Summer of Adventure: Grand Valley, Colorado

This spring and summer I'm advocating adventuring for my readers, whether it's in a great research book, panning for gold, sleeping in a haunted inn, or being one with nature. Today, I'm focusing on Grand Valley, Colorado.

Adventure Sunday: Ferris Bueller It!

Just one day. Just one freaking day!

We get the weekend off and what do we do? Clean the house, get the groceries, wash the laundry, sleep, watching National Geographic because we're too out of it to change the channel when a show about sloths comes on.

What about that magical day in the middle of a hard week? You know the one--the one you could potentially take off, but don't. Call in on a Wednesday and they know you're sick. Call in on a Friday and they know you're partying. Call work. Take that sick day.

Now, you've been given one day to prowl the world while others work. What do you do with it? What does your inner Ferris Bueller do?

Go to a movie and sit in the middle of an empty theater and kick your feet up because you can?

Sit at an outdoor patio restaurant and watch the work-a-day people rush by?

How about going into an import exotic food store and smell all the teas and taste all the samplers?

Maybe you would go to the library, pick out a stack of books, kick back and read in blissful silence?

It might be the ideal day for a museum when they're empty and quiet and cool.

Wander the mall window shopping, trying on things you would never ever normally wear. Have lunch in the food court while it's empty.

And, if you're really feeling it, get into a convertible and drive downtown. Go to a restaurant in the tallest building. See a baseball game. Get caught up in a parade and sneak back home before anyone knows you took the day off.



Report back to me. I want to know what you do when you take a Ferris day off. I'm doing it next week. I will report back, I promise! I will even get video. Julie and I are going to hit the road.

Adventure Sunday: Meteorite Hunting

A meteorite is a piece of iron, stone, or stony-iron composite that has fallen to Earth from outer space. Most meteorites originated within the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, and were once part of a planet or large asteroid. A few meteorites come from the Moon and Mars, and a few others may possibly be fragments of cometary material.

Meteorites are attracted to magnets. Meteorites contain a great deal of extraterrestrial iron, even the ones that look like terrestrial rocks (stony meteorites). Just like a common nail or ball bearing, they will easily stick to a magnet, but they are not magnetic. Test your find with a good hardware store magnet, or a rare earth magnet. Very few are not attracted to magnets.

Meteorites are heavy. Most meteorites are much denser than ordinary Earth rocks. The thing most people say when they hold a meteorite for the first time is, "Wow! It's so heavy!" The unusual weight is due to high iron content.

How and where?

From this site's advice:
# "Strewn Fields" This is the footprint of an impact. Several worldwide strewn fields are shown in the Norton book, some in the U.S. These have been searched by others, but there is undoubtedly material that has not yet been found.
# Deserts--The desert is devoid of ground-covering plant life, and infrequent rain. It is a good region for hunters, as meteorites will not weather and erode as fast, and are right on the surface. Sand dunes are especially good.
# Craters Again, known craters are shown in Norton's book. Be careful here-Meteor Crater in Arizona, once the source of thousands of specimens, is now closed to meteorite hunters. You can be arrested and fined. You should always check if the area is on private property, and get permission before entering. This is especially true overseas.

Use a metal detector or use a strong magnet to test the rock.

Recently fallen meteorites will exhibit fusion crust. This is a thin black rind, sometimes shiny, sometimes matte black, which is acquired during burning in the atmosphere. A freshly fallen stone meteorite will look much like a charcoal briquette.

To learn more about their worth, check here.

I am planning to do some meteorite hunting and some gold panning this year when the weather is better (which for us isn't until late October), but you can expect me to share my finds and adventures, as always and I hope you share yours!

Adventure Sunday: Haunted Tours

I don't know about y'all, but I am soooo getting Halloween fever. I do this every June when we reach peak temperatures. I want to close the blinds, turn up the air-conditioning and watch horror movies and get all giddy thinking of candied apples, corn mazes, pumpkin carving and all things Halloween. With most of the country have sultry temperatures in the daytime, the idea of a nighttime ghost tour sounds pretty nice. Take advantage of the great nights and maybe even book a room downtown (haunted hotel preferably) and sign on for the ghost tour. Here's just some you can find around the country:

Philadelphia A candlelight nighttime walking tour including alleys, parks, and cemeteries.

