June 2, 2010
I’m posting this a little out of my normal travel order because I want to get it down while it is fresh in my mind.
Yesterday started off with whirling near thud and went downhill from there. I was awakened with the feeling I was falling off the bed—a neat trick in a camper bed for certain. When my eyes flew open I realized I wasn’t falling but having a pretty good bout of vertigo. “Not today!” I moaned and closed my eyes with the hopes if I laid there for awhile the dizziness and accompanying nausea would go away.
We were suppose to move camp yesterday which meant there were a series of chores I needed to do, plus we would be traveling the twisting back roads from Branson, MO to Eureka Springs, AR and to be quite honest I have battled motion sickness all my life. I’ve not had any since we sold the last big van we had and moved to the dually truck. I am MOST thankful for that.
However, the dizziness I was already experiencing had me concerned enough that as we hit the road I had a plastic bag lined trash can between my feet in the front floor board. I am VERY happy to say I did not need it.
Gary and I figure I had a touch of some 24 hour bug because by evening I was recovering nicely. It’s what went on between the beginning of the day and the evening that made Murphy think he had us.
Gary did most of my chores to break camp while I clung to the sofa to overcome the dizziness and he drove gently as we traveled. Him watching the road closely, me with my eyes closed.
We listened to Dave Ramsey on the XM radio, first on channel 165 and then on channel 158 as we traveled. DR served as a great distraction for me as I listened to his 5 day a week broad cast.
About two hours into the trip I announced I needed a bathroom NOW! We were just outside of Berryville, AR at the time. Conveniently there was a large parking lot at a stockyard that Gary could easily get off the road in and I could run back to the camper quickly.
As we headed back out on the road from the pit stop I once again had my eyes closed and therefore did not see the large DEEP hole that was on the passenger side of the drive. Unfortunately neither did Gary and the thump that followed made both of us gasp.
Gary pulled back into the parking lot to examine the damage. One of the trailer tires was flat and the steps into the camper were a bit cockeyed—a whole lot cockeyed, as in unusable cockeyed.
So there we were in heat that registered as 104 degrees on our truck thermometer in a stockyard with a flat on a fifth wheel. Gary of course declined calling AAA—even though we have coverage for such service he says it takes them too long to get there. It’s an ongoing argument we have, but that’s neither here or there.
Instead he proceeded to prepare to change the flat the way our “angel” told us to many years ago. We don’t know the man’s name that showed us this trick, he appeared from nowhere one day as Gary struggled to get a flat fixed on our old fifth wheel in a parking lot near dark. He arrived without a vehicle or noise, he was just suddenly there and as soon as Gary got started on the suggested way to change the flat we both turned our back for a split second and he was gone, nowhere to be seen, and he made no sound as he left. Ever since that day over a dozen years ago we have referred to him as our angel. Because he certainly was a Godsend that day and several flats since then. RV tires are notorious for going flat because of the way they are made and the weight they carry.
For those of you that don’t know how a 30 ft fifth wheel tires are set up it’s a simple alignment of two tires on each side in or near the middle of the trailer. There is generally less than a foot between the front and the back tire. This sometimes makes changing a flat awkward. It is hard to get a jack on the framework just right without doing damage.
So here’s how we now lift the offending flat tire off the ground safely without using a jack. Anyone who camps a lot has leveling boards and/or Lynx blocks (imagine giant Legos, which is what we call the two sets we have) for setting their camper level in not so level campgrounds.
The angel suggested we create a ramp using those levelers to where we ran the good tire up the ramp just far enough the flat tire was safely lifted off the ground. Since the trailer is attached to the truck, which is then in park and with chocks behind the wheels there is no danger of the trailer rolling back down the ramp. It takes far less time to do this to change a flat than to dig out the jack, find the proper location to put it on, jack it up etc. It’s a lot easier too.
So Gary prepped the ramp and had me stay in the truck with the air running, something about I didn’t look good in the shade of green I was wearing on my skin at the time.
Only this time the ramp didn’t work because of the location of the now messed up steps. So As I dozed in the truck waiting on him to get the thing prepped he removed the steps and put them in the back of the truck. Then woke me from my upright slumber to back up the ramp. Once the tire was on the ramp it took him less than five minutes to change the flat.
Only by then I needed the facilities again. OOPS no steps to get into the trailer!!! So I’m standing there doing the pee-pee dance as my kids use to say and we are laughing at me trying to get up into a doorway that’s threshold is above my waist.
I am NO athlete, I am overweight, 5’1” on my tall days, 60 and have no real upper body strength. What I do have is a marvelous little collapsible folding step stool that we carry under the back seat of the truck so Gary got that, well that got me up about 8 inches, still not a doable situation. As we laughed harder Gary got the 4 X 4 boards we put under the front jack stands of the trailer and put them under the step stool.
I climbed up on this make-shift set of stairs and got one leg up in the trailer, but for the life of me could not get that other leg in. So now I’m hanging onto the door handle for dear life, one leg up in a trailer and the other one dangling in mid-air and it will NOT co-operate. I’m stuck!
I’ve now got the giggles pretty bad and Gary is laughing nearly as hard. He grabs the non-working leg and gives me a boost that nearly throws me headfirst into the recliner by the door.
Just as I finish the purpose of my visit I hear Gary inside the trailer and uttering one word “sh—“. I knew immediately what had happened.
