The Stanley Hotel Return - March 2011, Part 3

Speaking of EVPS, Billy Tolley, from Ghost Adventures was here at the Stanley too and he gave a class on how he discerns the EVPS that he listens to for the Ghost Adventures show. He went over recorders and software also as well as how he selects the EVPs for the show and that there are so many that are not shared that are just too faint to make out or too soft for the audience. I could well imagine his library and what he must have that is not shared!

One of the free softwares that Billy mentioned is called Audacity. You can find it here for download:

Audacity. It has versions for all operating systems! :)

Also of note, be sure and keep your recorder's software somewhere handy as well as you never know if you want to have it on a new laptop or computer in case your's goes down and of course as they tell you with all things, BACK UP YOUR FILES! I could not say that enough. I keep an external hard drive and I will be backing all of my own files to it soon.


Billy's class was the one that I was surprised, and happily so, to hear that my own recorder was one of the better ones to get EVPs on! I had been discouraged with it a bit and the quality only to find out that it is sought after as a recorder! Wow!
I was definitely paying attention in his class and taking some major notes! He talked of a few that were very expensive and yet they did not pick up the EVPs as well as some of the cheaper models. That makes sense as the newer ones will have too many filters on them as many recorders are used for board meetings and are trying to remove white noise whereas as a paranormal investigator, you are wanting that white noise to help the spirits to communicate with you.

Bill Chappell had a great class as well as to what is coming up as far as technology and equipment. I was excited to hear that soon, he will have an additional part that will hook up to the PX so that we can not only hear the EVPs, but we would see it as texted words. This will be really great for sometimes it is hard to hear what the digitized voice is saying. Be sure and check out Bill's site: Digital Dowsing for some of the latest and greatest!

(Jeff Belanger on the left and Bill Chappell on the right)




Sometimes at these events, you have some great vendors as well and I struck up a conversation with one who had a device that could let you know when you receive an EVP! It was along the lines of a real time EVP device. This reminded me of the devices that Chris Fleming has at his site and many that are already available! The vendor did not have a business card at the time with him but the equipment there they had for demonstrations was really great!

 Be sure and visit the vendors at all the events you may go to for you never know if they have something that really could help you out with your own investigations. Plus! Many times the celebrities and more well known will have some equipment for sale cheaper than what you may see online in their stores or elsewhere.


On to the investigations....Part 4!

The Stanley Hotel Return - March 2011, Part 2

Usually after the meet and greet and the auction, that I enjoy watching as much of that money raised will go to a local charity which is really nice, I go up to my room to relax. Of course as I got up there this time, there was the champagne, truffles (2 of them) and the cheese and fruit tray. I had the foresight to buy crackers at the Safeway tho' not the ones that I would have preferred. I popped the champagne bottle and quickly realized that there was no way I would be able to finish it myself. 
Plus, there was tons of cheese and quite a bit of fruit, mostly blackberries tho'. It was very generous in portions in some ways and disappointingly sparse in others, namely the chocolate truffles, two of them and very small. I won't repeat this but it was fun to have done so at least once. Next time I return, I plan on bringing my own goodies along with a sharp knife to cut fresh apples and probably will pick up some Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp cheddar from the grocery and a wine that would be more to my liking than the champagne.


I am not one to really hang in the bar, so I relaxed in my room and slept in the next morning when the classes would begin. I had drank my Shakeology for breakfast and then went on down to the classes. The first thing I had noticed that morning however is that my face felt really dry. The altitude coupled with the heat and I had the end room that faced the back parking lot made my skin very dry. I made a note to myself to be sure and bring my small mister for the bedside.
We had had a good little snowstorm hit while we were in line for registration and it was most beautiful to see the big flakes coming down.

Before I went to the Stanley, this time, I did a lil research and took notes. I watched an episode of Ghost Adventures and jotted down each haunted room and a bit of history as to what spirit is said to be where. I had then taken a pic of each room and will go over them.


There were a few new people giving talks that I had not met or heard of before. One of the classes was called "Reaching for the Veil" It was a brief look at why we're in the field of the paranormal and how we can make a difference. It was given by Karl Pfeiffer, from Ghost Hunters International fame. This class wasn't exactly as I thought going by the title but it really did make me think and I enjoyed the class nonetheless. He posed an interesting theory that I'll go into in a future post. This was however a brief look at why we're in the field of the paranormal and how we can make a difference.
Why are we doing this? Why are we doing what we are? Why are you?
Scientific vs Spiritual...which one do you lean more towards? Thank you Karl for making me think!


Dave Schrader from Darkness Radio gave his typical class/talk of ghost hunting how-to's and what not to do. That is always such a crack up to sit in on! I have been in his class often and just love the pics and his sharp wit and great sense of humor!

I also attended the class that Chris Fleming gave, which always seems to touch my heart and soul. I have attended each one of his and do not like to miss them as he has a most unique and spiritual way of looking at things. He also has some great pics and some scary vids as well that he shares. Chris Fleming always comes across to me as a very deep, genuine and most kind man with a great gift. I admire him and enjoy talking with him when I can and glean and learn things from him often. Be sure and check out his Podcast: Spirit Talk where he has some great interviews as well as his Unknown Magazine.

I attended Jeff Belanger's class, Legend Tripping, which he is the sort of guy that is similiar to Aaron, he's out there just having a blast! He has written several books and I had purchased one before I arrived on some haunted places in Texas. Jeff has a most keen, quick wit and a very inquisitive and curious mind. He is enthralled with legends and really gets you excited about them too by the end of his talk. His class is a must to attend at any location you go to for he shares what the local ghost stories are and its always a most enjoyable class. His energy just soars!