Detroit A 3-hour tour with transport and ghost hunting tools in the metro area.

Boston This one is led by costumed actors in creepy garb giving a very moody tour.

Baltimore Tours include the waterfront maritime area and the historic cultural area.

Atlanta they offer a walking tour and a tour using a segway--way strange and cool.

New Orleans Cemeteries, voodoo, history--goosebumps!

Houston has a wide variety of places including abandoned cemeteries.

Los Angeles Dearly Departed tours of the underbelly of Hollywood deaths.

Portland OR A walking tour.

Green Bay: Get to go into haunted buildings.

Just punch in your city's name and haunted tours in Google and see what you come up with. Nowadays, there are plenty of ghost tours everywhere. It's also a romantic thing to take a date on because it's spooky, atmospheric, lots of walking in the dark, hand-holding and history.

Adventure Sunday: Plan for October!

Why the heck in June am I talking about October? You have four months to do some planning.

October is a month that needs to not just be glided through but navigated. There is so much to do in this glorious autumn month with better weather, amazing fresh foods, warm crackling fires, countryside ablaze in color, Halloween haunted attractions, apple bobbing, pumpkin carving, corn mazes, chili cookoffs, and Octoberfest.

Jeez, do I need to sell the month to you anymore than that???

Haunted B&Bs for a weekend getaway? A cabin in Vermont for the fall colors? A ghost tour in Charleston? Well, you better book it now!

As we get closer to Halloween, begin to think of what activities you can do to really amp up your October. Don't just walk the color changing woods or burn a fire in the fireplace and say you got the season in our pocket. You don't. You need to experience as much as possible. Don't forget your senses, so include some of these on your Halloween to-do list:

Carving pumpkins (not just a cheesy face--get serious templates for creepy ones)
Heated aromatic oils in pumpkin or cinnamon scents
Pressing autumn leaves in wax paper
Keeping a journal
Making candied or caramel apples
A pot of chili with cheese and cornbread
An Octoberfest
A haunted attraction
A pumpkin patch
A corn maze
Photographing changing colors
Going to a small town historic inn
Farmer's market on a chilly morning
Making arrangements with dried plants and gourds
Going on a ghost tour
Bonfire with ghost stories
Wine tasting at a vineyard
Tailgating

If you have any other great ideas, please contribute! We all need a good to-do list for the most glorious month of the entire year!

Adventure Sunday: Calendar of Events!

**I deleted my "Sharon Day" writer's blog. I realized that running 4 blogs while trying to work full time and edit a novel (Josiah: Undead Cowboy)and ghost hunt was perhaps a bit ambitious. I hope to do new things with GHT including video vlogging and lots of informative posts with stuff that will blow your mind. Never fear, however, the content from the writer's blog, such as what I'm doing on all my writing endeavors will be on GHT, as well as the occasional short story. I wouldn't leave you high and dry. In fact, I'm hoping to enhance your experience here. I'm hardly a slacker, just an adaptable gal.**

No whining that there is nothing to do, nowhere to go, and your town is a total bore. Below are links to bigger cities, but you can always go onto google and search for your city's calendar of events.

Don't pick something you would normally go to. If you hate museums, go see dinosaurs. If you are not an outdoorsy person, go to a farmer's market. Make yourself and your loved ones/family try something new. You never have as much fun and adventure as when you find yourself caught up in street musicians and people dancing with kids on their shoulders or tasting chili's in a contest when you never thought you liked chili before.

Detroit
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
Boston
New York
Baltimore
Cleveland
Washington, D.C.
Charleston
Atlanta
Miami
Mobile
New Orleans
Dallas
Austin
Kansas City
Madison
Chicago
Boise
Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Los Angeles
San Diego
Phoenix
Albuquerque

Adventure Sunday: Storm Chasing & Geocaching

(Eric fromBubba's place thanks for this pic, we don't get snow in Phoenix)


(a coming haboob--duststorm)


(atomic sky)

When asking yourself what kinds of adventures you can partake of, I have a lot of things the regular person who is not a Josh Gates can do to liven up an otherwise routine life. It's also free or very low cost. We've talked in the past about exploring cemeteries and watching documentaries, photographing abandoned sites and doing your own ghost hunting.

