Ghost Walk

Last Friday, my sister-in-law and I participated in a Ghost Walk along First Street in Benicia, CA. 

I didn't know much about it, and I had never been on a Ghost Walk before, but I saw an advertisement on Facebook and I thought, why not?

Tickets were $25 and I thought that was a bit steep for a two hour walk along First Street, but now I think it was well worth the experience. 

We met down at the Railroad Station at the bottom of First Street. It was the night of the summer solstice and the night before the Super Moon. I thought we were rather silly to be trying to "find" ghosts on the longest day of the year. 

Our guide was Devin Sisk, who has an impressive biography in the world of the paranormal. His info can be found on the Ghost Walk link (as is a short video). 

Okay, I will admit that I was a total skeptic. I believe in paranormal things and things I can't explain but I don't believe spirits come out for a bi-monthly show. I expected to get a history lesson of First Street, really. But ghosts? Naw, I didn't really believe that.

We were joined by a group of "ghost hunters" (my words, not theirs) who wanted to experience the Ghost Walk with Devin. They said more about themselves, but I wasn't paying attention. I was cracking jokes to my sis-in-law. Sorry.

We were shown the tools we would all have a chance to use to detect & communicate with spirits. There was two rods you held in your hands & the spirits could move them to answer yes & no questions (crossing the rods was a yes, pushing them out was a no), a device that lit up and vibrated when spirits were near (which may or may not have been when I quipped "ma'am, your table is ready." to my partner in crime that night), two devices that had a spectrum of light across the top to light up & detect different spirits strengths, and a pendulum on a string (no clue how that worked). 

I will tell you that I did hold the device that lit up & vibrated at one point. I didn't want to hold anything but a woman handed it to me saying, "I feel it wants to go to you." And I immediately thought, "Yeah, cause it wants a break!" But it did actually go off. When we walked over a PG&E grate. No ghost. Sorry. 

Okay, it's easy for me to joke and take it lightly. But when we went into the warehouse section of the old train depot and started talking to a spirit named Benjamin, I thought to myself, "Sh** just got real!" Benjamin used to work at the railroad and visited the brothel next store. He apparently thought it was funny when asked if there was sex in the afterlife (there is). Benjamin is a known trickster who likes to move things around the office of the people who work in the building. We didn't spend much time there but at this point, I was no longer taking things so lightly.

Devin explained that with the Super Moon, the gravitational pull of the moon was exceptionally strong and that may make the spirit world stronger. 

We walked out behind the depot into a dirt area by the marsh. I hadn't been out there before. It used to be a shanty town behind the depot and a brothel that was frequented by a lot of children. Orphans have a sad story in America's past. I was told that orphanages acted like animal shelters and once a child's time was up, he/she was put down. So rather than go to an orphanage or work house, many children turned to the streets. I had also learned that two major fevers that killed a lot of people in Benicia, one of them being yellow fever. So, this shanty town was known for having a few child spirits. 

And one of them came to the group that night. She was new to the guides but people around me felt her story and could tell different parts. She had a younger brother she was taking care of while her mother worked in the brothel. She tried to protect her brother but he died. She had watched the Ghost Walk groups before but it was the first night she wanted to contact them. She wanted help. There were people in the group who said they could help her cross over, and they would come back.

So, that was a downer. We crossed the street and went behind the Tannery Building and made a circle. One of the women immediately started saying, "There is a happy drunk person nearby." Enter Irish John.  Irish John was a bare knuckle boxer who made extra money "shanghaiing" guys. That's when you hit a guy over the head and they wake up on a boat in the middle of nowhere, where they were given a choice: they could either swim it or work it. Irish John seemed to be a bit of a flirt and pointed out a young woman who caught his fancy (my sister-in-law). 

After we said goodbye to Irish John, we went into the Tannery Building and stood in front of a pub. Okay, so it was a pub that I used to hang out at in my younger days. And maybe it was a pub my friends all went to.

And so I found it funny when the group of lady ghosts made a point to let me know they had seen me before. That was pretty funny to me. And then this memory popped into my head of the horrible night I had to babysit my friend who had way too much. I had to help her walk to the bathroom. But the memory was of me seeing myself walking her to the bathroom, not me actually holding her up. I wonder if I was "seeing" how the ladies remembered me. That's kinda weird. I didn't realize that until just now.

