Colorado Rocky Mountain (Oysters) High

I now understand what John Denver meant by “Colorado Rocky Mountain High.” He meant that knocking back four or five beers at 7,200 feet in altitude is like drinking a 12-pack at sea level. I also now understand what Tiffany Johnson (aka Psychic Tiff) means by “Rocky Mountain Oysters.” After sharing a basket of the deep-fried delicacy with Ms. Tiff, I learned that these things just ain’t seafood. Luckily no one will ever know about this little faux pas… unless of course Jason Hawes tells anyone… or shares the video he took of us eating said “oysters.”

This past week the haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, was the scene of the Darkness Event paranormal conference. I was fortunate to speak at the event on haunts, history, and spirit communication. The hotel was packed with paranormal fans, researchers, and people who came to soak in the majestic mountains all around us.

I had the chance to speak with many of the conference goers and met a lot of good folk. Events like these are so important because we get to network with other people who are also asking big questions, plus we get to stand in a room where we’re almost (probably almost) certain we’re not the weirdest person in the building.

For four days we investigated the hotel that inspired Stephen King to pen The Shining, we (and by “we,” I mean “me”) realized that this was also the hotel where they filmed scenes from Dumb and Dumber, and we realized that the “Redrum,” drinks that were so popular at the bar can really knock you for a loop.

I also had the opportunity to take a quick tour of Rocky Mountain National Park just a few miles away from the hotel. Thanks to Ed Laughlin of Ghosts of Georgia Paranormal Investigations, and our Crypto tour guide, Loren Coleman, we drove through the park and spotted bigfoot, deer, crows, bigfoot, elk, big-horned sheep, and bigfoot… just kidding, we didn’t see any crows.

Thank you to Loren Coleman for correcting the previous paragraph to read:

Thanks to Ed Laughlin of Ghosts of Georgia Paranormal Investigations, and our Cryptozoo tour guide, Loren Coleman, we drove through the park and spotted Bigfoot (Anthropoidipes ameriborealis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), raven (Corvus corax), black-billed magpie (Pica pica), Bigfoot (Paranthropus eldurrelli), elk (Cervus canadensis), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), and Bigfoot (Gigantopithecus canadensis)… just kidding, we didn’t see any magpies.

Thanks to Darkness Dave Schrader for having me out, and thanks to the other speakers who not only gave great lectures, but were a lot of fun to hang out with: Loren Coleman, Patrick Burns, Grant Wilson, Jason Hawes, Father Andrew Calder, Chris Fleming, and Bill Chappell.