Today, let's talk about a couple of interesting things that you might be equipped for right now if you own a cell phone or GPS and a camera; geocaching and storm chasing.

You don't need to live in Tornado Alley to appreciate chasing a storm. Getting some rain coming your way? Get in your car, go to a high place and get a good view of its arrival. How about icicles hanging from an eve? Snowflakes silently dropping against a floodlight? A tree bending in the wind? Take photos of people's reactions to the weather; children jumping in a puddle, ducking into doorways from the rain, hair blowing wildly...

Here, when it's monsoon season, the storms are brutally intense and since there are no hills or trees to block the views, you can get into your car and chase down the action to film it. A coming haboob like the one above is a dense orange opaque cloud that you can see engulfing things for miles before it hits you and it only takes minutes to knock you over where you stand.


What is geocaching?

(Wikipedia) Geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (tupperware or similar) or ammo boxes can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value. Geocaching is often described as a "game of high-tech hide and seek.

You want to grab your GPS and go looking for these treasures? Go onto this site where people post the ones they've hidden and the coordinates. You can also leave caches and post them. If you have a techno kid who isn't into adventure, this will get him into it. If you are a techno kid, this might be the way you can get excited about an adventure.

Now, I've given you two good springtime adventures, add to that reading about new subjects, watching documentaries, exploring cemeteries and photographing abandoned sites and you're getting your adventures geared up for the warmer weather explorations to come!

Please report back if you take any of these adventures. I want to hear all about it and so does everyone else with envy!

Check what's happening at the other sites:
Hug-a-Blogger (bloggers socializing site)
Sharon Day (author's site)

Adventure Sunday: First, Don't Grow Up! Next, Visit Your Local Cemetery!

(At a desert dump, I found some nipples. Most folks walk past them. Not me, I think, "Hey nipple shot!")

I remember the day I packed away my Barbie dolls when I was turning 13. I looked at them and sighed. It was sad. No more make-believe. No more trying out real life scenarios in the safety of a Barbie townhouse. Now I had to live in the “real world.”

Well, one thing I've found about ghost hunting and exploring the world of the paranormal is that there is no need to grow up. As adults, we have a lot of responsibilities. Really too many, but we do miss those days when we had summer off and our biggest concern was whether we'd hear the ice cream man when he cruised too fast by our houses.

The last frontier for those of us who want to stay young for life is to explore. To ask questions. To seek knowledge. To go on those adventures I'm always pushing on my Adventure Sunday posts. Ask my dear friend Julie and she will tell you that I am a big excited kid. I want to pull the car over to take a picture of a hilarious roadside sign that says “Caution: Slow Children” and I want to stop at every abandoned building to poke around in it and take photos. I want to see how far my voice carries on a scenic overpass. I want to buckle up Dale the Doll in the back seat to get some hilarious pictures of him doing things that Dale would be seriously embarrassed to pose with.

How can we not grow up? Be spontaneous. Pack a picnic. Blindfold your significant other. Take a road trip. Turn down any roads and see what you find. Go to the outskirts of town and explore the rural areas. Go take pictures next to a famous haunted railroad track. Go on a ghost tour and ask questions. Sit in your backyard with a camera on a clear night and look for UFOs.

You wonder why people are into the paranormal? Most of us have had the unexplained happen to us and want to know more, but the unifying factor is that we are inquisitive, don't always trust the grown-ups answers to things and sometimes have to get into the thick of it to understand it.

If you continue to explore the world of the paranormal and unexplained, the world of nature, the world of knowledge, you will always be young in body, mind and soul.

Shows I recommend to make you remain a curious kid:
“Destination Truth” (Syfy)
“Ancient Aliens” (History Channel)
“Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files” (Syfy)
“Ghost Hunters” (Syfy)
“Brad Meltzer's Decoded” (History Channel)
"Beast Hunter" (National Geographic)

Here's the gadget for the week; a clip-on watch/LED light/Compass all in one, $29.95 with free shipping. Okay, I'm part McGuyver, what do you expect from me?