“Did you knock the step stool over when you came in?” I innocently asked.
“Yes, we’re stuck, what are we going to do now?” he responded, as he laid down on his belly hoping to be able to reach the step stool, of course there was no way he could.
I went to the camper pantry and got a second folding stool out of it and handed it to him, saying “don’t drop this one too.” With a big grin on my face. He muttered something about me being a smarty pants.
He managed to get the step stool set on the two boards, but for some reason from the inside of the camper it looked a lot further down than it looked coming into the camper. We both mulled this over for a bit.
Gary is 62, and while he’s lost about 40 pounds this year he’s still overweight, so the idea of slipping and falling was not one we cared to entertain. Finally he sat down on his bottom and scooted out the door like a small child bumps down a flight of stairs. His legs were long enough he could get is feet squarely on the makeshift set-up and get out safely. He’s nearly 6’2”. This was not going to be as easy for me. Gary told me stay put while he reset the boards with both stools and created a small set of steps for me. WHEW! Made it out safely!
When we called Sean and told him about it later he said “you kids I can’t let you out alone any more.”
Once back on the road I said “That’s our one boo-boo with the camper for the year, we’ve got it over.” Gary said he hoped I was right. We generally have one incident each summer, so that is it I am certain. Fortunately this one isn’t going to be as costly as some of the others have been.
Once we finally chose a campsite and got set up at Parker Bottom Corps of Engineer campground on Beaver Lake in AR near Eureka Springs, we discussed going to purchase a 3 step-step stool to use until we could get new steps, or the steps repaired, because obviously we could not continue to get in and out of the camper in the afore mentioned manner.
In fact I told Gary once I got in for the night I was NOT getting back out until I absolutely had too. Which would create some problems with our four day stay scheduled for here as there are no sewer hook-ups at this campground and total use of the camper facilities will only make it three days. We had camped next to the campground facilities and planned on using them for most of our needs in order to make it the full four days.
Gary decided instead to see if he could fix the steps. Good old American ingenuity kicked in. Using leverage, a sledge hammer, and bolts and screws from the tool kit we carry the two of us worked the steps back from the trapezoid shape they were in to the rectangular box they should be.
It was one of those few times having a little extra weight on my body paid off. More than once Gary would use a lever while I applied my body weight to the opposite side of the steps. Quite frankly if you didn’t know they had been bent you couldn’t tell it now. They do need to be taken off and spray painted when we get home to keep them from rusting, but it was getting time to do that anyway.
Gary has suggested trying to beat out the bent rim for the tire too, because that is why we had a flat, but I worry it would be out of round and ruin tires, so we agreed to use the emergency trailer repair fund to purchase a new rim, and a tire if the tire is damaged instead.
We did all this labor in 90+ degree heat, so needless to say Gary really wanted a shower and headed for the shower house as soon as all the tools were put up. He said the perfect ending to his day was being in a shower house all alone in the middle of the piney woods after dark and the lights going out! He entertained thoughts of Freddie Krueger for a split second until he realized the lights and fan were on a motion detector and he'd been standing just letting the water flow over his aching body so long the lights thought he'd left. As soon as he moved around a bit the lights came back on. Still he was glad that our camp was just a few feet away as he headed back through the darkened campground to the camper, where I had securely locked myself in. He made the short walk a little quicker than normal I might add.
So despite the ups and downs of the day we settled into a nice campsite for a good night's sleep pretty early last night knowing we were okay.
This is where I have to sing the praises of Dave Ramsey, prior to going on his Baby Step program of the Total Money Make Over, we would not have had that emergency fund and we would have had to drive home on an iffy spare and then been stuck at home, unable to travel and make money, until we had enough cash to pay for the repair.
Following his budget suggestions we budget so much each month for this fund, we have a similar fund for household repairs, and truck repairs as well. These are over and above the emergency fund of baby step #1 in his plan.
This budgeting is what allowed us to be in a stockyard in Green Forest, AR laughing at a situation rather than sitting beside the road and crying.
It combined with using our brains, instead of our emotions is what allowed us to tell Murphy to take a hike. So as I set here safely in my camper, with newly mended steps I suggest everyone check out Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover book so you too can laugh at Murphy when he comes to call.
Jan who will be purchasing a new rim with CASH (no credit card stupid tax for me) this week while she’s still in AR
Showing posts with label AR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AR. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
HORSESHOE BEND RECREATION AREA/PEA RIDGE MILITARY PARK, AR
April 6-April 14, 2010
We are camped at the Horseshoe Bend Recreational area on Beaver Lake at Rogers/Monte Ne, AR. It is an absolutely lovely area. The woods are glorious with the bright colors of redbuds, dogwoods and other wild flowering trees. As you wind down the road to enter the recreation area the view is breath taking. You occasionally catch glimpses of the lake through the trees with its high cliffs, and heavily wooded islands in the middle.
As you come out to Rogers into Monte Ne you can kiss your Sprint cell phone service good-bye. It’s spotty at best as you ride the curves, climb the hills and drop into the valleys and climb back up again for about four beautiful miles. You pass large homes with glorious views of the lake and then suddenly you find yourself at the Corps of Engineers campground.
When we pulled up to the booth we were greeted by a pleasant couple. It turned out she once lived in the same small town we live in. It is a small world after all. They seemed surprised when we said we wanted to camp for a week. I guess because it was so early in the season.
