DAY 2 Solo Drive Spartanburg, SC. to Los Angeles, CA.

Now I know that everyone is probably not interested on my long road trip cross country, and they could not really give a rats ass. But I would just like to share my experience whether you like it or not, but they do include Hookers and a possible paranormal experience.

Day 2: 851 Miles - 8/16/2011

So the second day of the trip was upon me, and it was a doozy.

Back o the 40 I drove, without even realizing that I was only on 5 or so hours of rest. But screw it, I still had a half a Blimpie's Best sub, and a belly full of a Venti Iced Mocha from Starbucks.

Driving during the day was quite boring, you keep flicking through the radio stations. You end up finding a song that you like, only to realize that the singer isn't talking about some girl, but he is talking about Jesus and his relationship with God. Now I have no problem with anyone's beliefs, but in the midwest it is hammered down your throat in a big way.

I guess they don't call it the bible belt for nothing.

John Nikas contacts me because he is about 9 hours behind me. He asks if I could check the Autozone in Yukon, Oklahoma, to see if they have any Quaker State 20W/50. Well I am headed that way so of course I say yes, no problem because it is a great town and when we left heading east we both almost died. Well died is a strong word, but it was pretty scary. Let's just say the throttle pin on the Healey became dislodged on the fast lane of Rt. 40. Traffic was flying by and thank god my nimble uncut finger nails were able to unscrew the nut that held the damn thing back together. I literally saw a truck wizz by so fast missing John by inches, so fast in fact that it almost blew off his shirt.

So I stop at the Autozone, in Yukon, OK on Garth Brooks Blvd, Yes I said it Garth Brooks Blvd.

Let me tell you these employees were awesome, I want to say Peter and Roxanne, at least I think Peter was his name. But when I got there they were off for the day, and it was Juan the manager. I asked Juan Marez to stock up with anything the John Nikas my need, and I was glad to hear the Juan hooked up John with some oil and water. Kudos to Autozone Yukon OK.

Well the road called again, so I took off.

You gotta love western Oklahoma, because LOVE'S Travel Center is awesome. Did I say the gas was only around $3.39 a gallon and cigarettes, yes I know they are bad, but they are only around 3.50 a pack. So shut up and shoot me, only a woman will be ever get me to quit, And that woman will be the luckiest girl on earth!!

I could see that a storm was coming in and I for-warned John, via a text, little did I know this storm was bad.

As I entered Texas the clouds built, and the rain and the lightning began. Everyone knows what lightning is, but in Texas it is big. so say the phrase everything is bigger in Texas.

As I started into Amarillo, I couldn't help but laughing to myself, and coming up with the phrase.


'When it rains in Texas you can't smell the Bull Shit"

While politically it may sound mundane, it is a fact, because when it isn't raining all you can smell is bull shit. nothing but cows and bulls shitting in a field that goes on forever.

As I kicked into Amarillo it did rain hard and the lightning was blinding, I was waiting to see a big silhouette of Godzilla looming the background., which would've been awesome. (What Movie was that, Jody help me out) Think about it, 360 degrees and the sky lights up around you, so much you end up shielding your eyes, that's how bright it is.

Well as soon as I left Texas the rain disappeared, thank god.  New Mexico was ahead of me, and the road was clear.

Motel 6 (Carlisle) Albuquerque NM.

So Albuqeurque, NM was just like any other town that I dealt with. You scout out the Motel 6's in the area and find the one that has the least issues.  I found mine in the Carlisle area of New Mexico, while it might have been creepy in of itself, I was tired.

Now when I say the least issues I mean the one where I can crash hard.

I check in, the night guy is kind of, well kind of, I don't give a shit. But I was to tired to care, and I needed sleep, and my room number was 211.

This is where it gets kind of weird.

I park the car, go up to the room, typical , because that's what you do. But that is where the strange shit hits the fan, I get into the room.and lay down, as I close m eyes, I hear the click of heels and then feels like someone sitting down on my bed. Now I have done some part time ghost hunting, but this is something I never have experienced in the past. Then I saw something that shocked me, I look up and see the mattress lifted up as if someone has just sat up from the corner of the bed.

I am a big skeptic, when it comes to things like this, but I know what I saw, Then just as I write it off again, and roll over, because well I am tired, I then I feel what can only describe as, well does anyone have a pet that will jump on you because it has to piss, or it's hungry, let's just say that is what happened.

And it scared the crap out of me. I flipped around expecting to see my roommates cat, that's how real it was.

Whatever it was I literally said out loud "Please let me sleep and I apologize for taking up your space."

I then hear outside "come on Let's go bitch, time is money", I look out the window, and it's only what I can see as  2 guys and some girl downstairs. So it was to obvious pimps and prostitute, because well it's a freakin' Tuesday night and around 3 am

CARS SAFE  I AM GOOD.

The only other thing that made me think of the room ,.. ghost and all. was when I checked out.


Check out girl: 211, huh,..Did you sleep all right?


Me: Ya I'm good


Check out girl: Really??,..Lucky for you. (laughed)

I didn't think much about until it till I hit the road.

Wait did I just have a paranormal experience in a Motel 6 in Albuquerque. is what I saw really happen. As I think about it, I saw what I saw, no questions about it, I am kinda pissed that I didn't set up the camera and hit the record button.

I then again hit the road, hoping the ghosts don't follow me.

Drive I say Drive.

Part 3 coming soon:

Eddie on SyFy's "Haunted Collector"

So I watched this new show on SyFy called “Haunted Collector”, and all I can say is what a sham.

