Review of 2010: January thru June

The year started out with a blue moon shining the way to our friend’s house on New Year’s Eve. I made a wish on that moon that 2010 would be a much better year than 2009. I had no idea what a much better year it would be.

January:
I finally did something I have always wanted to do, go on a ghost hunt with other people. After several emails from my new friend Sharon (better known as Autumnforest of Ghost Hunting Theories), I decided to do a paranormal workshop lead by Debe Branning at the Pioneer Cemetery in central Phoenix. I met Sharon in the parking lot of the cemetery and knew right away that we would be great friends. She parked right beside me with Dale the Doll seat belted right next to her. Something told me that there would be more to this goofy, fun, sweet person that travels with a dummy (not me, Dale, lol). While taking the tour of the cemetery and picking up trash, we talked about everything. I felt like I knew her for many years. We had a great time and I learned a few ghost hunting techniques. I didn’t know then, but this was the beginning of our trips together which would lead to us doing books on abandoned places.
 ( My post: Ghost Hunting with Autumnforest )

I also took a trip in January with my husband to Flagstaff, Arizona and stayed at the Hotel Monte Vista. This hotel is known to be haunted. I was excited to stay in the “Meat Man’s room”, (The Meat Man Was Quiet) where he was reported to be haunting the room. We never saw him. We did experience 2 degree weather while traveling to the Grand Canyon. This was more than what we were used to coming from Phoenix.

February:
 I got invited to go with Mike, his two sisters and their friends to Bisbee, Arizona and spend the night at the Copper Queen Hotel. The last time we were there, we experienced a little paranormal activity. We had money slide off a dresser and heard whispering while trying to sleep. This time we had much more activity in both rooms of the hotel as well as the Evergreen Cemetery. When we arrived in Bisbee, we were met by snow falling. This was very exciting for us Phoenicians who don’t experience snow at all. The snow turned into rain for most of the first day. That stormy weather could have been part of why we had so much activity. Read about our experience. It took four posts to write about the entire trip:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/02/bisbee-part-one-arrival-and-walk-around.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/02/bisbee-part-two-evergreen-cemetery.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/02/bisbee-part-three-in-darkness.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/02/bisbee-part-four-bedtime.html

March:
 I took my first trip to Superior, Miami and Globe with Sharon, Debe and Ginny. This trip is where my eyes were opened to the beauty of cemeteries and abandoned buildings. I didn’t see them as hopeless and sad; I saw them as art, especially through my camera. This was the beginning of me wanting to take many more pictures of deserted and lonely places. I did get some interesting posts from some of the headstones I took pictures of. Their stories were just as fascinating. Here are some of the posts I did from them:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-place-to-make-horror-flick.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/03/pearl-bandit-queen-hart.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/04/nortorious-pete-spence.html

April:
This is the month is added the “Bizarre Arizona” to my title of the blog. I wanted to have a unique blog, different from others, that focused on the state I live in. Arizona is loaded with Wild West history and has many appealing places. I wanted people to see the best side of Arizona instead of what has been said about it on TV.

May:
This month brings me back to Globe to spend the night at the Noftsger Hill Inn with Sharon, Debe and Ginny. This hotel used to be an elementary school and is rumored to be haunted. The room we stayed in was huge. It used to be a class room and had high ceilings and massive windows. It was an exciting place to stay. On this trip we wandered around Globe and Miami too. I was able to take many photos around town. Here are my posts on that trip:
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/05/noftsger-hill-inn.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/05/inside-noftsger-hill-inn.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/05/three-blogateers.html
http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com/2010/05/besh-ba-gowah-archaeological-park.html

June:
I didn’t go anywhere that month. Just stayed home, worked on my blogs and enjoyed my family. The temperature outside was a scorching 113-118 degrees. I usually stay inside in the cool air conditioned house when Mother Nature turns the oven up.

I will be adding the second half of 2010 on Friday's post.