paranormal enthusiast

I love this term that I recently happened upon in my reading or tv viewing or whatever.....sums it all up. so, here's the notes from my trip notebook about the awesomeness that was #ghosthuntingwithtracyanddebandchris #finaldestinationwestvirgina2023 .

when this was all in the planning stages, Tracy told me to check out paranormalprinces7 on instagram. she has amazing pictures. and she's a paranormal investigator. and a pole dancer? or maybe that's just for pics. she has a quite interesting life. and she's been haunted. not the fun kind, either.

we set our manin objective as Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. added in Lake Shawnee Abandoned Amusement Park. and Mothman. TNT Bunkers. and the Flatwood Monster. and Bigfoot. and Brandy Gap Tunnel #2. Chris threw in The Grafton Monster. he plays Fallout, a video game based in post apocolyptic WV with all the cryptids. he signed up as chauffer and photographer. Tracy found additional attractions and booked our hotel. I researched museums and tours and bought tickets.

Monday. Day 1. Chris & Tracy arrived about 4:30 a.m. we loaded their stuff into my car and hit the highway. drove through Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virgina. gas $56 in Indiana. $3.59/gal. LOUDEST pump ever. I thought it was gonna blow up. time change. stopped in Atlanta, Indiana to take pics outside Roads Hotel, hoping maybe someone would be there so we could tour. nope. still amazing to see it in person. of course took pics and pics and pics. haven't went through them all yet to look for any paranormal evidence. cause I firmly believe ghosts are out in the daytime, too. then Chris pointed out the spooky house at the other end of the block, we went to take pictures. I. had. forgotten. all. about. Asher Walton House. they do events together. it was AMAZING. a paranormal van outside and everything. this man is walking down the street, asks us what we're doing. do we know this house is legit haunted? would we like a tour? a FREE tour? omg. the caretaker collects haunted dolls. I wrote notes later...one was from Bell Witch Cave. one from Ohio. the eyeless doll locked in a basement thought to be the cause of death of 2 grandchildren. he's been there 30 some years. he's met all the famous and not-so-famous tourtakers. they have a full video system set up, and beds you can bring sleeping bags for. you can ask for footage of your hunt. he showed us the video of the woman sitting on the tiny desk thing by closet and the black hand was around her neck. nope. check FB page for videos. Steve & Tango from Ghost Hunters have been there. and YouTubers. Prime TV. drove by several of the HUGE 12' skeletons. $41.27 gas in Logan Ohio. Chris put in his Speedway code and saved me 10 cents a gallon! mountains. forests. spooky fog. drove by sign for Coolville. (Scooby Doo vibes.) we finally hit West Virginia! Chris told us in WV the go to snack is Pepperoni Rolls and Mountain Dew. (Missouri Casey's proclaims the Midwest Breakfast is a big slice and a medium fountain drink.) had a comfy bed in a nice hotel.

Day 2. Tuesday. gas. $22.88. 3.29gallon. deer. they are tiny...like German Shepherds. saw a couple of Bigfoot. #alwayslookingforbigfoot I'll count anything...billboards, bumper stickers...toll booths. .75cents or $4.25. cash. todays big event was Lake Shawnee Abandoned Amusement Park. our guide was CHRIS! THE Chris from the Portals to Hell episode! he had all the deets! he wasn't thrilled with Jack coming, since he didn't like the name Portals to Hell since he wants to honor the Native Americans buried there. but Jack was bringing Ozzie Osbourne and who could say no to that???? but then Ozzie got Covid and couldn't come. and Katrina had Covid, so Heather Taddy took her spot. they filmed 8 days. Destination Fear has filmed there. a tv show where people stayed alone for 28 days. I watched it but can't remember the name. Dead Files....his son was on the episode. Unexplained with William Shatner. he wouldn't let Ghost Adventures film because he didn't want Zak on property. (sigh. does anyone besides me and Tracy like the guy???) he'll tell people no if they won't give him a script before they come, even though they could use the money. there are layers of history here: Indians. settlers. the park. these are my notes and I could be wrong. 2 drowned in lake. 3 in cement swimming hole. little girl on the swing. he doesn't watch any of the shows that film there. he wants to tell what he believes is the story of the park, not get confused with what they think the story is. he is so interesting and so respectful of the land. showed us tons of evidence. told us the story of how his family acquired the property. his dad had worked there when it was open previously and had always dreamed of owning it and opening it back up. he finally had the opportunity to do so in the 1980s. it was a family affair. things were tight. they had to do other stuff to make the money for taxes, etc. so had mud runs. and that's how they found the human bones that were determined to be from long long long ago Natives. it was just as amazing as I thought it would be. of course I left several small toys. there was a doll I really really really wanted to bring home, but that wouldn't be nice for the child spirits. he lets people camp there and have campfires. he showed us where the campers that left that morning had sprinkled salt all around their tent. that says something. signs for 5% road grade. ears popping. onwards to Mt. Pleasant and Mothman! We rubbed the statues butt for luck. you're also supposed to leave a can of beans, which is from the video game and I didn't know about before. so, no beans from me. but I spent plenty at The Worlds Only Mothman Museum and Pt. Pleasant Trading Co. why didn't they sell beans, I wonder? if there'd been a sign with the reason on a display of beans, you know I would've bought 'em and lugged them right outside. missing an opportunity there. The Museum was amazing. very well put together. saw where the Silver Bridge once stood. couldn't find memorial. but did find porta potties in the nick of time. I could visualize the screams and people thrashing in the water and Christmas presents and cars bobbing in the water. ----here I inserted a list of future spooky trip ideas...this was a conversation we had. 1. Centralia, PA the town on fire. 2. Gettysburg. 3. Maine. The Stephen King gate. 4.Washington D.C. 5. Pea Patch Island Civil War Prison in Delaware. my great grandpa JC Maxwell was held there. and survived. 6. Pennhurst School, PA. 7. Old Juliet Prison in Illinois. 8. Octagon House, Franklin Co., KY.----found the TNT Bunkers. went in 2. next trip....take spray paint. cause you just never never know. Tracy said there were supposed to be bugs and mud. she brought bug spray. I brought my Mucks. but we didn't need 'em. or even remember to get them out of car. awesome echo. gas $3.69 gal. $48.82. more monster skeletons. giant rubber duckies on pillars on a driveway (like the stone lions, but giant rubber duckies???? coolest thing ever.) West Virgina Wild and Wonderful. deer, deer, deer. Tracy had found Brandy Gap Tunnel #2. we had trouble finding it. "Like it didn't want to be found," Chris. spooky AF. AF. the sky here. WOW. the atmosphere. ominous. the air is heavy. the road to tunnel....eek. could see our breath in tunnel. wet. drippy. "body juice" per Chris. cause it's under a 200 year old cemetery. but we went in full dark and couldn't find a path to cemetery over tunnel. and we got majorly creeped out. I think it was the scariest thing we've ever done. it wasn't so bad walking in. Chris stayed outside. he was filming a lot of stuff. but batteries kept dying. then he said something and we couldn't make it out, but it sounded like something was wrong, so we decided we were ready to turn around and leave. we couldn't see the entrance OR exit at this point. as soon as we turned around to leave, it felt like someone was watching us. we kept turning around. we had our headlamps on and flashlights. never saw anything. echoey. Chris felt watched the entire time. he said he'd shine flashlight at car, the license plate reflects light. then it was gone. like something walked in front of it. happened SEVERAL TIMES. we had to walk over this bridge with a big hole in it to get back to car. I was ready to jump out of my skin. even back in the car didn't feel safe. Chris found The Grafton Monster. he's an adorable creature that lurks in an alley. with some spooky buildings close by. deer. deer. deer. deer. oh, deer.