The female booth attendant asked if we had an America the Beautiful Park Pass, then went on to explain that this was one of the Corps of Engineers parks that gave a 50% discount for camping. We had already included in this season’s travel budget to pay the $10 fee for one, but had not purchased it yet. When we asked if we could purchase it at the booth we were sadly told no. We could, however, pay for one night and then go over to Pea Ridge Military Park, a short distance away, and purchase one for the rest of the nights. This was the option we choose.
Because it was mid-week we pretty much had our choice of campsites. Gary had done his research when choosing this campground and knew from studying the Sprint service area map that the campsites on the tip of the peninsula would have service. So that is where we headed. Sure enough, campsite 36 had a 3 bar service, so that’s where we choose to camp. It was an easy parking job.
The campsites here have a level paved area that held our 30 ft camper, and the pick-up with ease. It took only seconds to park the camper. The site is gorgeous. Looking out the living room windows of the camper we have a great view of the lake and the cliffs on the other side. Our closest neighbors are a flock of Canadian geese that wander through during the day. They are often accompanied by a decent size herd of deer as well. We hear the geese periodically throughout the night softly calling to each other.
What time we are at the camper we have enjoyed sitting outside watching the geese as they wander around peacefully grazing. We saw little of them over the weekend when the campground partially filled up. As soon as the main group of campers left on Sunday the flock was back. They brought with them some beautiful hawks, ravens and miscellaneous small water fowl. Occasionally a large blue heron will sweep past as well. Overhead four or five large birds that were bigger than buzzards, but not marked quite right to be golden eagles rode the air currents as graceful as the lightest of ballet dancers. All this beauty played to music of frogs singing their spring song as evening approached.
As we sat we looked around for beavers. We could see numerous trees bearing the results of their need to chew, but we never did catch sight of them. Each evening we’d hear loud splashing of water that at first we thought to be really large fish jumping, but the more I think about it the more I think it might have been beavers slapping their tails against the water.
By the way the trees here are a combination of tall straight lodge pole pines, stately oaks, and of course redbuds and dogwoods.
Our campsite has electric only. It is normally $19 per night, but with the America the Beautiful card it is $9.50 per night. A huge savings. There is a water hydrant just across from our campsite, so if we should run low in our holding tank we could hook up the hose and refill. However, they are under a “boil” notification right now because they had a water main break. So we are doing without putting their water in our tank for now. The main has been repaired and they expect the boil notice to end today or tomorrow.
There is a free dump station for campers near the entrance booth, with a $5 fee for non-campers. It has been blocked off while they worked on the water main, but we noticed they were taking the barricades down as we were leaving today.
If you come here for daily use the entrance fee is $4 and there is a deadline for you to vacate the area. It has a designated swim area as well as a nice boat dock and then there is a marina in another area.
Most of the toilets are vault toilets and port-a-johns, however a few single stall flush toilets do dot the area. The one near our campsite has one toilet and two showers in each of the two sides.
The window is missing in the men’s shower house. Gary said that makes for a breezy shower this time of year. He said the scalding shower quickly made you forget about the breeze though. Once again the shower head is high on the wall and it is a non-adjustable push the button type set-up. I choose to do fast showers in the camper rather than drown showering.
The next morning we went to Pea Ridge before doing any mystery shops and purchased the National Parks Pass. Because Gary is now 62 he qualifies for the senior citizen version of it. It was a one time purchase price of $10 and is good for the rest of his life. With the amount of travel we do that is going to be a huge money saver for us. It has already saved us a total of $76 on camping and entrance into Pea Ridge to tour the park last Saturday.
If you are not familiar with this pass I suggest you go to http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm and check it out. You can purchase one if you are not a senior citizen as well, but it’s $80 annually. Basically it includes discounts for all national parks, and corps of engineers, locations, as well as some state parks for anything that has a fee. Many entrance fees for the museums and such are free to the pass holder and three other adults in their party. It can add up to some major savings if you travel very much at all.
Speaking of Pea Ridge Military Park, located at Pea Ridge Arkansas, we went there to tour the museum and battlefield on Saturday. It is one of the numerous civil War battlefields that dot the United States. This one is of particular interest to my husband and myself because in all likelihood we both had great grandfathers that fought there on both sides of the conflict.
The information center, from what I was told, has recently undergone a renovation. It is modern, clean and well done. There are the usual uniform reproductions, cannons, cannon balls and such located throughout the two main areas of the building.
The third area has a movie theater, complete with comfortable cinema seats that shows a well produced movie that follows the battles of the area up to and including the one at Elkhorn Tavern. The movie is approximately 30 minutes long. If you don’t have the America the Beautiful pass visiting this battle site will cost you $10 a carload. The movie and museum are included.
The fourth area of the building is of course the gift store. It is mainly books on the Civil War and the Trail of Tears, which came through Pea Ridge, with the usual gift store type pricing.
They close access to the seven mile driving tour at 4:30 pm, it has approximately 10 stops along the way, so allow plenty of time in your schedule to take the tour. Once again we were treated to the beautiful spring scenery that this part of Arkansas has to offer in mid April.
We had been told we could gain access to the Elk Horn Tavern until 4:30, but when we arrived at just after four we found it locked up tight and no caretaker around. However, the curtains were conveniently pulled to the side to allow us to look in to at least the lower level.