Further back in the Tannery Building was the spirit of a little girl. No one knew how the little girl died, but they know her father worked in the Tannery Building before he and her mother died of a fever. The   guide tried to do an experiment where someone hid a bracelet on another person in the group and the little girl had to show the guide who had the bracelet. The experiment didn't work. The little girl picked the people all around the person, and apparently one of the people chosen broke out laughing saying they said in their head, "Pick me & let's mess with them!"

After the Tannery Building, we walked up the street to a historic corner of First Street. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with Benicia, you need to know it was a railroad stop, it had docks for ships traveling from San Francisco to Sacramento, and at one time it was even a stop for the Pony Express riders. And it had a bunch of brothels. A lot of hookers conducted their business there. It was said a lady was never seen below a certain street, where the brothels started. 

The Union Hotel and the Washington House are still standing today. In fact, you can stay at the Union Hotel. People claim it's haunted, but the owners say it's not. There is a story of a unhappy hooker hanging herself naked outside one of the windows.

We tried to get some spirits of the ladies of the Washington House to show up, but they didn't really. Only men tried to communicate with the ladies though. And I thought this was sad. I saw a documentary once of the Old West and "soiled doves" were lonely and had pets for companionship. I would think that just because they entertained men for a living, we shouldn't assume they just want to talk to men. That was how they made a living, and it's not a living I'd envy. I think a sympathetic soul would be welcome too. I think that's sad and it made me think it was pretty sexiest.

By this time, we were nearing the end of the walk. We went to a restaurant that has changed it's name quite a few times, and I forget what it's called now. I want to say Sailor Jack's. But it's at the end of First Street, across from the depot. There we met a gambler who liked the ladies of the night. So they lined several women up, for the spirit to "choose" his lady for the night. I was not among the ladies in the line, so he didn't chose me. I'm sure he would have chosen me. 

Afterwards, we sat around and heard some more history of our guide and some different cases he's worked. 

Was it real? Some people had some very intense experiences, while others didn't feel anything. Some people say it's not real and don't feel it's worth the money. I think that if you have an open mind, it's worth your time. If you believe in spirits, then this is a good walk for you. 

I'm glad I went on the Ghost Walk, I learned a lot more about First Street and it was something I had never done before. So there you have it, my experience doing a Ghost Walk.

Come Home, Kitty. Come Home

I am starting to pack for my trip to Iceland. I have an adventure I want to write about before I leave, but before I can do that, I want to write about my cat, Daisy.

I've dedicated this blog to my adventures. Not all adventures are exciting, and not all of them are happy ones. At times, living life can be adventure enough. 

Daisy was a feral kitty I adopted 6 years ago, by opening my door. She walked through, and I shut the door. She was affectionate & playful. She was a chill kind of cat that made me think all cats were so easy to be around, until I adopted Lola. 

I took Daisy up to Alaska with me and then drove down with her a month ago. She seemed

to adjust to the new living situation, although scared of the new humans around her. You see, while Daisy loved me, she was by no means tamed. She was too scared of people. She tolerated Dakota and she tolerated Lola, but she never loved them.

And it really wasn't a surprise when she ran out of the garage last Friday night. My brother had opened the garage door to bring in his motorcycle. Normally, Daisy ran into the house, but on that night, she ran to her freedom. We are surrounded by open space and giant hills for miles. 

She is microchipped. Shelters have been called, fliers put up, and a search went on. I even sat out for hours with the garage door open waiting for her to slip quietly in. 

But as much as I wish to see her again, I think this is the last story of Daisy. I think she went back to being feral. I think she was always feral, but tried the best she could to be happy. I imagine she feels a sense of freedom no longer having to tolerate any creature if she doesn't want to. 

I just hope she's warm & fed well. She's spayed, and that allows me to feel some gladness for her. At least I won't be contributing to the large number of unwanted feral cats. Yes, there's one new feral cat out there, but she's wanted. I would take her back in a heartbeat. 

I miss my cat. She was an easy cat, compared to the terror that is Lola. I feel a sense of loss...missing an important part of my little family unit. My pets aren't just pets. They are my furbabies. 

My cat ran away. Never thought I'd deal with this. I'd gladly take on the heartbreak of some stupid man over losing a furbaby, especially with no real closure. She may be okay. She may be dead. She may come back one night. I will keep an eye out, but my heart's not in it.

Goodbye Daisy. If you ever get tired of hiding, or hungry, you know where to find me. 

Driving the Alaska Highway - Continued

The title of this post is a tad misleading...because technically, this post won't cover the Alaska Highway. We took the West Access Route through Seattle. It's still covered in The Milepost though. 

