Above the Norm

First Stop, Whittman

2012-01-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

Around 35 miles from Phoenix on Grand Avenue stands the tiny town of Whittman. Most people traveling from Phoenix to Kingman or Las Vegas would just pass this place by and not even realizing they just drove through it. Sharon and I are not most people, so we went exploring. It didn't take long before finding abandoned structures which used to be someone's home. Now these houses stand empty and alone with only its memories hidden within the decaying walls. I am sure the town's folks probably thought we were crazy taking pictures of these buildings, but we didn't care and just snapped away. This is what we found on our first time through Whittman. We decided to hit this town again on our way back and I will show all those pictures on another post.

Road Trip 2012

2012-01-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Sharon and I are taking our first road trip of 2012. We are on the look out for great abandoned places and ghosts. Be looking for our posts, pictures and videos from the trip.

Arizona’s Meteor Crater

2012-01-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

About 50,000 years ago, a deep hole was formed when a meteor struck the Earth about 35 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona. This crater measured three-quarters of a mile wide and was about 700 feet deep. This impact caused hurricane-force winds blowing in all directions with about 175 million tons of rock thrown into the air. It only took 10 seconds to form the meteor crater causing a huge void surrounding the area.

At first, it was thought that a volcanic blast caused the large gap in the Earth’s surface, until in 1903, Daniel Barringer, a Philadelphia mining engineer, went to the site. He determined that the huge cavity was made by an enormous meteor. Barringer bore holes at the bottom of the crater to prove that he was accurate. He found oxidized meteorite fragments which convinced other researchers that his theory was correct.

The owners of the Crater proclaim it to be “the first proven, best-preserved meteorite crater on earth.”

I have been able to visit the Crater twice. My first visit was in the summer with my family when my kids were little and another time was in February with friends of ours from Pennsylvania. It was so cold and windy on the February visit. The place has a visitor center with much information about the Meteor Crater. You can watch videos on how it was formed as well as seeing pieces of the meteor itself. You step outside and take various paths to landings that hang over the crater to get an amazing view of how enormous the hole is. It is definitely a site to be seen if you ever get to Arizona.

Mother Nature's Weird Creations

2012-01-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

What Is In a Name?

2012-01-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

Every state has them, those bizarre and funny town names, creeks and rivers. Arizona has no shortage of them. I often wonder where the names come from. Did a group of town councilmen have too much to drink or too much sun and decided that “Why” a good name for their town? Perhaps a bloody battle or another event occurred and the creek or town was named after that incident? Or better yet, it was named after a person with a wacky name? I decided to check into the stories behind some of these unusual names to see if I can get to the bottom of where the names came from.

Wet Beaver Creek & Dry Beaver Creek:

Named for the abundant amount of beavers that lived in the area. Mines out of the gutter people on other possible reasons for the names, lol.

Bloody Basin: This is a historical area where dinosaurs once dominated and in the early 1900’s a bloody battle against Yavapai hostiles and a military outfit once fought. Many were killed during this battle.

Horsethief Basin:

Not much information found about this place but I imagine the name had to do with horse thieves (duh)

Boneyard:

Is actually an area where retired aircraft are kept until they are turned into scrap metal. The southwest is a great location for these boneyards because of the dry conditions which reduces corrosion.

Bootlegger Crossing: This area is located near Williams, Arizona. I didn’t find much about the history of the name but I imagine that someone like Granny Clampit or Bo & Luke Duke once sold their “homemade remedies” or booze in that area. Must have been a hot meeting place to make the exchange.

Bumble Bee: This place now stands as a ghost town in the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona. It once was a booming town with a stagecoach stop, outpost for the U.S. Cavalry and post office. With the downfall of mining and stagecoach runs, the town eventually was abandoned. Bumble Bee was named for the nearby Bumble Bee Creek. And here I thought it was named for all the bees that were buzzing around the area.

Goobertown: I couldn’t get enough information on this town so I just figured it was named after a goober, lol. (Perhaps Goober Pyle?)

Goodyear: This town was named for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company that purchased it in 1917.

Nothing: Stories were told by the people living this town to anyone who traveled through; the town was named by a bunch of drunks. LOL, no surprise there.

Surprise:

Speaking of surprise, this Arizona town was founded in 1983 by developer Homer C. Ludden and named after his hometown of Surprise, Nebraska.