Throughout our driving tour I thought of those brave soldiers on both sides that fought there for a principle each believed to be just. The movie had depicted the hard march they had participated in to come and fight. I looked at the steep hills they had to climb in the snow to fight and knew in my heart that my ancestors were of far sterner stuff than I am.
The park is a simple affair, but it is well maintained. It includes special horseback riding areas as well as hiking trails, picnic areas, and biking trails. It is truly a place you could spend a lovely day enjoying. I know we did.
We leave this area for Branson, Missouri on Wednesday morning. We haven’t decided yet how long we’ll stay there or for certain where we’ll go next. Because I have a good chunk of jobs waiting for me at home we might swing by there for a few days, do laundry and head out again. It just all depends on what work we find where.
Jan who is enjoying spring in the Ozarks away from OK
We are camped at the Horseshoe Bend Recreational area on Beaver Lake at Rogers/Monte Ne, AR. It is an absolutely lovely area. The woods are glorious with the bright colors of redbuds, dogwoods and other wild flowering trees. As you wind down the road to enter the recreation area the view is breath taking. You occasionally catch glimpses of the lake through the trees with its high cliffs, and heavily wooded islands in the middle.
As you come out to Rogers into Monte Ne you can kiss your Sprint cell phone service good-bye. It’s spotty at best as you ride the curves, climb the hills and drop into the valleys and climb back up again for about four beautiful miles. You pass large homes with glorious views of the lake and then suddenly you find yourself at the Corps of Engineers campground.
When we pulled up to the booth we were greeted by a pleasant couple. It turned out she once lived in the same small town we live in. It is a small world after all. They seemed surprised when we said we wanted to camp for a week. I guess because it was so early in the season.
The female booth attendant asked if we had an America the Beautiful Park Pass, then went on to explain that this was one of the Corps of Engineers parks that gave a 50% discount for camping. We had already included in this season’s travel budget to pay the $10 fee for one, but had not purchased it yet. When we asked if we could purchase it at the booth we were sadly told no. We could, however, pay for one night and then go over to Pea Ridge Military Park, a short distance away, and purchase one for the rest of the nights. This was the option we choose.
Because it was mid-week we pretty much had our choice of campsites. Gary had done his research when choosing this campground and knew from studying the Sprint service area map that the campsites on the tip of the peninsula would have service. So that is where we headed. Sure enough, campsite 36 had a 3 bar service, so that’s where we choose to camp. It was an easy parking job.
The campsites here have a level paved area that held our 30 ft camper, and the pick-up with ease. It took only seconds to park the camper. The site is gorgeous. Looking out the living room windows of the camper we have a great view of the lake and the cliffs on the other side. Our closest neighbors are a flock of Canadian geese that wander through during the day. They are often accompanied by a decent size herd of deer as well. We hear the geese periodically throughout the night softly calling to each other.
What time we are at the camper we have enjoyed sitting outside watching the geese as they wander around peacefully grazing. We saw little of them over the weekend when the campground partially filled up. As soon as the main group of campers left on Sunday the flock was back. They brought with them some beautiful hawks, ravens and miscellaneous small water fowl. Occasionally a large blue heron will sweep past as well. Overhead four or five large birds that were bigger than buzzards, but not marked quite right to be golden eagles rode the air currents as graceful as the lightest of ballet dancers. All this beauty played to music of frogs singing their spring song as evening approached.
As we sat we looked around for beavers. We could see numerous trees bearing the results of their need to chew, but we never did catch sight of them. Each evening we’d hear loud splashing of water that at first we thought to be really large fish jumping, but the more I think about it the more I think it might have been beavers slapping their tails against the water.
By the way the trees here are a combination of tall straight lodge pole pines, stately oaks, and of course redbuds and dogwoods.
Our campsite has electric only. It is normally $19 per night, but with the America the Beautiful card it is $9.50 per night. A huge savings. There is a water hydrant just across from our campsite, so if we should run low in our holding tank we could hook up the hose and refill. However, they are under a “boil” notification right now because they had a water main break. So we are doing without putting their water in our tank for now. The main has been repaired and they expect the boil notice to end today or tomorrow.
There is a free dump station for campers near the entrance booth, with a $5 fee for non-campers. It has been blocked off while they worked on the water main, but we noticed they were taking the barricades down as we were leaving today.
If you come here for daily use the entrance fee is $4 and there is a deadline for you to vacate the area. It has a designated swim area as well as a nice boat dock and then there is a marina in another area.
Most of the toilets are vault toilets and port-a-johns, however a few single stall flush toilets do dot the area. The one near our campsite has one toilet and two showers in each of the two sides.
The window is missing in the men’s shower house. Gary said that makes for a breezy shower this time of year. He said the scalding shower quickly made you forget about the breeze though. Once again the shower head is high on the wall and it is a non-adjustable push the button type set-up. I choose to do fast showers in the camper rather than drown showering.
The next morning we went to Pea Ridge before doing any mystery shops and purchased the National Parks Pass. Because Gary is now 62 he qualifies for the senior citizen version of it. It was a one time purchase price of $10 and is good for the rest of his life. With the amount of travel we do that is going to be a huge money saver for us. It has already saved us a total of $76 on camping and entrance into Pea Ridge to tour the park last Saturday.
