Last Summer, my friend Danita, came for a visit from Las Vegas. We only had one full day to spend with each other, so I asked her what she wanted to do. To my surprise, she said she wanted to visit Forks.
Some of you may have heard of a book and/or movie called "Twilight." It was made into a series of books, and then a series of movies. I read them, I liked them okay, but I would not necessarily call myself "a fan."
My friend Danita, obviously is. Especially since she wanted to see Forks long after the book series and movie series was over. She said she could go with this other friend of hers, but since we had limited time to spend together, and I don't mind seeing new things, I decided to take her.
Before our trip, I did some research. She wanted to go to Forks before all the fan related stuff was gone, which she said has been happening recently. I found a place online that gave out maps for the "Twilight Tour." What I didn't know was that absolutely no scene from the movie was actually filmed in Forks! I knew that some of the scenes weren't, but all of them? I wondered if my friend knew. I decided to tell her, because I didn't want her to be disappointed when we got there. She must not have minded, because we wound up going anyway.
I recently decided to watch the movie because I swore I saw the photo above in one of the movies. It wasn't in the first movie, that is certain. I also noticed that Edward Cullen's car had an Oregon license plate! Couldn't they at least have a Washington license plate on the car? Am I being too picky?
The town is small. Which I expected. It actually did not take long to get to each tourist attraction on the map.
This is "Bella's house."
This is Forks High School.
This is the place where Bella and Michael worked.
This is City Hall.
This is just some scenery around city hall and the "Cullen's house."
This is the "Cullen's house." Actually, it is a bed and breakfast. I looks pretty nice.
They even have a mailbox that says, "Cullen."
The Community Health Center, where Dr. Cullen works.
He even has a reserved parking spot!
The vampire threat seemed pretty high, despite how sunny it was outside. This was taken at a place to eat on the "Treaty Line." They had very good hamburgers there. They even had a little area set up for fans to sit in.
Even though it took only a few minutes to get to each attraction around Forks, it took forever to drive out to La Push! It was worth it, though. It was my favorite part of the trip! The beach was beautiful! My photos don't do it justice. Also, the sand was not black like most beaches I have been to in Washington, it was actually the color of sand! I didn't know we had sand-colored beaches in Washington till then.
We came across some sand art while we were there. Below, a volcano:
a starfish:
part of an octopus head (the whole thing was impressive, though):
An alligator:
a crab:
and last, but not least, SpongeBob SquarePants!
It was getting late, and earlier I had suggested we should go see "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" which was playing for free at the Mural in Seattle Center. We thought we had plenty of time to get there. We wound up not taking the ferry (which was a mistake), and wound up on some back-roads on the way home. If I had known my GPS was going to take me a totally different direction going home, I would have stopped to get gas first. I was beginning to wonder if my car would even make it to a gas station as far into the woods as my GPS took us. Eventually we did make it to a gas station, and a much needed facility. We grabbed some snacks, and went home.
Overall, we had a great time! It was nice to spend time with my friend, see something new, and embrace nature.
So, if you are looking for a place to take a day-trip this summer, I would definitely recommend La Push. However, make sure you have gas before you leave the area. You may want to ride the ferry on the way back, too.
