Wolfe Manor, Clovis, CA  Saturday night, Sept 27, 2008

Trip highlights:
My new ion camera battery dies. Surprise, surprise.
David watches a little toy red truck cross the kitchen.
David has his camera pushed into his side
Jay's camera flash quit, returned to normal on the way home
Lengthy wand conversation with Mary
Jay receives a shock to the back of her neck
DL's camera refuses to focus
Second wand conversation with Mary
Wand conversation with a woman in north black room
Wand conversation with "Charlie" in the solarium
My cell phone moves about in my back jeans pocket.
David's reliable watch stopped at 3:10, started up again soon after.

We booked a tour at the Wolfe Manor a few weeks ahead, planning on an hour at 11 pm. As the day got closer, the time was changed to 9 pm and we agreed to two hours. We never dreamed we would stay five hours, and leave with the pictures of a life time.

For the record, DL is an evidence officer, Jay is an EMT paramedic and 911 operator, very calm, logical people who deal with emergencies and panic situations on a daily basis. David is losing his skeptic status while Gary is still full blown. DL is armed with a Canon ES and Sony HHD video, David has his reliable Sony, I have my brand new Panasonic FZ50.

David and Jay and I left early, wanting daylight pictures of the manor's exterior, grabbed some dinner and returned to the manor to find DL and Gary waiting for us in the parking lot. Our tour guide, Terry Campbell, is still finishing up with the tour from 7:00 pm. so we prep our equipment. The guys wait at the cars for us while we venture out to the back lot. Scott had mentioned he can't wait to get me out in the back, so we wander away to go see. Anne found a rock whose home was originally in a deep sort of basement, DL had a quiet anxiety attack, and Jay went walking around a green room (next to a yellowish beige/brown room and attached to a long corridor), which she felt and Anne could see.  Jay felt a group of refrigerators. We did not venture out to the perimeter (missing some hefty things,) and wandered back when we saw Terry talking to the guys.  David took pictures of us three out there, unbeknownst to us, which proved later to be the coupe de grace of the evening.

After a bit of  chatting in the parking lot, we loaded up and ventured in. Strange sensation, walking up to and into that front door. I chalked that up to the build up from the last two weeks, take a deep breath and walk into the house.

We toured the first floor, foyer, dining room, kitchen, attached rooms, manager's office next to the back steps. When we were in the kitchen, my camera simply died. Poof. Unheard of, new ion battery, new camera. When Terry and I return from changing batteries, he notices an object on the kitchen floor has been moved, asks DL, Jay and David if they moved it. They all say no, David said he saw it move across the room but didn't think anything of it. Everyone is absolutely positive they did not kick it. This is one of several little tests they have in the manor, objects that are placed in an exact spot to check for movement. Jay does not like the back steps at all, they are extremely creepy. I don't like the nearby room, either. A corridor between the kitchen and basement stairs, where Terry feels there is a dead zone (an area within the walls yet discovered) Jay gets weirded, signals me to stand in the corner, I almost fall over from the sensation. Light, falling, whirlwind, very uncomfortable.

We head down to the basement where I would feel the first of the 'followings." You can distinctly feel someone directly and immediately behind you, within a few inches, no doubt, and it is creepy enough to make you spin around a few times. Pictures reveal an orb hovering over my head. This is where I was told to make sure my hair was up as one of the residents likes to pull hair. The pink room has a small black poodle toy, along with the infamous ice cream dish. We talk in the echoing room for a while, take group pictures on the stairs and head back up.

The first of a few cigarette breaks. The non-smokers make some teasing, grumbling complaints, but I notice we are all very glad for some fresh air and a break from that  intense atmosphere. A man wearing a checkered Gatsby cap made or handled the beautiful stained glass window at the front of the house.

Back into the house and up the grand staircase to the second floor landing. I took pictures of the two front windows, shooting a burst that revealed an orb in two pictures, in different places, but not the first. Someone has fallen from the third floor to the second floor at some point? Wandering through the rooms, into a bathroom where I felt someone who had done severe damage to themselves, through the master bedroom with lovely rose wallpaper and the sensation of gay and happy, waltz music, the south black room with its red curtains, and then to Mary's room.

Here, David's camera was pushed into his side, David and Terry's hair stood on end, Jay dowsed while DL filmed. We had an amazing, easy, extensive conversation with Mary, quickly interrupted by Jay's receiving of a shock to the back of her neck that literally doubled her over. The conversation continued, and we finally left for the solaruium. I called this the seance room, for the memories of a past seance ring loudly. Then George's room, and the north black room with the restraining gurney. There, I felt an unpleasant man. Jay brought out the wands, and we discovered we were talking to a woman, instead, but the man was definitely there. Terry adds  some inforamtion about the man, explaining his attitude.

Next, was the attic, accessible only by a ladder in what is now a closet, which used to be part of the winding stair to the attic, right next to landing where I felt the falling from floor to floor sensation. The minute my feet leave the ladder and touch the lovely planked floor, I know this would have been my room. A small corner room is unhappy, but the rest of the room is light and pleasant, despite a negative history I did not feel. The pictures of this room would produce numerous orbs.

Another cigarette break when DL's camera simply refused to focus. Surprise, surprise.

Once more into the house to visit the parlour, take pictures of the mantel, the family pictures on the wall, and the attached atrium with a grand tile floor design. The ceiling picture would produce the first orb pictures we found once we were back home.

David and Gary take cat naps while the girls head back through the kitchen and down to the basement again, singing "Row Row Row Your Boat." I have no idea why I felt we should sing this, but we did. Once back in the pink room, we turned off our lights and sat, our ears ringing from the silence. My cell phone, in my back left, tight jean pocket (I am sitting down) is moving up and down. Back up to Mary's room for our second conversation, then to the Solarium for a conversation with "Charlie."

Scott finally arrives, we are now on our fourth hour, and we join everyone on the porch. Scott has recently angered the house with the ice cream dish, so during the evening, I had jokingly announced to the house, "Scott is around somewhere!" Now, as we re-enter the house, I can happily yell, "Scott's home!"  Scott takes us to the five minute room, the manager's room, the one next to the creepy back steps. DL and I get extremely dizzy, DL, David and I distinctly feel the floor wave and move, then I feel like I am being lifted up to the ceiling, Head slightly bent forward, looking at the faded lineoleum floor, I feel so dizzy I have to brace myself against the wall, sick to my stomach in a way I have never felt before. If it were not for the level of the heads around me, I would have sworn I was being actually lifted. I suddenly knew, this is what it is like to leave your body at death. It made me quite ill.

Down to the pink room where Scott's and Terry's booming voices ask for visitation. We hear distinct dripping and a squeak. The house has been without electricity and water for years. As we are starting to leave, I am facing the door of the room we were in, and through that door, I can see another door in the wall to the right. I hear the roar of the traffic coming through that door, then realize it is getting louder, too loud, getting louder, and take a few steps back. That is when I ask which way is the front of the house, and the loud road. It is behind me. Hmmm....