Why: This town sits in the Y-intersection of State Routes 85 and 86 and the founders were going to call it “Y”. Apparently there was an Arizona law that required all city and town names to be at least three letters, the name was changed to “Why”.

Ajo: The word Ajo (pronounced AH-hoe) is Spanish for garlic. Some say the Spanish may have named the place after O’odham or paint (o’oho), which sounds similar to Ajo. The red paint pigment taken from the area by the Tohono O’odham aided in giving Ajo its name.

Hell Hole: In 1860, when Senator Benjamin Wade stated that Arizona was “just like Hell” because of the lack of water and prominent people, it created a song, “Hell in Arizona”. Basically the song was about how the Devil was given Arizona because of various types of horrid animals and plants. There are a few places around the state known as “Hell Holes”.

Santa Claus and Christmas:

Someone had a sense of humor naming towns in Arizona after a person and winter season that we associate with the North, frickin’ cold, Pole. Santa Claus is located northwest of Kingman and designed by Nina Talbot, a huge real estate agent in California. Was it the fact that she sold many homes or that she weighed 300 pounds that made her huge? Anyhoo, she opened the town of Santa Claus in 1937, modeling it after the North Pole and Santa’s workshop, using it as an attraction to sell the surrounding land. Christmas: This town got its name when two mines that were thought to be dry and located in the Copper Springs Mountains were shut down and reopened after they resurveyed the area. Since they were located outside these mountains, they were able to resurrect the mines which were now producing oodles of minerals. The mines were reopened on Christmas morning and the name “Christmas” stuck. Today, the post office in Christmas receives letters from all over the world during the holiday season to get that Christmas seal stamped on it.

Two Guns:

Originally this town was called “Canyon Lodge” until the National Trail Highway headed west and later became “Route 66”. The town folks changed the name of the town to “Two Guns” after one of the local residents, Henry E. Miller, who liked to call himself, “Two Gun Miller.”

Arsenic Tubs: In a mineral hot springs located on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Graham County, the combination of the mineral substance in the water and the natural “tubs” in the rocks is what gave this town its name.

Total Wreck:

Named by John L. Dillon in 1875 when he thought the mine that stood firm and rigid, looked like, “A total wreck.”

Barely Hanging On

2012-01-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how some of the abandoned places we have visited had walls and ceilings still standing when they have deteriorated so much. Even though we are unsure of the soundness of the structures, we enter carefully to get that wonderful picture. Here are some of those places we saw on our trips:

"Nester's trailer" was barely standing.

The burnt out house with just the fireplace left.

Old tin factory with the roof falling in.

The Domes are crumbling down.

Abandoned homes barely standing on the side of the hill.

The Assay office with deteriorating walls and roof.

Parts of walls standing by themselves.

A lone window holding up a crumbling roof.

Tin building with missing walls and ceilings used to house machines.

Shops missing their roof leaving the walls to stand alone.

The Slaughterhouse, all that is standing are some walls with graffiti on them.

A fireplace stands alone where a room once was.

Brunckow's Cabin and Its Bloody History

2012-01-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

I wrote this last year and thought the bloody history and ghost sightings of the ruins where Brunckow’s cabin once stood is worthy of a repeat. I am still hoping to get to see this place for myself, but many of those who have said there aren’t much left to look at. The ghost sightings and history give it good enough reasons to visit this site especially at night.

Approximately 8 miles southwest of Tombstone, there lies the ruins of a cabin know as “the bloodiest cabin in Arizona history”. The Brunckow’s cabin was built in 1858 by a German mining engineer, Frederick Brunckow. Brunckow worked a mine on the San Pedro which was located near his cabin.

History is told that 21 people were murdered in his cabin, including Brunckow. Even though he was able to escape the divine retribution of the Apache, he could not escape the Mexicans that took his life. The story is told that he was killed by his own rock drill and then thrown down one of his shafts. After his murder, 17 others were killed before 1880, with three more after that.

Today the meager ruins of the cabin are all that can be found. There are claims of seeing ghosts by those who dare to camp at the cabin and say it is haunted. Perhaps Brunckow and the others have never left the place where their lives were violently taken.

Shining Through

2012-01-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about taking photos of abandoned places is the way the light shines through the cracks, worn out ceilings and walls. The light peeking through can form the most interesting look making your photography shine.

