Last Stop

Before saying goodbye to this magical place, we made one last stop at the beaches in La Push. First we revisited Rialto Beach, now the the fog had cleared we had a gorgeous view of the islands.
We had a brief photo shoot among the logs and dead trees before heading over to Third Beach, the only beach we had not seen yet and the one with the longest trek. While buying an excessive amount of souvenirs earlier in the day, we bought an appropriate sticker for my sister's roommate who so generously did all the driving on our trip.

WARNING: I DRIVE LIKE A CULLEN!

Luckily we waited until the end of the day to make our trek down to the beach, it was long and steep and the walk back was strenuous for all. But it was worth it. There was a waterfall! I spent several minutes running across this beach, near sunset, with bare feet - mostly because I was sure that I had left my shoes and jacket too close to the waterline and that they were getting wet or washed out to sea. Luckily that wasn't the case.

Our last stop before we headed out was the home of the world's only Twilight Subway Sandwich. This Subway had created their own Twilight themed sandwich and they were the only ones given the go ahead by corporate to include it on their menu. The store wasn't even a complete store. They had a window inside of a gas station. Oh Forks, we will miss you.

The Twilight Tour

On our second day in the glittery vampire town, we had an appointment at 11am to begin our tour. We decided to go out for breakfast first, so we stopped by a place called Restaurant. I'm sure before Twilight showed up this was the town's little watering hole. They hadn't even bothered to name it. There was also a giant moose head hovering above, watching over us as we ate.

After very cheap, very fattening breakfasts we headed over toward the tour office. We had a little time so we decided to explore. This is where we found the mother of all Twilight stores. It was the same franchise as the store in Port Angeles, but it was worlds apart. This one took out all the stops. Upon entering, I felt like I had just walked into a Rainforest Cafe, but instead of mediocre meals for sale, there were hundreds of T-shirts, dolls, buttons, and underwear containing the faces of the world's most famous vampires.

There was even a darkened corner separated by curtains for the "mature" items. I was beyond terrified of what I was going to find in there. What kind of mature Twilight items could there be? Is that even legal? It turned out not to be as bad as I thought. I had imagined a holy photo-shopping nightmare, but it mostly contained underwear that said "VILF" or "WILF" on it. I saw one shirt that referenced lesbians loving Twilight and that was it, not sure why that was in the mature section. I'm pretty sure lesbian relationships make more sense than a vampire and a human, but Twilight fans have never been the ones to rely on for rationality.

After our shopping excursion, our tour began. There were two mother/son combos, and a group of girls in their twenties, just like us. All together there were eleven of us. Our guide sounded like he was from Russia. Little did he know that when he migrated to this country his American dream was going to be Twilight tours in Forks. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. We all loaded into a black Twilight minibus.

Our driver was in his sixties or seventies, with a beer belly and suspenders. I would have assumed he'd never even heard of Twilight if hadn't been driving the tour bus.

We saw all the important places:

The Cullen house, including the graduation cap wall decoration.

The Swan house

Dr. Cullen's parking spot:

and Jacob's rental cabin? Apparently he moved out and wanted the extra cash rentals provide...

After stopping briefly on the treaty line to get some Billy Black shakes, we headed into La Push and visited Rialto Beach. Apparently a favorite of the wolf pack. Also, it was the only beach our tour was allowed on because apparently the locals weren't as thrilled about Twilight tour buses coming through and destroying nature as we had hoped. It was prefect weather for vampire spottin'!

Other than one of the Twilight mom's and I becoming a little competitive over the trivia questions, the tour went beautifully. We laughed, we cringed, and we sang along to our favorite Twilight soundtracks. We got back to Forks around 2:30. We decided to go back out to La Push one last time to see the beaches we had missed.

Forks, Our Arrival at the Motherland

After an hour more of driving, we saw it. The sign that told us we had arrived to the motherland. The city of Forks.

We instantly began to see the Twilight impact on this small town. I saw two "Dazzled by Twilight" stores. I saw Twilight tour buses. I saw a run down truck with a large clear message spray painted on the back proclaiming, "TWILIGHT SUCKS". This little logging town had been deeply effected by visitors like us. For better or for worse.