If you are not familiar with this pass I suggest you go to http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm and check it out. You can purchase one if you are not a senior citizen as well, but it’s $80 annually. Basically it includes discounts for all national parks, and corps of engineers, locations, as well as some state parks for anything that has a fee. Many entrance fees for the museums and such are free to the pass holder and three other adults in their party. It can add up to some major savings if you travel very much at all.
Speaking of Pea Ridge Military Park, located at Pea Ridge Arkansas, we went there to tour the museum and battlefield on Saturday. It is one of the numerous civil War battlefields that dot the United States. This one is of particular interest to my husband and myself because in all likelihood we both had great grandfathers that fought there on both sides of the conflict.
The information center, from what I was told, has recently undergone a renovation. It is modern, clean and well done. There are the usual uniform reproductions, cannons, cannon balls and such located throughout the two main areas of the building.
The third area has a movie theater, complete with comfortable cinema seats that shows a well produced movie that follows the battles of the area up to and including the one at Elkhorn Tavern. The movie is approximately 30 minutes long. If you don’t have the America the Beautiful pass visiting this battle site will cost you $10 a carload. The movie and museum are included.
The fourth area of the building is of course the gift store. It is mainly books on the Civil War and the Trail of Tears, which came through Pea Ridge, with the usual gift store type pricing.
They close access to the seven mile driving tour at 4:30 pm, it has approximately 10 stops along the way, so allow plenty of time in your schedule to take the tour. Once again we were treated to the beautiful spring scenery that this part of Arkansas has to offer in mid April.
We had been told we could gain access to the Elk Horn Tavern until 4:30, but when we arrived at just after four we found it locked up tight and no caretaker around. However, the curtains were conveniently pulled to the side to allow us to look in to at least the lower level.
Throughout our driving tour I thought of those brave soldiers on both sides that fought there for a principle each believed to be just. The movie had depicted the hard march they had participated in to come and fight. I looked at the steep hills they had to climb in the snow to fight and knew in my heart that my ancestors were of far sterner stuff than I am.
The park is a simple affair, but it is well maintained. It includes special horseback riding areas as well as hiking trails, picnic areas, and biking trails. It is truly a place you could spend a lovely day enjoying. I know we did.
We leave this area for Branson, Missouri on Wednesday morning. We haven’t decided yet how long we’ll stay there or for certain where we’ll go next. Because I have a good chunk of jobs waiting for me at home we might swing by there for a few days, do laundry and head out again. It just all depends on what work we find where.
Jan who is enjoying spring in the Ozarks away from OK
Sunday, November 15, 2009
THE HAUNTED SUMMER--a blast from the past story
On one of the numerous yahoogroups lists I'm one we've been discussing ghosts and other things that go bump in the night. That reminded me of the summer of 1973 when I stayed in a haunted house for a short while. Here is the true story of all that happened. Jan who says believe it or not in OK
THE HAUNTED SUMMER
Summer 1973
First of all let me say this was not like the Haunting of Hill house, no evil snarling ghosts jumping out and making me wet my pants. But an evil presence for certain.
Hot Springs, AR 1973 summertime
My dh, Gary, had only worked for a short while for a local architectural drafting firm and had not earned any vacation time. So when his company won a contract in Hot Springs, AR his boss rented a wonderful two story house right on the lake. It was with the lake side of the house being all glass, so you could look out over the water at any time. The styling was very modern in architecture. There was a small mother in law/guest house on the property as well.
Bill, the boss, made an offer to Gary that we felt we couldn't refuse. "If Jan will cook for all of us she and the baby can come and stay. You three can have the guest house and full use of all the facilities and the pontoon boat." We jumped on it! I mean wouldn't you? You have to cook anyway, what's a few more men to feed.
So we packed our summer wardrobe tightly and strapped the duffle bag and suit cases to the luggage rack of the car, then off we went.
The trip went quickly and we were in high spirits until...we arrived. One look at the house and my radar went up. No it wasn't a gothic looking typical spooky mansion, it was thoroughly modern, and beautiful. But my senses were doing a heebee jeebee dance.
For those of you who don't know, ole CJ here, that's what I call myself, is one of those folks that kind of knows when things are going to happen. Nothing I can control, sometimes the radar is off. More often than not, though, it is dead on. I've been so dead on so many times that friends and relatives take heed when I warn them not to travel or go certain places. That is why my son was in OK and not NY on 9/11 I talked him out of moving there in June because of a feeling. Nuff said.
Gary immediately noticed a change in my buoyant mood to a pensive one. "What's wrong?"
"It's a man's house and it's not happy."
"Should we leave?" "No, I think we can handle it, it's aware I know though."
I chose to go through the back/kitchen door into the main house while we were there, not once did I go through the front door. It felt too ominous to get near that front door. I found out months later that Bill's mother-in-law had refused to even go in the house because of the tree to the right and next to the front door. She said it was a bad luck omen and she wouldn't enter the house at all. Bill had blown it off as a Hawaiian, which she was, superstition.
The house was a man's house in every sense of the word, you could feel it in every pore of its being. Just looking at the layout inside was a big clue too. For all those cooks out there let me describe the kitchen I was to work in.
