Day 373: Ghost Hunting on Riverdale Road

     Let me just set the scene for you real quick.....
          -There's five of us celebrating with half price shakes at Sonic after our soccer game (We totally lost, but both Ryan and myself scored our first goals of the season. Bangerang).
          -The night is getting late and I had yet to fulfill my challenge to try something new. So we began to brainstorm some ideas while we waited for our cheesy tatter tots to arrive. Stef thought I should kiss a boy, and I was like "nahhhhhh". Then we talking about baking a cake from scratch, but I didn't feel like staying up washing dishes. The carpool kept spit-balling ideas and some of them seemed decent, but nothing that really got me excited. That was until, there was talk of touring a haunted site on the other side of town. Right then, I knew I had my challenge.
     I asked about the haunted site and it soon became clear that I was the lone member who had never heard of it before. They told me that Riverdale road -a road that I've commuted countless times in my 20+ years of living around here- is totally, utterly, haunted. They started telling me stories about
          -A guy flipping his camaro under the bridge
          -A demolished home of a crazed father that killed his family
          -The scene of a scorched tree with the burnt shadow of a girl who was pinned to it by a car. I was told that the car caught on fire, killed the girl, and left an imprint of her body burnt into the trunk of the tree. They say that her ghost walks the roadside in a white dress at night.

       This was perfect! I had driven down this road so many times, but I had no idea that it was like a urban legend Mecca. People have traveled to check out the burn marks in the tree, and there's a whole bunch of stories written about it online. Since I had some self proclaimed experts on the topic with me in the car, they would totally be able to show me the creepiest stuff Riverdale road had to offer.
     I'm gonna keep it short cause there really wasn't much of a payoff. We set off down the road and stopped at The Gates of Hell, which are gates to a house where a crazy father killed his entire family. It's really sad if that's true (not sure either way), but we didn't see much other than a dirt lot and an old chain link fence. The fence was open but I was advised not to drive up it (advice that I was ok taking).

The Gates of Hell, I was told NOT to take a picture

     We continued following the dark, winding curves of the road in search of The Tree. I kept asking what exactly it was I was looking for, but everyone just kept saying "Oh, just you wait, you'll know", which was probably the most unnerving thing about the entire night. So I kept driving with my brights on so I definitely wouldn't miss it, and everyone in the car was like "It's right around this corner!" and in my head I was like "Ahhhhh". And as we took the corner I could see a tree, maybe even The Tree. But this tree looked pretty much like every other tree. I was a little let down, but also relieved as we continued driving. I was told shortly after that the reason why I didn't see what they wanted me to see, was because a large bush had grown and overtaken the burn marks of the girl.
     It was really strange driving down a road that I've been down so many times with that eerie feeling we all helped cultivate with our stories and excitement. I was like taking something totally familiar and convincing yourself that you should be terrified of it. It was fun, but I don't think I have what it takes to become a ghost hunter.

The best picture of some trees maybe The Tree?