Now, I suggest as it's thawing out, you take a stroll at some of the scenic cemeteries. It's not hard to find historic cemeteries in your area, just Google them. Here's some in different parts of the country that are very picturesque. One of the best ways to deal with concern about death is to spend some time walking around one of these gorgeous memorial parks. The headstones have intriguing epitaphs and the statues are often gorgeous and sad. Bring a camera! Bring a snack. Bring the whole family. Try your hand and capturing the mood, whether it's the dead trees above a headstone, taken from down below lying on the ground with the headstone reaching up to the trees and gray sky, or a view looking up a lichen-covered statue. Some of the best pictures you'll take are in cemeteries, some of the best hikes there, as well. There is something soul satisfying about the peaceful retreat and the realization we all are more than the headstones we leave behind. Get a new perspective, have a great hike, take amazing pictures and venture into your local cemetery. Bring some flowers, leave one each baby's grave. Whisper the names of people who died so long ago, no one visits them or says their name any longer. Let me know how your retreat goes. Here's just some cities around the US that have gorgeous and atmospheric cemeteries:


Detroit MI
(above) Woodlawn Cemetery, on Woodward between 7 and 8 mile, opened in 1896. Since then, according to cemetery estimates, more than 71,000 have been interred there. When Mr. Burton wrote his history of the City, Woodlawn was relatively new, and interred, he estimated, about 6,000.


Pittsburgh, PA
(above) Allegheny Cemetery
Located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Allegheny Cemetery is one of Pittsburgh's largest, oldest and most picturesque cemeteries. More than 125,000 dead are interred on the grounds of the 300 acre rural garden cemetery.


Baltimore, MD
(above) Green Mount Cemetery. Gorgeous, very historic, amazing cemetery. 1501 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD 21202


Charleston, SC
(above) Magnolia Cemetery
70 Cunningham Ave
Historic and beautiful


Birmingham, AL
(above) Oakhill Cemetery
1120 N. 19th St
Historic


Houston, TX
(above) Glenwood Cemetery
The Glenwood Cemetery is located at 2525 Washington Avenue in Houston, Texas. It was the first cemetery in Houston to be professionally designed and opened in 1871. The cemetery is situated between Washington Avenue on the North side and Memorial Drive on the South side, the latter overlooking Buffalo Bayou.


San Diego, CA
(above) Since 1869. Mount Hope Cemetery is conveniently located near downtown at 3751 Market Street, San Diego CA 92102.



(above) Boise, ID
Dry Creek Cemetery
Established in 1865, is located northwest of Boise, Idaho, in a serene setting along the Boise Foothills. On a clear day one can see the State Capitol and the majority of the Boise Valley, a beautiful panoramic view.
Dry Creek Cemetery became a taxing district in 1936.

Adventure Sunday: Getting into Adventure Shape

Since the weather is still not that great for many of you to get your adventure on outdoors, I'm going to help you get ready for these future adventures and adventurous living by working on what we can now. Last week, we dealt with documentaries and how they stimulate your mind and make you start asking questions. Today, I want to discuss getting your body in the right form to do whatever you can imagine when you are planning these adventure jaunts.

As a ghost hunter, one thing I run into in the industry is a lot of people who are weekend hunters who have trouble keeping up with the simplest of ventures. A hike up a hillside to a building, climbing stairs, sitting on floors and being able to get up from the sitting position on the floor are all difficult things for people who are not in the shape to do it, i.e. huge bellies and no daily exercise. I sometimes worry that we might be contributing to the ghost population by having these ill-prepared people wheezing their way through such locations.

Something happens when you develop a lot of belly fat. Insulin resistance. This means that the more fat in your belly, the less your body is able to utilize sugar for important tasks like muscle use and mind use. You feel weary and tired. You eat sugar to perk you up and guess what happens? When your blood sugar spikes, it later drops and then you feel voraciously hungry and jittery and uncomfortable and so you eat more simple carbs and guess what? You get more belly fat. Then, you need more sugar. Vicious circle.