You brought the groceries in through a little hallway, after a few feet there was a small doorless room to your right. This is where the freezer and the storage racks for breads and such were. You continued on down the hall to the kitchen area. A kitchen that was laid out so nonsensical you needed roller skates to cook and clean in it. It was huge, with no rhyme or reason to its layout. Dishwasher several feet from any cabinets to put dishes in, sink about 20 steps from the dishwasher, water cooler for drinking/cooking water all the way at the opposite end of the kitchen stove top and one end, oven at the other, trash compactor in another room. You get the idea. I again remarked about the house being a man's house.
Bill thought I meant a man designed the kitchen and he said, "Yes, but he was told to do it that way." By whom?” I ask. Bill didn't know. Later on I think I figured out it was the not so benevolent ghost.
Small things began to happen right away, IT was not happy I was there. Things disappeared, only to show up in places I hadn't been. Okay, maybe it's an ornery poltergeist, I can deal with this. It wasn't just me, Bill, Gary and the other workers all had things "walk off". Bill and Mike stayed in the house full time, Gary, Sammi and I slept in the guest house. Something that may have been what kept us from getting the brunt of it. Bill and Mike weren't so lucky.
From the very first it was nothing to find dead birds every morning laying all around the glass front of the house. We figured they just flew into the glass and broke their necks, except Bill said he hadn't noticed it happening before we got there. As you all know I love birds of all sorts. So was it a freak of nature, or...?
The big living area where they had all the drafting boards set up faced the lake. This is where we all spent most of our time in the beginning. Often in the evenings we would hear speed boats racing very close to the shore, but when we looked out we saw nothing, no boat lights nothing. The sounds of the boats disappeared as quickly as they developed. We decided it was a trick of sound over the water.
The home had a lovely library, fully stocked including ALL of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries Did I mention Bill had rented this place fully furnished? I think I know why...
It had two walls of shelves, a wall of windows and a fireplace set in a beautiful paneled wall. I decided while there I would re read all the Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys just for fun. I had been taking them out to the guest house and reading out there, but one night we decided to read in the library instead. It was late when we went to bed. I kept feeling like something was watching us. Gary said I'd read too many mysteries.
The next day Bill asked me what we had done in the library. When I said just read he replied "Oh really". Gary and I went back to the library to find a mess and all sorts of hidden panels around the fireplace standing wide open. I cleaned up the mess and said nothing. I was really getting a bad feeling and after that never took the baby into the library again. I would go in and get books, and leave immediately.
Other than cooking and cleaning up afterwards I took to staying in the guest house. Then the smell started, and it grew, and grew. The smell of death, at first we thought a dead mouse, then a stray kitten, a cat, and the smell grew. The guys started pulling up floor boards nothing. The stench was horrible, we moved into the main house.
In the upstairs bedroom I slept fitfully, waking to the sounds of hoof beats coming up the driveway, no down the driveway. I woke Gary, he heard it too. We both went to the window to look, nothing. This happened for a couple more nights, no explanation. Other nights we thought we heard a car wreck. Again, nothing.
One afternoon I was bathing Sam in the upstairs tub and I felt IT. IT was standing behind me. The air had turned very cold. I knew that cold, I knew it from being visited by friends and relatives who had passed on and had came to say good bye. I refused to look at it. No it wasn't the air conditioner, there was no vent in that tiny attic bathroom. Sam and I were not alone.
Trying to be as calm as possible, as to not scare the baby I quickly rinsed her off and wrapped her in a towel. Then I turned to face the empty cold. There was no shape, no vision, just the cold of the long dead. He was between me and the door. I told it to step aside please and I would take my baby and not invade his space any longer if he would. The cold moved to behind me.
Clutching my naked baby I went directly downstairs and out to the suddenly odorless guest house. I told the others what had happened when they came to see why I had left the house so quickly. They retrieved our belongings from the upstairs room. We left the next day, I feared for my baby. I told the others that the spirit did not want them there and they too should leave. They laughed.
On the way home the spirit got one last laugh in on us, as we traveled in the dark we lost one and only one suitcase off of the top of the car. My complete wardrobe for the summer months. Gary and a friend drove nearly all the way back to Hot Springs and never found one sign of it. We filed a report with the highway patrol and they never found it either.
The story doesn't end there, Mike and Bill continued to stay there and the following is what happened to them. I have death premonitions, I can't prevent them, and sometimes I misread them. I did in this case. Shortly after we returned home I was showering and suddenly the shower stall was full of white doves. Not literally, but I generally see or dream white doves and a name and that person passes within two weeks. I heard the name Michael, over and over. My best friend was expecting her first child any minute and she had said if it was a boy she was going to name it Michael. I called Kathy immediately because I knew she had been having some troubles in her pregnancy. Without telling her why I told her that at her check up that afternoon to ask the doctor to be extra thorough. I didn't want to alarm her.
Several days later the phone rang, it was Bill, Mike's wife had found Mike dead of a cerebral hemorrhage in the same upstairs room where I had made the deal with IT. Bill sounded strange, not like Bill at all. He said he was fine and I told him to get out of that house! NOW! He said he had no where to go his wife of nearly 30 years had told him he had changed suddenly and she was afraid of him now. She had filed for divorce. Their only child had started suffering seizures. I again told Bill to get OUT of the house, he said no. Then I called Mike's wife and told her to get out of it too and why. She managed to get Bill out.
