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GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK MOSCA CREEK TRAIL Alamosa, Colorado

Expedition Team:  Dave Miller, Rosie Miller             Expedition Date:   September 20, 2019

After ascending & eating a short lunch near the Visitor Center, we hiked 3 miles on the beautiful Mosca Pass Trail. The trail winds beside Mosca Creek through forests, open meadows & rocky hillsides while we kept a wary eye open for bobcats.  The third photo is a view from the trail of the Great Sand Dunes which we hiked first that morning.

After returning from hiking we swam at a local swimming pool warmed by hot springs. That evening at the KOA Campground we sat outside in the chilly air and looked up at the beautiful milky way galaxy and thousands of stars. The last photo shows the inside of our cozy, warm travel trailer.

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ROYAL STREET HAUNTED HOUSE Expedition #1 & #2 New Orleans, Louisiana

Investigation Team: Dave Miller, Holly Eller, Justin Eller
Investigation Dates: December 5, 1992 and  November 2019

While visiting New Orleans, I investigated the former home of Madame Lalaurie (1787-1849), a legendary Creole beauty. The building on the corner of Royal Street and Governor Nichols Street is considered one of the city’s top haunted houses.

HISTORY: Lalaurie was a renowned hostess, cultured and charming. Her home at 1140 Royal Street was luxuriously decorated where she hosted New Orlean’s top people. In view of her status, scant attention was paid to rumors of strange screams and cries in the night that came from the third floor of her mansion. The horrible truth was found out in 1834 when a fire broke out in the house. A crowd gathered to help remove precious art and furnishings. Neighbors insisted on looking for servants trapped in the burning house. As Lalaurie left in a buggy, neighbors broke open the third floor door and found mutilated slaves & servants chained to furniture. Through the years, the mansion is said to be haunted with screams, cries, footsteps and cold spots heard and felt on the third floor.

INVESTIGATION #1: A bank occupied the building when I stopped in to visit. I spoke to a manager that told me that the third floor was now used for storage only. Some staff had heard some voices up there but when they checked, no other people were on the floor. Some staff refused to go to the third floor. He would not allow me to go up and take any photos no matter how hard I tried.

INVESTIGATION #2: On a rainy, windy and scary night Holly & Justin were on a New Orleans walking ghost tour. Holly said this was the scariest building on the tour. After telling the sordid. History about the fire that took place during a party and the grisly finds upstairs, the guide said that Nicholas Cage bought the house in 2009 but had horrible experiences. Cage lost the house to foreclosure but feels an entity still attached to him when he moved elsewhere. Cage built a pyramid shaped vault in a New Orleans cemetery because a pyramid would rid him of spirits as he feels cursed. The guide said tour patrons have taken photos through the front door and sometimes see apparitions on their photos. Since Cage, every owner has had hauntings. The current family that owns the building lives in Texas and has turned the place into a residence where they stay periodically when they are in town.

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CAPULIN VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT Capulin, New Mexico

Expedition Team:  Dave Miller, Rosie Miller        Expedition Date:  September 20, 2019

This National Monument in northeastern New Mexico is an extinct cinder cone volcano rising 2,494 feet high and part of a 8,000 square mile volcanic field.   As we were many miles away, the cone rises majestically in the distance.  You can see four different states from the one mile rim trail and great for stargazing.

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CADILLAC RANCH Expedition #3 Amarillo, Texas

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller       Expedition Date:   September 19, 2019

Every time we pass through Amarillo, Texas, Rosie & I have to stop at one of our favorite Route 66 Roadside Attractions, Cadillac Ranch. Ten Cadillacs ranging from 1949 to 1963 models are buried nose down supposedly at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Cadillac Ranch is a piece of public art created in 1974. The Cadillacs are colorfully adorned with spray paint and graffiti. Some workers had their torches out and were welding one of the cars, apparently showing wear after 45 years. Along route 66 we saw Texas longhorns beside the interstate.