I made a choice to give myself a go at a plant-based vegan diet. I figured I would put up a list of things about my health I'd like to see change, everything from sleeping better to clearer skin to more stamina and being able to wear a bikini again. I put this list on the fridge. I told myself--one week! I will give it one week! My diet included things like:

oatmeal with nuts and blueberries and a little drizzle of maple syrup.

Salad made with a ready made salad mix and added mushrooms and chickpeas and grated carrots with a Paul Newman dressing.

A homemade bean burrito with a whole wheat tortilla, some canned diced green chilies and lots of diced tomatoes and lettuce and salsa on top.

Brown rice and loads of frozen and fresh veggies stir fried with General Tso sauce.

Sweet potato fries cooked in the oven to crispy and then spread vegetarian chili with beans over it and sprinkled with some soy cheese.

Snacks and dessert? Trail mix with nuts and dried fruits, bananas with almond butter spread on them, berries and cantaloupe dipped into melted peanut butter and Nutella mixed, hot cocoa made with my own rich cocoa mix with spices and soy milk.

I advise a half hour of walking a day to get you into hiking shape, but for me and my goal (the bikini) I chose over an hour of exercise a day. I never ever felt hungry. I've heard people say that about diets and laughed, but the truth is, when you don't start your day with sugar and get on that rollercoaster, you lose that craving and hunger feeling. No sugar drops. No sugar highs. Just a feeling of total satisfaction.

Sometimes, I felt guilty when I looked at my huge salad. Then, I reminded myself how I prepared it. I measured 1 tablespoon of dressing into a large mixing bowl, poured the salad in and tossed it around. It was drenched but only 1 tablespoon of dressing! That's all you need. So, I got over my guilt at eating so much and the list on the fridge within days was whittling away. I was checking off tons of improvements in everything and especially the cravings. I used to be caught on a sugar ride and this diet immediately stopped that wild ride.

One week--over 4 pounds of weight off and feeling freaking amazing.

My goal and your goal too should be to have those adventures now when we can. We have no guarantee our old age will be healthy enough to hike and explore and ride rapids or go camping. Do it now and be prepared. Think of yourself as in training to go exploring. If you want to wander cemeteries, woodland paths, abandoned sites and row a rowboat, climb a lighthouse's stairs or take a walking ghost tour, do so when your body is already ready to walking daily long distances. You don't want to be the weekend explorer who has to stop and rest and be limited by your body. Go as far as your mind will let you go, over that next hill, that next one and the next one because your curiosity cannot not extend further than your body's limitations.

And me? I ordered this bikini. I can't think of a better motivation.

Adventure Sunday: Documentaries!

It's Adventure Sunday. I plan to stir up your lives and make you think about living and being adventurous. Even if you can't go Josh Gates style to Indonesia (and who the fuck wants to take a 15-hour flight?), I plan to get you going with adventures. First, I did how to dress for adventure.

Since the weather is not accommodating for most folks now, we're going to focus on adventures from with-in and then as the weather gets better, with-out. Today, we begin your life as an adventurer by learning, asking questions, seeking truths. Documentaries are the perfect place to start and I have a place online where you can pull up any that strike your fancy.

I found an awesome site called Top Documentary Films and sat back, delighted to find in their "documentaries list" that they had just about everything I could think of. Here's a sample of the types I pulled aside and watched.

5th Dimension Ghosts
Ghosts of the Underground
Crystal Skull Legend
Dan Akroyd Unplugged on UFOs
Ancient Mysteries Bigfoot

I do admit to a certain obsession about documentaries. A dream day off includes rain falling outside, a steaming cup of my homemade hot cocoa and a marathon of documentaries. I love the music, the narrator, the creepiness, the experts, the whole thing. I want to go into it with questions and come out of it with even more!

The thing I am discouraged about is that in recent years documentaries have changed. I love Michael Moore and I know his heart is in the right place, but I'd honestly rather have him hounding Capital Hill than making documentaries. I don't want someone going in and saying this is a documentary when they have an agenda. I want lots of information, spread out in a way that says, "we know you are intelligent and will gather your own conclusions, we will not spoonfeed you our point of view."