Over the next several weeks Bill did research on the house. Mike was not it's first victim. A fact I had already known. All of the victims had been men and all had died suddenly. The first was when the place had been an old farm house. A runaway carriage ride, down the drive way in the middle of the night, hooves pounding on the drive straight into the large oak tree at the end of the drive. Ended the life of what believe was the first gentleman. My hoof beats.
One had lost his life in a speedboat crash at night, right in front of the house… the boat sounds.
The third had died in a horrific car crash, just past the end of the drive. The wreck noises.
Bill later told us he had heard the hoofbeats and car crash noises himself when he and Mike were there alone and they had laughed them off. He also said that after Mike died he had found himself setting up in bed talking to someone at 2:00 every morning, after awhile he realized it was Mike he was talking to. Only Mike was dead, he had died, per the coroner, at 2:00am.
Bill and Mike's wife never went back to the house. They had their things sent to them, afraid of further recriminations from IT. Bankruptcy soon followed for Bill and of course that impacted us with the bouncing of two of our paychecks and the non arrival of the last two.
Slowly, slowly life got back to normal. Bill's life started to turn around almost immediately once he was clear of the house. His finances improved, for which we were grateful and he repaid us in full with a bonus he says I saved his life. His wife and he got back together and their daughter’s seizures disappeared as quickly as they had come. No reason for them was ever found.
Some will say it was all coincidence, and they may be right. But I know several people in this world that will NOT ever go anywhere near that house again. God rest your soul Mike.
THE HAUNTED SUMMER
Summer 1973
First of all let me say this was not like the Haunting of Hill house, no evil snarling ghosts jumping out and making me wet my pants. But an evil presence for certain.
Hot Springs, AR 1973 summertime
My dh, Gary, had only worked for a short while for a local architectural drafting firm and had not earned any vacation time. So when his company won a contract in Hot Springs, AR his boss rented a wonderful two story house right on the lake. It was with the lake side of the house being all glass, so you could look out over the water at any time. The styling was very modern in architecture. There was a small mother in law/guest house on the property as well.
Bill, the boss, made an offer to Gary that we felt we couldn't refuse. "If Jan will cook for all of us she and the baby can come and stay. You three can have the guest house and full use of all the facilities and the pontoon boat." We jumped on it! I mean wouldn't you? You have to cook anyway, what's a few more men to feed.
So we packed our summer wardrobe tightly and strapped the duffle bag and suit cases to the luggage rack of the car, then off we went.
The trip went quickly and we were in high spirits until...we arrived. One look at the house and my radar went up. No it wasn't a gothic looking typical spooky mansion, it was thoroughly modern, and beautiful. But my senses were doing a heebee jeebee dance.
For those of you who don't know, ole CJ here, that's what I call myself, is one of those folks that kind of knows when things are going to happen. Nothing I can control, sometimes the radar is off. More often than not, though, it is dead on. I've been so dead on so many times that friends and relatives take heed when I warn them not to travel or go certain places. That is why my son was in OK and not NY on 9/11 I talked him out of moving there in June because of a feeling. Nuff said.
Gary immediately noticed a change in my buoyant mood to a pensive one. "What's wrong?"
"It's a man's house and it's not happy."
"Should we leave?" "No, I think we can handle it, it's aware I know though."
I chose to go through the back/kitchen door into the main house while we were there, not once did I go through the front door. It felt too ominous to get near that front door. I found out months later that Bill's mother-in-law had refused to even go in the house because of the tree to the right and next to the front door. She said it was a bad luck omen and she wouldn't enter the house at all. Bill had blown it off as a Hawaiian, which she was, superstition.
The house was a man's house in every sense of the word, you could feel it in every pore of its being. Just looking at the layout inside was a big clue too. For all those cooks out there let me describe the kitchen I was to work in.
You brought the groceries in through a little hallway, after a few feet there was a small doorless room to your right. This is where the freezer and the storage racks for breads and such were. You continued on down the hall to the kitchen area. A kitchen that was laid out so nonsensical you needed roller skates to cook and clean in it. It was huge, with no rhyme or reason to its layout. Dishwasher several feet from any cabinets to put dishes in, sink about 20 steps from the dishwasher, water cooler for drinking/cooking water all the way at the opposite end of the kitchen stove top and one end, oven at the other, trash compactor in another room. You get the idea. I again remarked about the house being a man's house.
Bill thought I meant a man designed the kitchen and he said, "Yes, but he was told to do it that way." By whom?” I ask. Bill didn't know. Later on I think I figured out it was the not so benevolent ghost.
Small things began to happen right away, IT was not happy I was there. Things disappeared, only to show up in places I hadn't been. Okay, maybe it's an ornery poltergeist, I can deal with this. It wasn't just me, Bill, Gary and the other workers all had things "walk off". Bill and Mike stayed in the house full time, Gary, Sammi and I slept in the guest house. Something that may have been what kept us from getting the brunt of it. Bill and Mike weren't so lucky.
From the very first it was nothing to find dead birds every morning laying all around the glass front of the house. We figured they just flew into the glass and broke their necks, except Bill said he hadn't noticed it happening before we got there. As you all know I love birds of all sorts. So was it a freak of nature, or...?
