To Forks and Back Again: The Unexpected 11 Hour Adventure

I am a huge Twilight fan.  The series of books ranked among my top favorites, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.  I have read them twice in the past three years and am anticipating reading them again when the weather turns foul.  I tend to do that with my favorites... a great author knows how to intrigue you every time you read it, whether it is your first or fifth time.   A really great author makes you want to visit the town in which their story was set... since I can't go to Hogwarts or the Shire, Forks would be my first literary destination trip.

Stephanie Meyer chose a remote, little town on the Olympic Peninsula for the setting of her now famous series.  Forks has a population of 3,500 people, gray, rainy weather (great for vampires) and absolutely nothing else in the town.  Twilight put it on the map!  You can imagine my extreme excitement to discover that we lived within driving distance of Forks, Washington!  It took us two years, but we (I) finally decided to make the 4 hour drive to camp in the Olympic National Park on what was supposed to be the most beautiful (and warmest) weekend we have seen this summer.  The problem according to Brian: "All campsites are first come, first served.  This isn't the best weekend to go."  Allison's retort: "Surely over 200 campsites will not  all be taken by the time we get there, right?"

All the campsites were taken.  We had driven 5 hours (we got stuck in some unexpected traffic) with a car full of camping supplies, a two year old (who was phenomenal, thanks to Thomas the Train), a very disappointed Twilight fan, and a gloating, but very patient, husband.  After driving up to our fifth site, we gave up.

Our trip was not a total bust though.  Several of the things on my Washington "bucket list" were to see the Hoh Rainforest (one of the few temperate rainforests in the world), see the Pacific Ocean, and (most importantly) visit Forks, Washington.

Unfortunately in my excitement to get to Forks (are you sensing my excitement/obsession?) I didn't take a picture of the rainforest when we passed through.  It is not unlike a lot of the pictures we have from previous hikes.  However, here is a picture to show you just how rare a temperate rainforest is (green area):

 

Next on my bucket list: see the Pacific Ocean.  We arrived to the West Coast at about 30 minutes to sunset.  We let Trey out of the car, and this is what he did...

(He took off running as fast as he could, grabbed a stick, then started running again.  I think he was afraid we might stick him back in the car!)

This was an absolutely breathtaking beach.  There weren't any shells, just smooth, gray rocks.  The sea stacks (giant rocks sticking out of the water) were stunning and made for a beautiful view.  

Behind the beach you could see the forest.  It was hard to believe we were at the beach when your back was to the water - I thought palm trees were the only trees that lived by the beach!  Driftwood littered the beach as well.  It made for a great jungle gym.

The sunset over the water was incredible...

Finally friends... the pictures you have been waiting for... 

That's it.  Were you waiting for a vampire to jump out, or a spectacular view of some sort?  Me too.  There are still a few things I wish I could have seen, but as you can see, it was dark and I had exhausted the patience of both Brian and Trey.  They must love me a whole lot to let me drag them 11 hours in one evening without so much as a whimper or fuss.  I did however get a very small (but very deserved!) "I told you so."  :)