Oregon: Mountains, Rivers, and Ghosts (Day 17)

My day started perfectly. There is nothing quite like waking up to the sound of ocean waves crashing on the beach. I enjoyed my morning coffee out on the chilly terrace, just drinking in as much of the coast as I could before reluctantly leaving my hotel and facing the long drive that lay ahead. My next destination was Baker City; really just a convenient stop en route to Yellowstone, which I hope to drive through on Friday. I knew that the trip would take over seven hours, in part because I would have to drive about 80 miles through mountain roads before reaching the interstate. Wanting to get an early start, I left the hotel before sunrise, but thankfully there was enough pre-dawn light to navigate the mountain roads despite the heavy shroud of morning mist. (If nothing else, when I return home I will be an expert at driving over windy, steep, fog-covered, misty mountain roads, a skill that will do me no good whatsoever in NY.)

After I reached the interstate, I stopped for breakfast and then continued on my journey - I drove north for about an hour on I-5 before beginning to head west on I-84, which is when the scenery began to get really interesting. 84 runs basically on/next to the Hood River (which later becomes the Columbia River) for a stretch of over 100 miles. For the entire ride, the views are extraordinary: the greenish blue river to the left, and mountains and cliffs to the right. By the time I reached this stretch of road, it was mid morning, the sun was shining, and it was altogether a beautiful day. I wish I'd gotten more pictures, but there weren't a lot of places to pull off the road. When I did pull off the road, the winds were so strong they nearly knocked me over, discouraging additional stops, which was freeing really - I was able to just enjoy the drive.

The last hour or so of the drive to Baker City, Oregon was less exciting, through flat farmland for quite a long way, but things started to pick up as soon as I arrived in Baker. As I said, Baker City is really just a "way station" for me; but because I didn't want to have several days with nothing to see, I chose to stay in a historic hotel. A bit about the area: Baker City was once a booming town because of the gold rush. Many of the towns in the area now are just shells, ghost towns, but Baker has managed to survive, and many of the beautiful old buildings from that bygone era are still standing; my hotel - the Geiser Grand (left) is one of them. Built in 1889, it was once the center of Baker City, where guests enjoyed luxury, fabulous food, entertainment and (rare for the area) electricity in the most famous and opulent hotel between Salt Lake City and Seattle. From the moment I arrived I wasn't disappointed; the hotel is beautiful both outside and in.

When I got to my room I was thrilled; it was just what I had pictured - 15 foot ceilings, 10 foot windows with antique curtains, a four-poster bed with crocheted overlays. The women at the front desk had been really friendly upon my arrival, telling me all about things I could see in the area; I decided after a shower to take a walk around the town and look at the buildings and shops. The first shop I went into was the Sycamore Tree, and while there I got to talking to one of the owners, a really sweet woman who convinced me to try some of her home made fudge (great sales trick; I ended up buying a ton of it!). Anyway, while we chatted she asked me if I was staying at the Geiser Grand. When I replied in the affirmative, she then asked if I happened to be staying on the third floor. Again, I said yes - and she then said, "You do know it's haunted, don't you?"

Now, here's a little something about me: I love the idea of ghosts. When my mom and I travelled to Savannah last year, I kept telling her I wanted to see ghosts because the city was famously haunted. Whenever I see old houses I tell her I think they're haunted. And when I called her from my hotel room earlier, I had told her, jokingly, that if I was ever staying in a place that was haunted, this was it. But I wasn't serious. So when the woman at the Sycamore Tree started to tell me stories about guests she had spoken to who had seen and heard strange things, all on the third floor, I'll admit I was a bit taken aback; although frankly a bit excited at the same time. So after having an excellent dinner and some really great locally brewed beer at Barley's Brew House I went back to the hotel to investigate further.

I first stopped into the gift shop, where I learned from one of the books on display that the Geiser is listed as one of the most haunted spots in all of Oregon. Apparently, although most of the disturbances take place on the third floor, there are also often ghosts seen leaning over the railings on the second floor (left), or heard chatting and laughing in the hallways. One of the workers here once, before the hotel re-opened, saw a girl walking down the halls and into a room, but when he followed her in there was no one there. Someone known as the "blue lady" apparently likes to appear in room 302 (right).

Not yet sufficiently frightened, I decided to wander around the place a bit more, and take a few more pictures. While wandering, I bumped into one of the women I had talked to at the front desk earlier. I laughingly said, "Hey, you didn't tell me this place was haunted!" She smiled back and said, "Oh yes - have you been up to the third floor yet?" When I told her I was staying on the third floor, her smile disappeared (do they practice this??) and she said, "Well, don't worry - I mean, they've only ever been seen; it's not like they've ever hurt anyone or anything." Great, thanks. Yikes. She went on to tell me that Ghost Hunters (the tv show on Discovery, I think) had already been here once, and had such a good time they planned to revisit on Halloween. Wow - so this place is haunted enough that a Ghost Hunters wants to come back for more. Huh. Friends, when you are traveling alone and you are thousands of miles from home, trust me - this is not comforting news.

Wishing I'd never gone to see the movie 1408, I went back to my room for the night. I won't lie - I didn't have the greatest night's sleep. It's amazing how easy it is to scare yourself; a few rumours of ghosts and suddenly every little noise made by a pipe or an air conditioner becomes sinister, and every shadow takes on a malevolent shape. I didn't see any ghosts, which frankly is just fine by me. I will admit to this, though - I did hear laughing and chatter in the halls several times throughout the course of the night, and though I can't be certain that the noise was made by other guests, my sanity required me to believe that it was.