The wife and daughter set for trek out west that includes stop at hotel in ‘The Shining’

My wife and daughter are heading west next month on a girls-only journey to celebrate a certain person’s 70th birthday.

Among their destinations is the famed Stanley Inn in Estes Park, Co.

The Stanley, built in 1909 by Freelan Oscar Stanley, the inventor of the Stanley Steamer, is famed for its role in “The Shining,” a Stanley Kubrik movie based on a Stephen King novel of the same name.

Stanley was a New York entrepreneur who moved to Colorado for his health. He built his hotel in the urban grandeur of the finest New York City hotels and it immediately attracted the country’s wealthiest citizens. Today, it remains a popular resort.

For Elaine, my wife, and my daughter Lori, there’s a reason for this particular stop.

When she was a small girl, Lori and a friend would watch “The Shining” over and over, often after school, running into the kitchen at the scary parts. I didn’t get it then; I don’t get it now.

The Stanley Inn is at the foot of the Rockies and in the movie it was indeed a frightening place.

It’s been a long time since I saw it, but as I recall Jack Nicholson and his family move in to keep an eye on the resort during the wintery offseason. As he wanders the halls, studying the history of the hotel, he slowly goes mad and begins killing his family. Something like that.

The girls (Elaine and Lori) plan to spend a couple of nights camping near the Stanley. They’ll be having dinner there and spending several hours checking out the surrounding scenery. In fact, they are camping at several spots during the trip, attaching a tent to the back of our SUV.

Recognizing the length of the trip (I’ve warned them about the loneliness of the long-distance drive through Nebraska), Lori recently asked her Facebook friends for songs to put on her playlist to help them along.

I can honestly say the responses she received show that the cultural gulf between Baby Boomers and music-loving younger generations is as wide as the Grand Canyon.

Most of the artists suggested I have never heard of, though Lori seemed familiar with them all.

Take a look: Shinyribs, Turnpike Troubadors, Astral Plane, Waiting Around, Appalachia Rising, The Growlers, Matchbook Twenty. See what I mean?

Some I know well: Jackson Browne, Elton John, Bruno Mars, Pink Floyd. Hey, what about Simon & Garfunkel and a group called The Beatles?

Lori’s cousin, a bronco buster who travels from rodeo to rodeo throughout the U.S, brought things down to earth with Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, among others. Thanks, William.

And old dad said he’d leave his Eagles and Styx Greatest Hits CDs in the car.

So they’re about set for their great adventure. I only hope they don’t find at the Stanley Hotel what the Eagles found at Hotel California: You can check out anytime but you can never leave. Otherwise, have fun, y’all.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 3:34 PM with the headline "The wife and daughter set for trek out west that includes stop at hotel in ‘The Shining’."