Wednesday, June 11, 2008:
Edward would have loved the weather for sure! I awoke to skies of gray which held out for the remainder of the day. The skies were just as gloomy as Bella described within Twilight and there were numerous rain showers. I loved the weather, but I could see how it would have been difficult for Bella to adjust to this after living in Phoenix for so long. Throughout the day, I kept looking for Edward out of the corner of my eye even though I know he’s a fictional character and couldn’t possibly appear.
Our day began super early due to the noise from the logging trucks that frequently passed our hotel. We had breakfast at the Forks Coffee Shop, which was pretty decent food. The large elk head on the wall was slightly unnerving since I could only imagine how large the animal must have been alive! Forks and the surrounding areas are full of the creatures. In fact, they were a food source for the Cullens at times within the books. We would actually spend a lot of time trying to see elk during our stay in Forks. After breakfast, we headed to the Forks Chamber of Commerce. The staff there was knowledgeable about the books and the local sites associted with the series. We were given packets to help us with our vampire and werewolf hunting – the packet actually included sand from First Beach in La Push! My friend and I also had our photographs taken and placed on the Forks website.
The next stop was the Hoh Rainforest. Green beauty abounded throughout the ferns and massive trees. Being within the forest was like a fairy tale. One could clearly see how Bella would have been frightened as Edward ran through the trees at different points within the novels. The trees grow so closely together that I could only imagine how frightening the run must have been. After walking various trails and seeing enormous trees, we decided it was time to leave the forest and head to a different venue,
Our next stop was Ruby Beach – so named because it is said to have garnet mixed in with the sand. Some say that when the sun hits the beach the sand sparkles with a pinkish hue. The beach is not part of the Twilight world, but I was interested to see if the sand truly looked pink as I had never seen anything of this nature before. Sadly, the sand was an ordinary shade of tan, but the beach itself did offer many interesting views. The sand was littered with smooth rocks and pebbles that had been thrown from the sea. Driftwood logs also littered the edge of the shore.
Finally, we decided to spend the remainder of the day seeing the major Twilight sites within the town. Forks High School was located directly behind our hotel, which made it very easy to find. The school was exactly as I had imagined it. Our tour of the Twilight sites also led us to the hospital (complete with a parking space marked for Dr. Cullen), the police station where Charlie would have worked, Thriftway (where Bella stocks up on all the ingredients she needs for her various dinners), and the Forks Outfitters (aka Mike Newton’s family’s store). I was pinching myself the whole time! We had yummy burgers at Sully’s for lunch – I highly recommend eating here if you are ever in the area. The restaurant even features a Bella Burger! I opted to not order this because I wasn’t fond of many of the ingredients included – I am a picky eater. However, I did order the Rainy Burger, which could also be seen as Twilight related.
After lunch we spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect Swan house, but couldn’t find anything that matched the vision from the reading.
Since this day was devoted to Edward and the vampires, the following day would lend itself to searching for Jacob and The Pack.
