Monday, August 2, 2010

The Twilight Road Trip

On Monday, July 12, the plane I was on descended into Seattle where three ladies, whom I had never met in person before, awaited my arrival. I had met all of them on facebook where we shared our love of all things Twilight. Our pilgrimage to Forks was the idea of Lisa Capps, our fearless leader, who had made the journey herself last year. After my plane landed, I was out the airport doors in record time, and Lisa, Jeanne, and Marcy met me with hugs, smiles, and fun.

We drove northwest from Seattle into the Olympic Peninsula, then north to Port Angeles, where we had lunch, looked around, and took pictures. After lunch we headed to Forks, the place where the amazing and unforgettable story of Twilight takes place. I fell in love with this little logging community that has turned into a mega tourist destination for Twilighters. In this amazing place were people from all over the world all brought together by the love of Twilight. It didn't matter if we were Team Edward or Team Jacob or what age we are, we were all there to drink in this cozy little hamlet located in the rainforest.

The next day we drove out to La Push on the Quileute Reservation, about a 20-minute drive from Forks. We were completely stunned by the beauty of the beaches, and we spent hours walking, picking up rocks, shooting photos, laughing, and talking. My favorite beach was Second Beach which is a little difficult to get to, a 3/4-mile hike through thick forest, and then down 105 zig-zag steps down the high cliffs. I seriously wondered how I would be able to get back UP those 105 steps once down there, but alas we all made it, giggling the whole way. While strolling on second beach, we met a family from Switzerland (three of them are pictured below with Lisa and me) who had come because of Twilight. Amazing isn't it?

When we arrived back in Forks, my cousins Linda and Jerry from Hoquiam picked me up for dinner. It was so good to see them, it had been almost five years. A lot has happened in those years, and we laughed, talked, and gossiped over a yummy dinner.
The next day we traveled to Portland, Oregon to take in Twilight filming sites.
The Columbia River Gorge is breathtakingly beautiful, and we saw a fair amount of it over the following two days. We went to the Pear Point Inn where the Prom was filmed. After that, we drove then out to the woods where they filmed the scene where Bella tells Edward that she knows he's a vampire.
Now, being so graceful, I took a tumble in the middle of the forest amongst the big trees. Yes, laugh all you want, I wasn't paying attention and of course I tripped over something. Of course I rolled around a bit (no joke) and Jeanne said I should never wash my clothes, as it was where Edward had been, and thus you could say I rolled around on the forest floor with him.....I WISH ;) We all had a good laugh at this, and we giggled about it a lot!

The next day we went to breakfast at the Carver Cafe, the place where Charlie and Bella always had dinner. It was awesome to be there, and as luck would have it we breakfasted at Charlie and Bella's table :) When we walked in and sat down, the waitress brought over a big book we were to sign. It was filled, cover to cover with signatures and writings from people all around the world who had come there because of Twilight. We asked her how she knew. She told us that it was pretty obvious that we were "Twilighters." She was great, as was the breakfast which was absolutely delicious. We went from there to many other filming sights, The Stone Cliff Inn, which is near the Carver Cafe, up to St. Helens, and finally to look at the house that was the Cullen House. We capped off the day by taking in Eclipse at a local theater.

The Twilight Roadtrip was an AMAZING time, and it what made it so phenominal was not just seeing Forks and LaPush and the filming sites, it was being immersed in all things Twilight in the company of three, very exceptional ladies. Lisa, Jeanne, and Marcy, love you girls, and thank you so much for such a wonderful time, same time next year???

Peace, Love and all things TWILIGHT!