Consider this the prep for the Sunday Adventure posts to come. I am going to teach you more about how to bring adventure into your daily life and as the weather gets nicer here soon, I will give you unusual and often unknown places in your area to do a day hike to a ghost town or abandoned area or some famous movie location, weekend trips that include ghost-related stops on a road trip with a stay-over in a haunted locale.

My goal is to make us all shake up our lives, look for new experiences and bravely take that road you don't know and go forth with the curiosity and bravado of a child. As you can see above, I have my hat am ready to join you!

Adventure Sunday: Dressing For Adventure!

(Using a photographer's fanny pack for my ghost equipment, above. You can also consider a fisherman's vest. Heels are optional, but always look good.)

This is the beginning of my Adventure Sunday series. I will be giving you lots of exciting ideas for little do-able adventures to spice up your life. Today, I'm focusing on the fashion of adventures for men and women.

In my own style department, I am a strange eclectic mix of "The Mummy," Victorian era, safari and beach gal. Makes no sense, but I make it work. I don't like designer shit and I don't like what everyone else is wearing or how they're wearing it. I find obscure items and I'm a thrifty lady, so I find things that are well made, versatile and can be mixed and matched easily. I'm also practical about what I use because the weather here in the desert is hell on earth--literally.

So, I'm going to share unusual finds with you and how I use them. MEN-DO NOT LEAVE! I plan on telling you what really turns me on! (This hat below is the first one!)


My buddy, Vinnie, had this hat that whenever we went on adventures, I'd want to steal it from him. He was kind enough to tell me where he got it and I ordered one excitedly. Each one is made differently and with old Brazilian canvas tarp with some writing and lots of aging on it. They have lightweight wires in them so when you stuff it into a suitcase, it bounces right back. The more rain you wear it in, the better. It's light enough to not sweat to death in it and yet keeps the sun from ruining my skin and my red locks. I think it makes me look rather Josh Gates too which is pretty wicked. I can't wait to age this baby and see it get even better. Any man who wears this hat instantly looks dangerous and hot!

My most favorite places to shop??? Army surplus, Eddie Bauer, Old Navy and Etsy.


(This is actually one I use as my everyday purse, it fits alongside my body like it was shaped for it and the canvas strap keeps it from sliding off my sloping shoulders. It goes with everything and I'm a casual gal, so it's fantastic. As well, tons of spots to put stuff including a mesh backside so it can double as my ghost hunting bag for equipment. Armysurplusstore)


(I love these shorts, lightweight, comfy, lots of pockets. I have a bunch of well worn army store cargoes, but these ones from Old Navy are great in our hot hot weather here).


(Doesn't seem practical? I got this bustier tank but it's ideal for here in AZ. I can wear it under my safari vest from Old Navy and remain cool but still look like a gal.)

Okay, men, so let's talk about you, shall we?


(These paratrooper shorts from the armysurplusstore are hot! I love men in cargoes, but especially soft and worn ones--they look wonderful on men's butts!)


(Pocketwatch--mysterious, sexy, steampunk, intriguing. If I saw a guy pull out one of these babies, it would definitely make me want to know what makes him tick!)


(Men, henleys always always always look hot on you! Shove the sleeves up, leave a couple buttons open.

Men: Shop at Eddie Bauer, Old Navy and Army Surplus (no--not camouflage-that scares women away!) But, do think of the outdoorsy and deeper colors like browns/dark grays/black/olive/slate blue-gray.**

Ultimately, guys, every woman loves black tees and jeans!)


Men AND women: How about carrying your laptop in something other than that miserable black bag that it came with or the ones you find cheap in the store. This one is sexy and sharp and $35.95.

Hey, I said these were clothes for adventures, but I wear them every day because life is one big adventure. Don't miss next Sunday when I teach you how to make every day an adventure. As the weather gets a bit more spring-like, I will tell you about awesome unknown things you can do in your neck of the woods for a one day adventure and then some plans this summer for weekend adventures. Yes, the coming new season of "Destination Truth" has gotten me all excited to ask questions, seek answers and do it in wicked cool places!

Speaking of adventures, I'm taking one today with Julie from Above-The-Norm: Bizarre Arizona. Expect some videos coming up of our day of adventures.