On a limb with Claudia

Created by the incomparable Harlekwin

Thursday Thirteen # 17 – Trip to the Haunted Hotel.

This Thursday Thirteen is a little story about my weekend in Glenwood Springs at the Haunted Hotel.

1. How it all started:

My friend and her husband take child-free trips every quarter. They invited us to join them in Glenwood Springs.

“But that hotel is haunted,” I said.

“Oh God,” my friend replied. “Can you just deal with it?”

“Um, I guess so. I mean they take dogs so Rose can go.”

“Then it’s settled,” she said.

2. One week prior to our trip, my phone rings and it’s the Hotel.

“We need your confirmation today for your reservation next week,” a slurring voice said.

“For next week? Really? Why?” I asked.

“We’ve had a large number of cancellations due to the excess snow. We are ending our normal 48 hour policy. You have to tell me TODAY if you are going next week.”

“Uh, Ok.” (I can be so very articulate.)

I called around to my husband and my friend. We don’t believe that the hotel had cancellations due to the snow. In fact, most hotels were overbooked. We decide that we were going. Period. We were going to go to the Haunted Hotel.

3. Confirming the reservation:

I called the hotel to confirm our reservation the day before we are to check in. The man I spoke to no longer works there. Turns out he was drinking on the job. Who knew?

“Well at least we don’t have to deal with that jerk,” my friend said.

“I think the ghosts got to him,” I said.

“Probably.” I can almost hear her eyes rolling in her head. “See you tomorrow.”

4. Saturday morning, my friend and her husband cancel.

We on our way to Haunted Hotel… alone.

5. Checking in at the Haunted Hotel.

As I walked through the hotel, I could feel the ghosts come to check to see who was there. I’ve never had this experience. These ghosts were sophisticated, awake and intelligent. They just came to say ‘Hello’.

The lobby was grand, large with a huge gas fireplace and a person playing the piano. Of course, the apparitions hang around the room – a brown haired man with a large mustache, red vest, white shirt, dark pants. He is smoking; A girl wearing a dark grey dress with a white puffy hat; a couple of kids.

As I approach the front desk, the new front desk manager (red-haired cow) is bitching at the ex-Marine clerk. As I approach, she pierces her lips and says, “I just want to make sure we have your schedule correct.”

I raised my eyebrow at the male ghost who was making fun of the red-haired cow. The ex-Marine clerk caught the look and stepped back from the red-haired cow. After pretending to listen to hearing a raft of crap from the red-haired cow about the dog, I checked in.

6. You’re in room 106.

“How was it?” D asked.

“Odd, the ghosts just came for a look see.”

We walk past room 105. The door is open and someone is frantically cleaning something. The room is filled with storage files and other junk. The wall paper is peeling from the walls and there are gaping holes in the plaster. When the person in the room hears us in the hall, she closes the door.

“Holy crap, what was that?” D asked.

“Nothing good,” I said closing our door.

7. Florence:

“That’s what they say about me now – lover’s triangle. Like it was MY fault that some patient falls for me. Why do they believe him? He’s alive. And me?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I was no easy woman.”

(While the hotel served as a hospital, a former chambermaid named Florence was murdered when she became part of a lover’s triangle. A disheartened patient hurled a heavy white pitcher at her in a jealous fit over a handsome miner from Aspen. The room – yes room 105 – has so much paranormal activity that it’s currently used for storage.)

8. Why do you stay here? Why not move on?

I asked.

“We live here,” the man with the mustache said. “Flo, me, the kids, the miner and the others. This is our home.”

“I can send you on,” I said. All right, it’s a little bit of a threat – kind of a “don’t mess with me”.

“Don’t be rude. We are happy here.”

9. A meeting of the minds.

“Do you care about the ghosts?” I asked.

“Not really. Will they bother us?” D asked.

“They say they won’t.”

“I don’t care if they are here,” he said.

10. Rose (the dog) needs to go out.

After snapping at the air, Rose wanted to go outside. It was just after 1 AM. Fumbling in the dark, I got dressed, found her leash (not wanting a run in with the red-haired cow), and we entered the night.

The hall was buzzing, almost crackling with energy. We scooted out a side door and begin the normal “dog’s-nose-to-the-ground” run around. She peed in the snow. After running from here to there with her nose to the ground, she took off toward an outdoor patio. Her tail wagged full force and she began the Vizsla wiggle. She ran up to a metal chair as if she was greeting an old friend.

Problem?

No one was sitting in the chair. I had a sense of a person but he (yes he) said nothing and didn’t materialize. Rose greeted someone then trots back to the room.

(According to the experts, the spectral activity in our area peaks around 1 AM and continues from 2 – 4 AM. )

11. A day out:

We spent all day Sunday cross country skiing. After all of our “experiences”, we planned to leave early Monday morning.

12. Ants:

“What are you doing?” I asked D.

“I’m watching the ants. They’ve been moving this piece of rice for the last two days. Look, they are almost out of the bathroom.”

I don’t really understand it, but when there’s a lot of ghosty activity, there are also a lot of black ants. Our bedroom was rife with black ants.

13. A cool ghost story:

“In 1982, the hotel was being renovated and new wallpaper was being applied to the walls of room 551. The next morning, all of the wallpaper that had been applied was rolled neatly on the floor. The wallpaper was replaced, but again found on the floor in the morning. After two or three attempts, several wallpaper samples were placed on the bed in 551. The next morning, all but one of the samples was on the floor. The sample that was left on the bed was applied to the walls and remains there today.” From Haunted Hotel

Don’t worry – we made it back in one piece with a new rule – no more Haunted Hotel – never again!!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Related posts:

1. Trip to Dinosaur National Monument. No dino's but spectacular, humbling views. Last weekend, we had the luxury of going to Dinosaur...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.