The big living area where they had all the drafting boards set up faced the lake. This is where we all spent most of our time in the beginning. Often in the evenings we would hear speed boats racing very close to the shore, but when we looked out we saw nothing, no boat lights nothing. The sounds of the boats disappeared as quickly as they developed. We decided it was a trick of sound over the water.
The home had a lovely library, fully stocked including ALL of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries Did I mention Bill had rented this place fully furnished? I think I know why...
It had two walls of shelves, a wall of windows and a fireplace set in a beautiful paneled wall. I decided while there I would re read all the Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys just for fun. I had been taking them out to the guest house and reading out there, but one night we decided to read in the library instead. It was late when we went to bed. I kept feeling like something was watching us. Gary said I'd read too many mysteries.
The next day Bill asked me what we had done in the library. When I said just read he replied "Oh really". Gary and I went back to the library to find a mess and all sorts of hidden panels around the fireplace standing wide open. I cleaned up the mess and said nothing. I was really getting a bad feeling and after that never took the baby into the library again. I would go in and get books, and leave immediately.
Other than cooking and cleaning up afterwards I took to staying in the guest house. Then the smell started, and it grew, and grew. The smell of death, at first we thought a dead mouse, then a stray kitten, a cat, and the smell grew. The guys started pulling up floor boards nothing. The stench was horrible, we moved into the main house.
In the upstairs bedroom I slept fitfully, waking to the sounds of hoof beats coming up the driveway, no down the driveway. I woke Gary, he heard it too. We both went to the window to look, nothing. This happened for a couple more nights, no explanation. Other nights we thought we heard a car wreck. Again, nothing.
One afternoon I was bathing Sam in the upstairs tub and I felt IT. IT was standing behind me. The air had turned very cold. I knew that cold, I knew it from being visited by friends and relatives who had passed on and had came to say good bye. I refused to look at it. No it wasn't the air conditioner, there was no vent in that tiny attic bathroom. Sam and I were not alone.
Trying to be as calm as possible, as to not scare the baby I quickly rinsed her off and wrapped her in a towel. Then I turned to face the empty cold. There was no shape, no vision, just the cold of the long dead. He was between me and the door. I told it to step aside please and I would take my baby and not invade his space any longer if he would. The cold moved to behind me.
Clutching my naked baby I went directly downstairs and out to the suddenly odorless guest house. I told the others what had happened when they came to see why I had left the house so quickly. They retrieved our belongings from the upstairs room. We left the next day, I feared for my baby. I told the others that the spirit did not want them there and they too should leave. They laughed.
On the way home the spirit got one last laugh in on us, as we traveled in the dark we lost one and only one suitcase off of the top of the car. My complete wardrobe for the summer months. Gary and a friend drove nearly all the way back to Hot Springs and never found one sign of it. We filed a report with the highway patrol and they never found it either.
The story doesn't end there, Mike and Bill continued to stay there and the following is what happened to them. I have death premonitions, I can't prevent them, and sometimes I misread them. I did in this case. Shortly after we returned home I was showering and suddenly the shower stall was full of white doves. Not literally, but I generally see or dream white doves and a name and that person passes within two weeks. I heard the name Michael, over and over. My best friend was expecting her first child any minute and she had said if it was a boy she was going to name it Michael. I called Kathy immediately because I knew she had been having some troubles in her pregnancy. Without telling her why I told her that at her check up that afternoon to ask the doctor to be extra thorough. I didn't want to alarm her.
Several days later the phone rang, it was Bill, Mike's wife had found Mike dead of a cerebral hemorrhage in the same upstairs room where I had made the deal with IT. Bill sounded strange, not like Bill at all. He said he was fine and I told him to get out of that house! NOW! He said he had no where to go his wife of nearly 30 years had told him he had changed suddenly and she was afraid of him now. She had filed for divorce. Their only child had started suffering seizures. I again told Bill to get OUT of the house, he said no. Then I called Mike's wife and told her to get out of it too and why. She managed to get Bill out.
Over the next several weeks Bill did research on the house. Mike was not it's first victim. A fact I had already known. All of the victims had been men and all had died suddenly. The first was when the place had been an old farm house. A runaway carriage ride, down the drive way in the middle of the night, hooves pounding on the drive straight into the large oak tree at the end of the drive. Ended the life of what believe was the first gentleman. My hoof beats.
One had lost his life in a speedboat crash at night, right in front of the house… the boat sounds.
The third had died in a horrific car crash, just past the end of the drive. The wreck noises.
Bill later told us he had heard the hoofbeats and car crash noises himself when he and Mike were there alone and they had laughed them off. He also said that after Mike died he had found himself setting up in bed talking to someone at 2:00 every morning, after awhile he realized it was Mike he was talking to. Only Mike was dead, he had died, per the coroner, at 2:00am.
Bill and Mike's wife never went back to the house. They had their things sent to them, afraid of further recriminations from IT. Bankruptcy soon followed for Bill and of course that impacted us with the bouncing of two of our paychecks and the non arrival of the last two.
Slowly, slowly life got back to normal. Bill's life started to turn around almost immediately once he was clear of the house. His finances improved, for which we were grateful and he repaid us in full with a bonus he says I saved his life. His wife and he got back together and their daughter’s seizures disappeared as quickly as they had come. No reason for them was ever found.
Some will say it was all coincidence, and they may be right. But I know several people in this world that will NOT ever go anywhere near that house again. God rest your soul Mike.
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