Machine Shop, Vulture Mine

motel, Gila Bend

Domes

Domes, "Beam me up Scottie"

abandoned shop, Gila Bend

Domes

slaughterhouse (looks like a dead body)

abandoned motel, Picacho Peak

church, Globe

Guess the Movie

2012-01-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Twitter. From the clues, what movie is this?

Dead and Buried: House of the Spirits

2012-01-11T03:00:00.001-07:00

Ancient Indian Proverb:

“Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children.”

For thousands of years, tucked in the mountains or scattered amongst the desolate dirt floors of the southwest desert, Indian ruins of ancient civilizations can be found. These past inhabitants left their partially ruin structures, pottery shards, painted rocks, and tools leaving us to speculate how they were able to survive the harsh desert. The Sinagua, Salado, and Hohokam Indians were amongst the Native Americans that once thrived around the 12^th century and then mysteriously disappeared in the vast desert wasteland.

Besh Ba-Gowah:

A 700 year old Salado Indian ruins on the outskirts of Globe, AZ. The name Besh Ba-Gowah comes from the Apache language and means, “place of metal” or “metal camp”. The narrow passages throughout the ruins served as a defense mechanism against enemies or other dangers to those who lived there. Each structure is made of heavy stones, two stories with storage on the bottom and each family living in the upper level. It is believed the Salado Indians were a highly developed group of people with remarkable abilities to create utensils, decorative pottery and colorful cotton cloths. What really happened to the Salado remains a mystery to this day.

Montezuma Castle:

For over 400 years, the Sinagua people lived in a dwelling tucked in the red rocks in the Verde Valley near Sedona, AZ. The dwelling was made of limestone and located about 100 feet above Oat Creek. The Sinagua were hunters, gatherers, artisans and also disappeared mysteriously.

Tuzigoot:

Another place where the Sinagua people lived was on a hilltop between Sedona and Jerome, AZ. Tuzigoot, which means “crooked water”, is made of massive cobblestone and were uneven two story dwellings. Like the Montezuma Castle Sinagua people, they were highly skilled. They constructed many canals for irrigation for their entire crop. They also vanished without a trace like the other Native American people.

Hohokam:

Back in 200 B.C. until around 1450, the Hohokam people lived in the south-central area of the Arizona. From the Hohokam ruins which have been unearthed, we can see they were skilled group of farmers who built elaborate canals that went on for miles. They grew corn, beans, squash, agave, and cotton for clothing and other uses to protect themselves from the harsh environment. They were hunters, fishermen, and used the desert materials to build their homes. What happened to the Hohokam? Some stories say they went back to Mexico because Arizona was too hard on them, and other stories say they split up into different tribes. Perhaps the answers are in the many petroglyphs left on the stones in various places throughout the state.

More of those Indian proverbs:

Crazy Horse – “A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.”

Hopi – “Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.”

Apache – “It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.”

Blackfoot – “Those that lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.”

He's Back!

2012-01-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

After a year of staying away from the bloggersphere, Mike is back with his movie review blog. Mike used to partner with me on this blog in 2009, but work and personal reasons caused him to hand over the reins to me. He was overwhelmed with seeing tons of movies and doing reviews on them in 2010, so he decided to take 2011 off and deleted his movie blog.

Now, looking good after losing lots of weight and just getting a full-time job, he is back. Mike's reviews are honest, funny, and usually the way most of us see movies. This is what he wrote on his blog:
"Welcome to my blog! This will be all about my love of cinema...and perhaps some television things here and there as well. I love movies with a passion. The movies are a place to immerse yourself in a completely different world that is not your own and allows you to escape any issues you may be having that day. For me, going to a movie is a way to relax. I'm not a self proclaimed film buff per say, I just love film. These are mainly a compilation of my review of new movies. These are MY opinion on how that particular movie made me feel and react. We ALL have different opinions of the same thing"..... (Check out his blog to read the rest.) http://mikeyatthemovies11.blogspot.com/

So hop on over to Mike's blog, become a follower, and add your comments to his posts.

Etsy: Zombie Housewives Items

2012-01-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

My friend help me with casting into metal a logo I created for the Zombie Housewives. This was my first attempt at doing this type of project, but hope to get the opportunity to do more. Here are some of the items for sale in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/adsila99

Pendants we made from my design.

Necklace with pink pearls inspired by Stella.

Necklace with pink beads.

Necklace on a chain.

keychain

magnet

The Nature of the Beast

2012-01-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

“The basic characteristic of something is the nature of the beast; often used when there's an aspect of something that cannot be changed or that is unpleasant or difficult.”