So, picking up where I last left off:

Day 5: Dawson Creek, BC to Cache Creek, BC; 519 miles; West Access Route

On this day, I decided I didn't want to reserve hotel rooms. I wanted to hurry up and get to California, and I felt that we would do better if we pushed ourselves as far as we could, then stopped. I thought we could go farther each day that way. My mother wasn't too pleased with this new plan, but as she said, I was in charge.

Dead Bugs Galore!

It was raining most of that day, so there aren't a lot of pictures. Plus, it was really, really buggy out. So the windshield was covered with dead bugs, so none of the pictures were coming out right anyways. Actually, I was glad for the rain because it helped wash all the dead bugs off the car.

It turned out not to be that great of a day. At first, the day seemed to be uneventful. Sure, the scenery was pretty, but whatever. Towards the 400 mile mark, my mom was starting to get tired. I had the goal of Cache Creek in my head, but I wasn't sure we could pull it off. So, I just said, "Let's keep going."

And so we did. My mother was really tired when we passed through a nice little town with a bunch of well known hotels, including the one we had stayed at the night before. My mom wanted to stop (and I should point out that she was driving) but I said, "Let's keep going!!"

Now, in retrospect, we should have either a) stopped at the hotel she wanted or b) switched drivers. But we are both somewhat stubborn. So I figured we could keep going and she figured she could keep driving. 

It got very dark. It began to pour. The road became very curvy. And the big rigs who are used to traveling on that road began to tailgate my mom. 

To sum up: vision was bad, and the & @#$#@ drivers were dangerous.

It was at this point, my mother says, "I have trouble seeing at night. I can't see the road and we should have had you drive."

Well, what to do about that now? I realized my mother was struggling, so I tried to soothe her best I could. I told her everything would be okay when we got to Cache Creek, because it would be like a nice town. 

Remember that scene in Willow, when Willow has Madmartigan go to Tir Asleen & it turns out the people were frozen and trolls took it over? Yeah, my night was kinda like that...only with no trolls. We weren't in danger....it just was more like a truck stop with motels. Not fantastic ones.

Since we didn't have a reservation, I had to stop at 2 motels before we found one that would take Dakota. My mom hated that one. I on the other hand slept great. The room was clean and in good condition. My mom and I were on different ends of the motel and she didn't like being so far away from me (or was it Dakota maybe??). We stayed at Canada's Best Value Inn and the price was good & they let me have Dakota. I think my mom was just done for that day.

Here are a few pics from Day 5:

Day 6: Cache Creek, BC to Salem, OR; 503 miles

I've said before that I don't travel well with people. Some people have scoffed at that statement, however, here's proof. My mother told me that she was not comfortable with me not calling ahead for rooms. My response was to tell her that she wouldn't be comfortable until she was back home, sleeping in her own bed and that we should hurry up and get her home.

But, to appease her, I had called ahead to the hotel chain she liked and found one right outside of Seattle. But that bothered me. I wanted a LONG day of driving. I didn't say anything but decided to see how we felt once we hit Seattle. 

At this point of the trip, we had to stop using The Milepost because it didn't tell me how to get to Seattle. It reads as though you are already there and heading up. So, I turned to Google. And it used Google directions for the rest of the trip! 

 There were a couple of highlights on this day besides beautiful scenery: 1) We entered the United States that day; 2) THE BRIDGE; & 3) We drove through the entire state of Washington all in one day.

Canada/U.S. Border

Back in America

Passing the border into the U.S. was pretty uneventful. Except as we drove through, there was a big flash as they took our picture. I get it, but it unnerved me a bit knowing my picture was going through some facial recognition software and maybe, just maybe someone was saying, "That's Lara Ruark entering the U.S. from Canada, Sir." 

It's kind of funny, but the border is right in the middle of this town. One part is Canada, then the next is the United States.

The next big piece of excitement was involving the bridge that collapsed in Washington. On Day 4, my Facebook account blew up of everyone telling me about a bridge on I-5 that collapsed. We were two days away, and I had debated rerouting our trip to avoid that whole area. Everyone was being advised to please avoid it if possible. And it was possible to avoid, but really out of my way. I decided to risk the detour. I knew one would be set up by this time and it was a weekend when we crossed it. 

As we approached the detour, you could see the bridge up ahead. And you could tell the bridge was out, but it looked like the top had come down on the bridge. The detour took us right next to the bridge, and then you could see a span of the bridge was just gone! It is amazing that no one was seriously hurt. 

The span was GONE

The detour it's self was only about 10 minutes. I can see how during rush hour, it would be a nightmare. But for our trip, I was glad I stayed on course. It took no time at all before we were back on I-5 heading towards Seattle. 