Wednesday, aka Day 3. did 2 tours at Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. we took pics in our ghost jammies. left a doll on a shelf. groundhog crawling in and out of broken basement window. vultures circling overhead. tour guides dressed as nurses. Shay our paranormal tour guide met Dakota from Destination Fear, Jack Osbourne, TikTok celebs. he grew up here, his mom works there. we had ghostly fingerprints on the trunk, Chris debunked. his fingers. I was teary eyed in lobotomy room. sad in women's ward. Tracy rolled the ball, it hit the wall and just kept moving randomly until the next ball thrower picked it up. heard knock, disembodied voices. Mothman sighting! more giant skeletons. Criminally Insane Tour. they'd kill each other. fights, etc. guards stayed in their keys and called local law enforcement, who dealt with it. they just hosed the blood down into floor drains. I. must. make. a. nurse. doll. with bloody fingerprints. went to The Flatwoods Monster Museum. found 2 chairs and a haunted swing! West Virginia Bigfoot Museum. very cool. very cool. there is a local researcher who had a binder of sightings and casts he'd made. I bought his book. Huckleberry from Mountain Monsters is friends with the owner. she says he is very kind, comes in with wife and grandson. he is very tall, wears overalls, lives in boonies with no electricy, comes to town to get his messages. he is a friend of the town and the museum. deer. deer. deer. Tracy and I went clearance shopping at Maurices. I really should try on clothes before I buy them. window shopping at Target. on way back to hotel in Weston drove past a gas station where Mothman and The Flatwoods Monster were filming something. so, Chris whipped in and we watched them for a few. Tracy had to go to bathroom, she walked out while they were filming...is she in background? The General Gas Station. we had supper at Olive Garden after sitting a long damn time in Applebees with no sign of a waitress. had a lively conversation with a couple of waitresses about Mothman and Flatwoods Monster gender and haunted locations and Chem Trails causing the clouds????

Thursday, Day 4. there are virtually no bugs on the windshield with all the driving we've done. gas 3.29gallon $47.00. hotel breakfast. loaded up. Chris & Tracy saw a dead bear on side of highway. I was looking off into the trees in my own little world and missed it. wool gathering. dear. deer. deer. saw BIGFOOT! in Kentucky! leaves starting to turn. giant Beetlejuice snake and skeleton. skeleton with chain saw. dancing antimated skeleton school sign. tons of black barns. google says black barns get hot and hold heat to cure tobacco quicker. saw houses where the back of the house is literally in. the. woods. bears, anyone? they might enjoy shitting in a bathroom over shitting in the woods. just saying. look for tv episodes at Trans-Allegheny and Lake Shawnee Amusement Park. update ghost book. make nurse doll. we went to Buc-ees. Chris & Tracy made route home so they could go to Buc-ees. it's a huge TikTok thing. rub Buc-ees hand for luck. gas 3.29gallon. $37.64. place is HUGE. HUGE. sunny. no more formidable sinister clouds. I miss them already. as soon as I wrote this it sprinkled a minute. Indiana. billboard: Canna-curious? the sun is back. missed the time zone change. back on central time. "20 minutes away but a world apart." Illinois. hit Missouri at 5:11p.m. "we gotta get out of this place if it's the last thing we do." Maurices' had an adorable brown hooded flannel. I wish I had bought it but Tracy was trying it on. make a denim pillow to put my patches on...or a throw quilt?. St Louis traffic. digital billboard looking for a MURDERER. doll names: Posey. Cynthiana. Grayville. Carmi. Jeptha. selling the American Dream. $3.56gallon. $53.35. beautiful sunset. Steak & Shake for supper. full moon entire trip! made it home before midnight on my 40th anniversary. Kevin was waiting up, then went to bed. Chris & Tracy crashed here overnight.