I have no idea why I was thinking of this quote, but I woke up with it on my mind. Maybe it was the weird way in which I was woken up made me think of this. I was lying on my side with the blanket and sheet up to my shoulders. All of a sudden I felt the blanket being tugged near my upper arm. I felt like someone grabbed the blanket and quickly pulled it up and down about five times. I woke up, turned towards the door and swear I saw a white human shape mass run towards the door and then disappear. I just figured I wasn’t fully awake and maybe I was still dreaming. So I just laid my head down and fell back to sleep to the sound of my dog snoring like a pig.

Perhaps the beast is Bigfoot? Lord knows I have read lots of blog posts about him lately. But if you read the definition, the beast is not a thing; it is a characteristic of something that is hostile or grueling. Some people are probably thinking of a person who fits this, but for me it is some of the abandoned places I have seen so far. I feel that nature for these places is the “beast”. The harsh weather, brutal sun, even critters and people too, has been unkind to most of these places. Here are some of my favorites from past road trips:

The Domes in Casa Grande, AZ

Assay Office, Vulture Mine, AZ

Shops on South Mountain, AZ

Fairbank, AZ

Apartments in Miami, AZ
(The many bees living in the huge hive under the porch are also the "beast")

Slaughterhouse in Casa Grande, AZ

Did He Really Say That?

2012-01-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

This year on February 14^th, Arizona will be 100 years old. I thought I would occasionally post some interesting history about my state. One of Arizona’s most captivating characters was Senator Barry Goldwater. He was born Barry Morris Goldwater on January 2, 1909. He served five-terms as a United States Senator from Arizona. In the 1960’s his outgoing and magnetic personality earned him the nickname of “Mr. Conservative”.

In the 1964 presidential election, Goldwater was the republican representative and lost by a landslide to Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson. This ended up being one of the largest landslides in history. It would be five years before Goldwater would return to the Senate. His specialty was defense policies and being behind the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 getting passed through the senate. This act “restructured the higher levels of the Pentagon by increasing the power of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to direct military action”. In 1974, he was also the one who “urged President Richard Nixon to resign when evidence of a cover-up in the Watergate scandal became overwhelming and impeachment was imminent. By the 1980’s, the increasing influence of the Christian right on the Republican Party so conflicted with Goldwater’s libertarian views that he became a vocal opponent of the religious right on issues such as gay right and the role of religion in public life.” (from Wikipedia)

By the 1990’s, he retired in Arizona still occasionally voicing his strong opinion about politics and those politicians. In 1996, he suffered a massive stroke and was diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. He died on May 29, 1998 of complications from the stroke. Goldwater will be remembered for his political views and changes but also for all those famous Goldwater quotes. Here are some:

1. American business has just forgotten the importance of selling.

2. Hubert Humphrey talks so fast that listening to him is like trying to read Playboy magazine with your wife turning the pages.

3. I could have ended the war in a month. I could have made North Vietnam look like a mud puddle.

4. Think any man in business would be foolish to fool around with his secretary. If it’s somebody else’s secretary, fine.

5. I will offer a choice, not an echo.

6. I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

7. I wouldn’t trust Nixon from here to that phone.

8. If everybody in this town connected with politics had to leave town because of chasing women and drinking, you would have no government.

9. If you don’t mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream.

10. It’s a great country, where anybody can grow up to be president…..except me.

11. Nixon was the most dishonest individual I have ever met in my life. He lied to his wife, his family, his friends, his colleagues in the Congress, lifetime members of his own political party, the American people and the world.

12. The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government.

13. You don’t need to be straight to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.

14. When I’m not a politician, I’ll be dead.

Trying Something New

2012-01-01T12:48:00.003-07:00

Welcome to 2012. I trust everyone had a fun and safe new years celebration. I had one big drink and fell asleep at 11:00 pm. I did hear the neighbors honk their horns and shoot off fireworks when midnight hit, but then quickly fell back to sleep.

This year is going to be exciting. Sharon and I are getting our Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse book published. We hope this is the first of many this year. My book, Dead and Buried in the Southwest Desert could get published in the fall but more than likely in the spring of 2013. We have many trips planned and I am hoping for some ghost and Bigfoot hunts too.

