FORKS!

Ok.  So it's not the Welcome to Forks sign, but I didn't get as good a shot of that one!  And to uhum, well, to back track a little bit. . . We arrived in Seattle by train and stayed the night at the Hyatt at Olive 8 downtown before we rented our car and left town for the coast and the rainforest.  That Hyatt is in serious need of some upgrades, IMHO.  But the pool and spa are really nice.  Anyway, we didn't do any sightseeing in Seattle.   After renting the car, we took the Bainbridge Ferry across the bay and headed straight for Port Angeles.

Our first stop was Hurricane Ridge on the outskirts of Port Angeles.

This looks so much like the camping scene in Eclipse.  Snow here at the end of June!  Bridgette and Alan had a snow ball fight.  No wonder Bella was so cold that she needed to snuggle with Jacob.  But Bella Blythe came prepared with a warm jacket.

After a quick tour of town, we had dinner at Bella Italia, home of Bella and Edward's first date.  I had the mushroom ravioli of course.  It's pretty rich, so come with an appetite.  The  staff are really good sports about the whole Twilight thing that is going on there.  But why not?  The restaurant is packed everyday of the week.  We went there twice on our trip.  I recommend reservations, even just calling ahead by a few minutes helps to secure a table.

In Forks, we stayed at the Forks Motel.  This motel is a basic older style motel.  The furnishings have some wear on them, but the rooms are large and have refrigerators.  This is the only place in town with a pool, but it was too cool even late in June to ever want to use it.  This motel is conveniently located in the middle of the main street, but everything is fairly convenient in a town this small.  There is a great little coffee stand across the street.  For a total immersion in the Twilight experience, the motel across the street has themed rooms, check them out on Trip Advisor. 

We took the Team Forks evening tour. 

 
Our guide Randy was very friendly, funny, informative, and basically a great all around tour guide.  This is the tour that ends with a hot dog roast on the beach at sunset.  We got some great pictures.

The Treaty Line Sign on the way to the Quileute reservation.

Bella at the Swan House.

Idyllic countryside right outside the Cullen House B & B.

Sunset at Rialto Beach, next door to La Push

We hiked down the Second Beach Trail through the forest to the beach.  It was a short hike and just beautiful.

On the trail to Second Beach.

La Push, baby.  It's La Push.

Wolf tracks on the beach!

We also took a river rafting trip in the HOH rainforest with the Rainforest Paddlers.  It was a fantastic, peaceful way to experience the rainforest.  We took a dip in a pool at the base of a small waterfall of glacier run-off.  (We had on wet suits, but it was still coooolllld!)  And we saw a bald eagle in a tree.  This is a very easy run, even a young child can handle it.

Hoh River

Bella relaxes in the rainforest

Jewel enjoyed the rainforest, too.

We did a lot of shopping.  There is Twilight stuff galore!  There are several dedicated stores like Dazzled by Twilight, but every store in town has a Twilight section.  I really recommend checking those out for deals and unusual local items.

There is so much to do here that I want to go back.  We went to Sol Duc Hotsprings, which is a beautiful resort and hotsprings pools in the middle of the Olympic National Park.  But we didn't have a chance to drive out to the peninsula or visit the lavender fields.  And Alan wanted to check out some fishing in the area.  We can't wait to come back!

The Beach in Port Angeles

NEXT: Reviews of the new installments from the top 3 Vampire Romance Series!