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URANUS ROADSIDE ATTRACTION Uranus, Missouri

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller         Expedition Date: September 18, 2019

An expedition to Uranus. Sounds crappy, huh? Sorry, but we had to stop here. One of the most famous Roadside Attractions on Route 66 was Uranus, Missouri. We visited the Uranus Fudge Factory & General Store, interviewed a store employee for our Moraine TV show and met the Mayor of Uranus, Louie Keen. Uranus also had escape rooms, ice cream shop, sideshow museum, the world’s largest belt buckle, Fort Uranus archery & shooting range, Dental & Proctology Clinic & will build a wedding chapel in 2020. Yes, you can get married in Uranus. We laughed the entire time we were there. We left & while traveling through Oklahoma on the Will Rogers Turnpike, we passed under the world’s largest McDonalds which was built over all four lanes of the road. We drove 450 miles & camped at the El Reno, Oklahoma KOA campground on Route 66 that evening and awoke to a beautiful sunrise.

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WORLD’S LARGEST ROCKING CHAIR St. James, Missouri

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller             Expedition Date: September 18, 2019

Another iconic Roadside Attraction on famous Route 66.  Near St. James, Missouri, we visited the world’s second largest rocking chair (at one time the world’s largest) which was 21 feet long, 42 feet tall and weighed 27,500 pounds. It was erected on April Fool’s Day in 2008.

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WORLD’S LARGEST SHOES & CUBA ROUTE 66 ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS Cuba, Missouri

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller              Expedition Date:  September 18, 2019

We drove on and off famous Route 66 road in several states. At Cuba, we visited Roadside Attraction icons such as Missouri Hick BBQ which had fantastic sandwiches, Wagon Wheel Motel (the oldest continuously operated motel on Route 66 since 1938), the world’s largest shoes (size 38) once worn by Robert Wadlow, the worlds tallest man who was 8 ft. 21/4 inches tall and weighed 390 pounds. Cuba was called the mural city and we saw beautiful paintings on buildings ranging from Amelia Earhart to civil war murals.  We got some sweets at a great Amish Bakery before leaving town.

 

 

 

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MERAMEC CAVERNS ZIP LINE Stanton, Missouri

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller       Expedition Date: September 17, 2019

This was a fun outdoor Roadside Attraction.  Rosie & I enjoyed the zip line and steep climbing bridges. One funny note, on the last long zip line going over the woods and the Meramec River, Rosie came up a yard short at the end. The guide failed to grab her hand and I watched Rosie slide backwards 100 feet where she came to a stop over the river. I thought that was it. I would have to finish the vacation by myself. Luckily, the guide had to crawl all the way out on the cable, wrap his legs around Rosie and hand over hand pull them both back.  The Meramec Caverns and our KOA Campground are just off famous Route 66.

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MERAMEC RIVER KAYAKING Stanton, Missouri

Kayaking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller                Kayaking Date:  September 17, 2019

Rosie & I kayaked seven miles down the river from Meramec State Park to Meramec Caverns. The river was very clean and clear. A beautiful day. A local fisherman told me he eats the bass and perch that he catches. Saw lots of turtles & blue herons. We kayaked into a cave that sparkled from the sun’s reflection on the water and rocks.  We saw dozens of other caves along the way.

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HAUNTED MERAMEC CAVERNS Stanton, Missouri

Investigation Team: Dave Miller                    Investigation Date: Sept. 16, 2019

You know me, I had to ask the guide if there were any urban legends or paranormal experiences associated with the caverns. I struck it rich. The cavern guide told me many paranormal stories that he & other guides experienced. At an area of the cave called Ghost Alley, guides have reported a mist that couldn’t be explained & a partial apparition of a person. When guides are alone doing walk throughs when closing, they sometimes hear strange, unexplainable noises. In an area by the underground stream where the “Lassie” movie was filmed, standing between two large mounds, a guide named Tubby (who has 40 years of experience at the caves) heard children’s voices and no one was in that part of the cave. On the cave’s lower levels, a guide heard someone running when no lights were on. He heard a crash like someone running into a trash can. The guide turned on his light and no one was around.
Although my time on the cave tour was limited, Kevin our cavern guide allowed me to step aside from our small group and took some EVP’s and photos at Ghost Alley & by the stream. Checking the footage & photos later, I recorded no evidence.