OK here is the simple premise.

John Zaffis, a paranormal expert, travels to people’s houses at their request to do a paranormal investigation and find an object that may be the cause of the activity. It's basically “Friday the 13th – The Series” made into a reality show.

First here is a little info about John Zaffis. He comes from a short lineage of paranormal experts. The kicker is he is the nephew of none other than Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens are most well known for “The Amityville Horror” investigation and best-selling novel and movie of the 1970’s.

Well it turns out that that book was pure NON-FICTION.

The Warrens would go to someone’s’ house and say that the house was haunted or possessed, make up a scary story, and then they would retain the book, movie, and media rights. That’s how they made money.

Then there’s the book “In A Dark Place”, which became the movie “A Haunting In Connecticut”. I actually pitched this book, for a possible film in the 90’s. But there was one problem Ed Warren wanted a lot of money for his story, so that ended that. Someone else made the movie in 2009, but only after Ed had died, because lets face it, Lorraine needed the money.

Here is a quick quote by Ray Garton, the author

I wrote IN A DARK PLACE: THE STORY OF A TRUE HAUNTING, in which a family had lived in a house that used to be a mortuary (allegedly...I never saw the inside of the house myself), which was, according to the Warrens, infested with demons. But the family involved, which was going through some serious problems like alcoholism and drug addiction, could *not* keep their story straight, and I became very frustrated; it's hard writing a non-fiction book when all the people involved are telling you different stories. So I went to Ed Warren and told him my problem. He told me not to worry, that the family was "crazy". I was shocked. He said, "All the people who come to us are crazy. You think *sane* people would come to us?" He knew I'd written a lot of horror novels prior to that, so he told me to just make the story up using whatever details I could incorporate into the book, and make it scary. Because I couldn't afford the attorney fees it would take to get out of the contract, I had to go through with the book, but I didn't like it. Since then, other writers who have worked with the Warrens have told me the EXACT SAME STORY, but they've done so quietly because they don't want to
make any waves with publishers.

So they are old school snake oil salesmen, they tell you what you want to here and then you pay them for it.

Now back to my views on “Haunted Collector”. Just like I wrote above about the Warrens this is pretty much the same thing. You call and say my place is haunted, and they will come over and do an investigation and tell you some object is possessed and then they take it from you, problem solved right?

In the premiere episode the team finds a gun under a house in a box. This gun looks like someone made mud pies and wrapped the gun in it. Also all the chambers of the gun are literally packed with dirt, yet the box has loose dirt in it. This is what you see when they first open the box, it’s like the mud is only attracted to the gun.

So they take the gun with them.

Then there’s the old, yet very clean, haunted typewriter on the desk against the wall. The K2/EMF detectors are going wild when the go near this, so it must be possessed. There is a pretty cool antique stove they focus on at first, you can almost see John Zaffis drooling over it, like Pavlov’s dog. But obviously he can’t take that item.

So they take the typewriter with them.

I would have liked to see them go back and do an investigation after an object has been removed. This way they can prove that they were right, but that’s to easy, because they would just tell you they were. So I just think that John Zaffis is an antiques thief, building a big collection for his museum. Ed Warren also had an Occult Museum, so again you can see another pattern.

While I do believe that there are things out there we can’t explain. But also feel that this show is complete bullshit. I’m not even sure whether or not the items they collect are planted or not.

So give it a shot if you want, just remember what I said above and you’ll see what I am talking about. I might watch it again, just to watch a bunch really stupid people who think they are experts, make consistent mistakes.

But mark my words regarding the museum, “If he builds it, they will come”. Wait he already did, dammit !!!! Why isn't his house/museum haunted?? If you have a house full of haunted items wouldn't it be a major hot spot for Gozor

Here is a brief tour of the "Museum of the Paranormal".

Aokigahara aka The Suicide Forest

The Aokigahara Forest ( The Sea of Trees) is the most popular site for suicides in Japan. The novel Kuroi Jukai was released in 1960 and tells the story of a woman who has a love affair with a young public prosecutor. He is blackmailed by the woman's husband, and the only escape for the lovers is a double suicide inside the dark and mysterious Aokigahara forest.  After the novel was published, people started taking their own lives there at a rate of 50 to 100 deaths a year. The authorities sweep for bodies only on an annual basis, as the forest sits at the base of Mt. Fuji and is too dense to patrol more frequently.

This area is famous for two things, the breathtaking views of Mt. Fuji and the suicides. Many people say that this place is also haunted and it is the ghosts the help the people commit suicide.There is also an absence of wildlife, in the area, which makes it even more eerie.

During the semi-regular body search, they leave plastic tape to mark where a body is found, and this tape is never removed. So within the first mile or so from the forests' entrance the area is littered with plastic tape. It is believed that leaving the corpse is left alone is very bad luck, for the yurei (ghost) of the suicide will scream through the night, and the body will move itself on its own. Since the books release, in 1960, there have been over 500 suicides in the forest, with a peak of 100 in 2003. I think the most of the suicides are based on the economic climate of Japan, and not romanticism of the book. But I am sure that the area is very serene, beautiful and yet very sad.

Call me disturbed but I would love to go there and do an investigation, and see for myself, what the forest really holds in it grasp. I am very surprised no one has yet to do this and why there isn't yet an in depth documentary on the subject.... Ding... Ding... Ding ....a bell just went of in my head. I will discuss the possibility with a few people, who know what could happen.

The sub-titled video below is very haunting and kind of sad, and the gentleman is actually a geologist. Also this is graphic and not for children.

 

 Part 1

 Part 2