I also want to focus on my art and crafts. I will be designing more items for my Etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/adsila99) and adding my photos to items in my CafePress shop (http://www.cafepress.com/backroadstreasures) which I started to feature my photography. I also want to try my hand at designing logos, banners, and ebook covers for others. For this, I started my "Julie Ferguson Designs" blog (http://juliefergusondesigns.blogspot.com/) which will feature just my art with a PayPal button on the sidebar. If anyone is interested in having me design something for you, you can email me at: phoenix.paranormal@hotmail.com or julieferguson58@live.com. This is a new adventure for me and I am excited to get started. Please jump over to my design blog, check it out and become a follower.

Oh yeah, keep checking into my Above the Norm blog. I will continue to feature my photos and stories of all our road trips, southwest history and any other bizarre story I can find to write about.

Thanks everyone for your support. You are the best....
Julie

Have a Great New Year!

2011-12-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

Favorite Trips of 2011

2011-12-29T03:00:00.001-07:00

January started the year out with two fantastic trips. My husband won a trip for two to Crazy Mountain Ranch in Montana. It was four days, three nights, during the dead of winter, and for us Zonies (Arizona people) it was going to be colder than we were used to. Part of the winnings included airplane tickets, money, full winter wardrobe, fantastic food, and fun events. We took a ride on a zip line, road on a dog sled, and froze our butts ice fishing. It was a blast. Here are links to the posts I did on this awesome trip:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/01/crazy-mountain-ranch.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/01/montana-wilderness-and-ice-fishing.html

The next place I went to in January was Vulture Mine, AZ. I saw those wacky boys from Ghost Adventures investigate the place and wanted to see it for myself. Sharon and I decided to make Vulture Mine our first stop on our trip to Prescott to stay at the haunted Hotel Vendome. The place ended up being so much more than just broken down abandoned buildings. It was a photographer's dream. The buildings had the best light flowing through them, and inside there were so many objects which each provided their own special look for my pictures. After seeing the main buildings, we were treated with huge metal structures down a dusty path with old rusty machinery still inside. I must have take over a hundred pictures of that place. Right now, Vulture Mine is closed, but I am looking forward to the new owners opening the doors and letting us roam around the haunted historical sight. Here are links to my posts and photos to Vulture Mine:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/01/vulture-mines-dead-mans-playground.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/02/vulture-mine-part-one.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/02/vulture-mine-part-two.html

Sedona is a beautiful place to visit but this year I got to see the place with snow on the red rocks. It was April when Sharon and I was helping with a fun game called "Cemetery Crawl". We had a couple of place we were to be at to make sure that all the contestants made it and we gave them directions to their next destination. It is a bit like the Amazing Race, Arizona style. We froze our butts off at the Mayor, AZ, cemetery and then headed off to Flagstaff where we were to meet up with everyone involved in the race.
The highway department was diverting everyone through Sedona because the snow was coming down too hard on the highway to Flagstaff. We were supposed to take the steep, one-lane back road to get to Flagstaff but it was snowing so much we turned around. We ended up staying in Sedona and having a great time. Needless to say we did not make the rest of the race because of the weather. I ended up going to Sedona two weeks later with my husband and there were no signs of snow anywhere. Here are the posts I did on that trip:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/04/trip-plans-changed.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/04/springtime-in-sedona.html

We took several trips in 2011 and I loved them all. My favorites are the ones which are not planned. Our trip to Tucson in July was one of them. While traveling down the highway towards Tucson I noticed my cell phone was about to die and I didn't have a car charger with me. We decided to stop in Casa Grande and pick up one at a Walmart. While there I contacted a woman who mentioned she lived in Casa Grande to see if she knew where this Slaughterhouse was we heard of from her and others. She contacted us right away, meet up with us and we followed her to the place. It was a fantastic abandoned house and barn with missing walls, no roof, graffiti all over, and a dead animal in a doorway. It was hot and miserable, but the place was a dream to take pictures of so we endured. After leaving there, we decided to stop at an abandoned motel we seen many times along the highway. We ended up finding so much more. Other awesome abandoned places around the tiny town. We stopped at them all and took pictures. The drive up was great. We took another route home and found more abandoned places along the way. This trip provided me with several different posts and tons of pictures. It was truly a fantastic trip.
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/07/slaughter-house-residence.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/07/along-way.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/07/around-town.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/07/biosphere-2.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/07/tom-mix-king-of-cowboys.html

2011 Ghost and Bigfoot Hunts

2011-12-27T09:00:00.001-07:00

BIRD CAGE THEATRE:

