A "Shining" Visit

I figured that this time of the year, most RV campgrounds would be pretty empty.  Not the case in the Denver area!  We wanted to stop and see our friend, Jack Sajevic, who lives in Broomfield, just north of Denver, but the closest I could find was a campground just west of Loveland, which is about an hour north of Denver.  It sure was nice to be back in the mountains!

 

View to the east

View to the west

 

Luckily, we were able to meet Jack in Longmont at Oskar Blue Brewery for some great beer, nachos and, of course, good conversation. 

Next day, we decided on a trip to Estes Park, to try to get on one of the tours of the Stanley Hotel.  However, this being the Halloween season, and the fact that the Stanley is supposed to be haunted, and, my favorite fact about the Stanley - it is where Stephen King wrote and based the book, "The Shining".

The drive up to Estes Park is breathtaking any time of the year, but in the fall, the aspen trees are amazing.

 

 

The road winds through high cliffs and past mountain streams.  Poor Ron had to concentrate on the road, but I couldn't help but ooh & aah.

 

 

When we reached the Stanley Hotel, we found out that

 all of the tours for the day were full, but we were free to wander the grounds.  There is information everywhere about the history of the hotel, but its real claim to fame is "The Shining".  Stephen King wrote the book based on the hotel when he stayed there in Room 217 (the haunted room with the lady in the bathtub in the movie).  He wasn't happy when Stanley Kubrick decided to film the exteriors at the Timberland Lodge in Mt. Hood, Oregon (because Estes Park didn't have enough snow or electricity), and built the interior sets after the Ahwhnee Hotel in Yosemite.

 

He also didn't like the casting or changes in the "tone".  He even made a TV mini-series of "The Shining" himself filmed at the Stanley Hotel.  Of course, we had to watch it that night while we were drinking wine out of our "Redrum" and Stanley Hotel wine glasses.  The mini-series is pretty bad, but it was fun to see the hotel.

I also couldn't resist trying on this hat!

 

Next, we are spending a week in Colorado Springs.  Hope the weather holds - it can snow here this time of the year!