggested they go to Grand Lake, CO to relax and try to get him out of the creative block. Unfortunately, the only way they could get to Grand Lake was via Trail Ridge Road, which closes from time to time due to bad weather, which was the case when King was passing through. They drove through Estes Park, and King saw The Stanley Hotel from the road. At the time, it wasn't turning a profit, so it was in pretty drab condition and the paint was chipping off the building. Initially, they were not going to let King and his wife stay there because the night before was the last day they held guests for the season. Eventually, the weather was getting bad enough that the Stanley Hotel employees agreed to let him stay the night. He and his wife were the only two who ate in the MacGregor Room, and King was said to have described the room as "creepy." After dinner, his wife was tired and went to bed. They stayed in Room 217, which was a huge suite that no one could afford to stay in, so it was the only room with clean sheets. His wife went to bed, Stephen went exploring through the hotel.

His last stop was in the bar where he gave the bartender a $20 bill and asked what it would get him. Since the hotel was seasonal and they were no longer expecting guests, they had closed the books and the bartender was not going to redo the information for $20. So he pulled out his personal bottle of scotch and shared a drink with Mr. King. It came out in conversation that he had just written Carrie and was working on another horror novel. The bartender started to tell him about some of the creepy happenings at the hotel, and then asked which room he was staying in. King told him, and that's when the bartender told him about the worst accident the hotel has ever had.

In 1911, the hotel did have electricity, but they also had gas lamps throughout. One night there was a storm that caused the hotel to lose electricity, so the staff ushered the guests to the concert hall for entertainment while more staff lit the gas lamps inside the hotel. This was back in the day where gas was not scented and therefore you did not know it was leaking. The staff member who was in charge of Room 217 had her lit candle and walked into the room where gas had been leaking. It caused an explosion and part of the building was lost due to fire. Miraculously, the staff member, Ms. Wilson made a full recovery. She continued to work for the hotel, where her only job was to service Room 217. She died of natural causes in her old age. However, she haunts the place. She arrived to work, clocked in, and spoke to employees the day after she died. You read that right...the day after. The coroner confirmed she died the night before, but employees confirmed they spoke to her. Since her death, guests have called the front desk really upset that they had the Do Not Disturb sign on their door but the staff had unpacked all their things and neatly put them away. Or, unmarried couples who stay there complain that the bed was really uncomfortable and felt like someone was sleeping in between them. Other oddities have been reported as well.

Now back to the Stephen King story. As our tour guide, Nick, explained, alcohol and altitude can do funny things. After swapping ghost stories with the bartender, King went to bed. He wakes up a few hours hearing his son screaming for him...his son was back in Boulder and not with them. In a panic, he opens the door of his room and sees his son in the hallway being wrapped up by one of the fire hoses that were in the hallways of the hotel. King was so paralyzed with fear and watched the hose suffocate his son. He finally came to, but was so shaken up by the nightmare. He had his entire outline for The Shining laid out that night. The Shining was published 3 years later.

Selfie at Bear Lake

Bear Lake

Nymph Lake

The four of us at Nymph Lake

Hiking scenery

Dream Lake

Nymph Lake (on the way back from Dream Lake)

Bierstadt Lake

Hiking Scenery

The Stanley Hotel

The Maze - they built this in 2015, specifically because everyone on tours asked where it was.

The concert hall

One of the original Tiffany lamps that were in here. All the others were sold off.

Room 217's balcony

The barback where Stephen King shared a drink with the bartender

Room 217

Cascades (inside the Stanley Hotel) has the largest whiskey collection in Colorado, and the third largest in the country!

Goodness this is a long blog - sorry about that! I just thought the Stanley tour was so interesting! Anyway, onto today. Basically all we did today was drive. We drove Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, which is the tallest highway in the United States. The weather was calling for rain and thunderstorms, and snow in the higher altitudes, so we weren't sure we'd be able to do much of the drive at all. Instead, the weather completely lied to us and we had a gorgeous sunny day! This was a stunning drive and so much prettier than when we did it in rain back in 2012!

We ended the day in Buena Vista with beer in small glasses at Eddyline Brewing. The beers and food were really good!