The Constantinos...aahh what I can say about this great couple! They are known as the EVP Specialists and if you have ever gone investigating with them, you quickly can see why! They can get evps like no one's business! They are just simply amazing and I enjoyed their EVP class as they went over their own techniques, software and recorders that they use. Check out their great site: Spirits-Speak. They shared alot of their evps they have gotten at various locations during this talk. It was great! I don't have a really good picture of them yet as I was again, sitting way in the back.

The Stanley Hotel Return - March 2011, part 1

The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado

Trips always seem to come up faster than I expect them to and yet I plan to pack early and yet it just doesn't always work out that way. I do make a list and lately, I have been starting to take notes when I am at a new location and list things that I forgot or wished I had taken with me.


This is a return trip to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. The famed hotel where Stephen King got the idea to write The Shining. I had heard some scuttlebutt about him getting the idea for Pet Sematary here also but I have since looked it up and the idea came from another pet cemetery in a field not far from his home in Maine. However, there is a pet cemetery on the Stanley Hotel premises!


What is nice is that I flew from Dallas straight to Denver non-stop. That's a really nice, quick, and direct trip on Southwest Airlines. I really should do a blog post about each airline and let you know which one is the better one but I'll leave that for another time. Suffice to say, Southwest was the cheapest and it got to my destination directly. Cheapest as in free, if you don't count the $5.00 -$10.00 airport tax. How did I manage that? Frequent flyer points! If you have not signed up yet, I would highly recommend doing so at every airline you fly with as well as join all the rental car and hotel clubs you can. Even if you do not travel often, trust me, that can add up and they often will send you special rates or fares or coupons to entice you to use them and it can save you a bit of money.


I used Enterprise this time. Again, that's another blog post! But I ended up with a Seabring, heated leather seats!! Nice in the cool March air with snow still on the ground. The Denver airport is in the valley and you can see the mountains in the distance. THAT'S where you are going!

I could see the storms just above the mountains, the dark ominous clouds that weighed heavy in the sky.

It was a nice drive on up to Estes Park and having my new Garmin with me, with the Boo bundle downloaded on it for free from the Garmin site, I had to laugh while going thru the winding roads and if you have not done so before, I recommend listening to Dr. Nightmare as he will talk to you randomly while driving out there, especially long distance!

Can you hear the music from The Shining as you drive up through the winding roads with the storm just before you?

I arrived at the Stanley before the next snow storm hit. It seemed they were due to get another storm and I was right glad that I had arrived early. Such gorgeous views on the way up! It always takes my breath away when I go up to the Stanley.

I had plenty of time before registration would start at 4 pm, having arrived just around lunch time. So I got my room and asked for a fridge and inquired of the cheese and fruit tray as well as the champagne and truffles I had ordered for my room. Oh yea, I was spoiling myself rotten on this trip! I would have the room to myself, not sharing it, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. I was informed however that the goodies would not be delivered to my room til 6 pm. That was a bit disappointing as I was wanting them to be waiting for me to welcome me in. Ah well, I was being spoiled enough as it is. So off I went down to the Safeway, local grocery store to pick up some water and a few other things, healthy snacks and some not so healthy. I wanted to try to stick to my Shakeology diet as much as I could and I had already brought my own nuts for a snack for each day. Sadly, the grocery there did not have the apple slices prewrapped so I had to forego that and a few other things. Back to my room, I set up the fridge which arrived and unpacked a bit.

Around 3 pm, I went downstairs to see about registration and I noticed already a line began to form so I figured I had better get in it as people were milling about. I recognized a few people that I remembered from other events which was nice. It did not take long before the line began to move and Aaron and Zak from Ghost Adventures were about in the ballroom where the line wrapped all the way around the back side of the room.

Nick, was not able to make it as they just flew in directly from a shoot and Nick went straight to his home to be with his family. He was greatly missed there. Aaron was his usual friendly self and I was very impressed with how down to earth he is and one of the most friendliest of people. He will come right on up to you no matter who you are or what you look like and throw his arm around you and hug you and pose for pics! Aaron is just great with all his fans and probably the most friendliest I have seen thus far. You can tell when you see him at one of these events that he is just out having a great time! It just sets you at ease right off the bat. I know some of the other celebrities may hold themselves back or seem to, but when you go, you have to understand for one, each having their own personalities and for two, some are just really bombarded by so many fans that it can be hard to handle at times. I am surprised that they are not tugged on more or hounded more than what I noticed.
These people are just like you and me, they are just on tv or happened to be at the right place at the right time and some earned their way there by many years or a lot of effort and time and dedication. I always try to be respectful of their space and understand even more so if they have family with them, that it can be very overwhelming to them, especially when just starting out at these events with the many, many fans they have.

Registration went well, I signed up for the first night of investigations and got my badge and said hello to Dave from Darkness Radio and then went on in to the hotel's restaurant for dinner. I had a wonderful meal and incredibly wonderful wine! I was alone, which is never easy but my friend Tina was not able to go to the Stanley this time. This event was sold out in no time! Plus, the costs I noticed are increasing too, so if you are interested in going, start to plan for it SOONER rather than later before it gets out of your reach.

That night, was the meet and greet and then the auction. I am still learning my camera a bit and forget that it does have a nice video. I was foolin around with it and caught a belt being auctioned off...right off of Zak's waist! I've uploaded it to YouTube for you to enjoy:

I was sitting way in the back, so please do understand that. As I get more used to my camera's video option, hopefully, I'll have some better videos in the future. :)