One of the things we wanted to do this year was a planned and organized ghost hunt. Our goal was to investigate in a place where those TV ghost hunters had great experiences and evidence of paranormal activity and ghosts still hanging around. That place was the Bird Cage Theater in Tombstone, AZ. In May of 2011, seven of us spent three hours in the dark walking around, asking question, and hoping the spirits who still reside there would let us know they are hanging around. We had a great time and felt like we were being watched by many unseen eyes. Here are some links to posts I did on the Bird Cage and our hunt there:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/05/walk-through-time-inside-birdcage.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/05/tombstone-birdcage-theatre-ghosts-and.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/05/investigation-of-birdcage-theatre.html

GLOBE JAIL AND NOFTSGER HILL INN:

Another place we wanted to investigate was the old jail in Globe, AZ. This was the place where Sharon saw her first full-bodied apparition. She wanted to see if that same ghost would appear to her a few years later. I was just very excited about getting inside this historic jail and doing a ghost hunt. This time there was four of us doing the investigation. It was a bit warm inside on this hot July night, but walking around in the creepy building it wasn't too noticeable. In certain areas of the place we felt like we were not alone. The place was awesome and I can't wait to do another ghost hunt there. Here are links to my posts about that hunt and the jail:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/08/outside-globe-jail.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/08/ghost-hunt-at-globe-jail.html

If you ever spend the night in Globe, I suggest you stay at the Noftsger Hill Inn. This bed & breakfast used to be a school house where little children ghosts have been seen and heard in the rooms and halls. We had interesting experiences while staying in room 3. This room is huge, the size of a classroom complete with chalkboard. The windows line one wall and are almost floor to ceiling size. We heard a child speaking, had our KII's go crazy, heard loud unexplained banging, and had a Barbie doll move on its own. The place is definitely worth the stay. Here are some of posts on the place and our experience:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/07/noftsger-hill-inn-once-school-now.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/08/inside-noftsger-hill-inn.html

BIGFOOT HUNT:

Ghosts are not the only things we wanted to hunt. We are interested in finding the big fella too. In October of 2011, we finally got a chance to see if we could make contact with him or her. We ended up staying in a cabin in Flagstaff in an area where there had been several Bigfoot sightings. The days were so nice and cool but the nights got a bit cold. After driving around in the day to find the perfect spot to begin the hunt, we ended up hiking on a trail nearby. Damn, the forests gets so black in the dark. At one point while taking a break and staring up at the stars looking for UFO's, we felt like something was watching in the darkness. It was a very creepy feeling. We didn't see BF that night but had fun on our first hunt. Here are links to that experience:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/10/scouting-woods-for-bigfoot.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2011/10/poe-hunting-at-night.html

Oh Those Zombie Housewives

2011-12-26T03:00:00.002-07:00

We will be seeing lots of Stella and Liz in 2012. The "Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse" book is being released in April of 2012. We also have a CafePress shop with various types of merchandise for all those zombie lovers along with a facebook page with zombie updates, news, and photos. You can also find the zombie housewives on Twitter. It looks like Stella and Liz can be found all over the internet. Come check us out.

http://www.cafepress.com/zombiehousewivesoftheapocalypse

FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zombie-Housewives/334193529926280?sk=wall&filter=1&notif_t=wall

TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/#!/ZombieHousewive

BLOG:
http://zombiehousewives.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Holidays from my family to yours.

*Julie*

More Funny Christmas Pictures

2011-12-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Funny Christmas Pictures

2011-12-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Funny Christmas Commercial

2011-12-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Funny Christmas Prank

2011-12-21T03:00:00.001-07:00

26 Bar Ranch (John Wayne Ranch)

2011-12-19T03:00:00.001-07:00

Immersed in the Hereford’s history in Eagar, AZ, sits the 26 Bar Ranch. It was first known as the Milky Way Ranch in the 1940’s with its big white show barn which housed many Hereford cattle. The barn is now a local landmark. In 1964 the ranch became the 26 Bar Ranch or John Wayne’s Ranch, who was one of the owners. Wayne, along with Ken Reafsnyder and Louis Johnson, his business partners, kept the ranch until John Wayne’s death in 1979 from lung and stomach cancer.

Lately, I have heard rumors that Bigfoot has been seen near the ranch. I don’t know if that is true or not, but it would be worth checking out.

John Wayne and Louis Johnson