Once we hit Seattle, we just kept on going! I was deliriously happy to be passing Seattle. I wanted to keep going. Before I knew it, we had passed through the state of Washington and were entering Oregon. I was debating how far we could push it (my mom was driving at this point) when we drove through Portland. 

My mom was starting to hit her driving "wall" and I noticed we were about to drive through Salem. I know I am a big dork, but I thought it would be funny to check in on Facebook with a location saying I was in Salem. Even though it was a different Salem that they had the famous witch trials, it kinda cracked me up. If it was only my mom, Dakota, and myself...I would have kept driving. But the cats hadn't been out of their carriers for over 10 hours. I felt bad for them. They had water but no way to relieve themselves. So, for their sake (sorry Mom, but it's true) I stopped for the night. 

My mom was insistent on staying in the same brand of hotel that she had liked so much in Canada. I didn't want to point out that everything's nicer in Canada because she was so hopeful that she'd have a better night than the one before. So I found a Super 8 in Salem, and that's where we stayed. The breakfast wasn't quite as nice as in Dawson Creek and it was crowded due to the Jehovah's Witness convention being held that weekend, but I knew it was the last hotel I would be staying in on this trip. So all was well.

Here are some pictures (it really was quite lovely):

The Space Needle

Seattle, Washington

A blurry shot of Portland

Portland, Oregon

Day 7: Salem, OR to Benicia, CA; 564 miles

I was very excited. This was the last day of my road trip. I was so ready to get settled, even if it was temporary. My brother & my sister-in-law said I could stay with them. I just had to make it to Benicia to drop off my mom & then head over to their house.

Not much happened on the road that day. My mother didn't drive that much, mostly because I asked her to let me drive before she got over tired. It took me a few days to figure it out, but I started to catch on to her signs that she was tiring. The closer we got to California, the more jazzed up I became. 

One little comical moment happened when I tried to empty Dakota's water bowl while we were driving. I didn't want to throw out the plastic bowl, so I grabbed it tightly and threw the water...only to have it come back in my face. I didn't mind, the temperature was climbing to 80 and I was really hot!!!

Once I dropped my mom off, I headed off to my brother's house. His wife threw together an impromptu celebration for me. It was awesome. Everyone quickly fell in love with Dakota, although the real love story is with Lola. When I find my own place, taking her will break some hearts I can tell. 

Here are some pictures of the last day on the road:

Mt. Shasta

Lake Shasta

My mother lives on the top of that hill

We made it!

The spread my sis put out

All smiles on the last day

So life is returning to normal for me. I've traveled 3,446 miles to come back to California. I have a job for the next school year already. I won't mention where that is...maybe never. My blog is going to be about my adventures outside the classroom. Just know that I am a proud Elementary Teacher. I love teaching the little ones, and I will have some classroom adventures, but I'll share those somewhere else. 

In two weeks, I will be leaving for Iceland. I haven't decided yet if I will be blogging every day or just journaling with a reflective blog post. It's a special event, so maybe a daily post would be in order. 

I've been back for 3 weeks now. I've settled in and the novelty of running to the store when I want to has worn off. Life is kind of boring for me really. Which has made me stop and question what do I want to do about that. 

I enjoy reading (I've already read 3 books the last 2 weeks) and watching movies (2 in the theater, several at home) and I've enjoyed walking Dakota around my brother's house & the end of First Street in Benicia. 

But where's the adventure in that? I think I am going to adventure withdrawl. It's a good thing Iceland is almost here. However, I've decided to go out and have a weekly adventure. A day trip with Dakota! Or maybe to an amusement park. Or something different. 

I miss the element of not knowing what to expect. I'm back in the land of things going according to plan. What is supposed to happen: happens. Stores are open when they say they'll be open. There's more than one worker to help out. Sigh. Where's the drama in that? Mail comes right to the house!

The sun sets. It's dark now. How sad. I find myself missing the midnight sun like a lost friend. Yet another reason I am looking so forward to Iceland. They have the midnight sun there too. 

I don't miss the mosquitos though. That's been freakin' sweet let me tell you! And it's funny that I can now freeze out my manly friends. 

I've gone through a book about places to take your dog in the Bay Area and dogeared some great places. I think this week I will start out slow. After all, I still have to get ready for Iceland!! I want to pack already but I have to pace myself to savor each moment!! As my friend Mandii said, it's gonna be EPIC!

Alaska brought out the adventurer in me, and now that I have a taste for adventure, I won't be able to give it up!