When we arrived at our hotel, it looked normal. It wasn't painted black. It didn't have a mural of the Twilight Saga on one side. I was surprised. Maybe they didn't think the hype would last long enough to justify that kind of spending. When we entered the lobby I saw this:

I was worried that our room wouldn't be as decked out as they promised. We had ordered the "Twilight room". However, upon entering the room, my fears were relieved. This room was all I ever could have hoped for and more.

Our first order of business upon arriving in Forks was to have an hour long photo shoot with the Twilight room. There were Twilight towels, Twilight light switch covers, Twilight curtains, lamps, and bedding. There were posters of Jacob and Edward, but they could easily be taken down if you weren't a fan of one or the other. Seriously though, you obviously don't like men if you don't like Jacob.

Boo you whore!
Hello Biceps!
After our exhausting photo shoot, we proceeded to Jacob's main haunt, La Push. We wanted to get in the beaches we wouldn't be seeing on the tour the next day. First stop, First Beach (very creative naming strategy).

This was the most popular beach because it was the easiest to get to and it was right next to town. It also had massive rocks jutting out of the ocean making for a fantastic view. The weather was perfect for keeping vampires hiding behind their rocks, or giant mansions in the forest.

The next beach was Second Beach (go figure), This one had a bit more of a hike. Only 1.8 miles round trip but it feels like 10 miles when you are doing most of it up hill on the way back.

This beach was quite a bit more secluded. We met several people hiking back on our way down. Everyone was overly friendly. "Almost there! Its totally worth it!" "It's beautiful, are you going to camp on the beach?" These people clearly did not know we were there for Twilight. But they were right, it was gorgeous.

We still had Third Beach to go but we decided to save it for the next day because our hike in the midday sun had taken a lot out of us and we needed to rest up for the Epic Twilight Tour we would be experiencing.

Port Angeles - First Twilight Sightings

Hello Port Angeles!
After we left Port Gamble, we spent about an hour on the road , driving through mountainous terrain and getting angry at grandmas driving under the speed limit. Edward Cullen wouldn't drive that slow!

Shortly after our arrival, we had our first sighting. We found Bella Italia where Bella and Edward had their first date.

Now, this may not look like the one from the movie, but let me assure you, it is the one for the book. See below where the restaurant shows us that it has been ordained by Stephanie Meyer herself as "the Italian restaurant where Edward and Bella had their first date".

Much to our dismay, the restaurant didn't open until 4pm and we would be in Forks by then. Looks like we wouldn't be able to eat at Bella Italia. We were crushed. Luckily, we stumbled upon something that made us feel better. Behold - DAZZLED BY TWILIGHT, the store.

Anything and everything Twilight was here, and it could be yours for an inflated price. We found shirts for Jacob, we found shirts for Edward, we found shirts for Bella, Alice, Dr. Cullen, and even Team Emmett and Jasper. Why do you have to like both of them at once?

Before continuing with our journey, we ate at a little burger place across the street from Bella Italia. I bet its where Bella's friends had dinner.

After climbing several steps to get a better view of the city, I'm pretty sure I found the place where Bella was about to get attacked by some hooligans. I ended up behind some shady motels in an empty parking lot. Thank God it was daylight.

When we were headed back to the car we got some cat calls from a guys in an over-sized truck. Probably the same guys who tried to attack Bella. Come on Port Angeles, get your young adult males under control!

SEAHORSE!

And then we were back on the road. We had at least another hour before we would reach our final destination. Forks, we are coming for you!

The Journey to the Land of Twilight - Day 1

Wednesday, August 24th, my sister and I set off for an adventure that thousands of teens had embarked on before us. An adventure that involved vegetarian vampires that sparkle and an incredibly ripped werewolf. There is only one place in there world where you can have this legendary Twilight experience. It was Forks, Washington and we were on our way.

EXCITEMENT.
The first leg of our journey was to travel from Bremerton to Seattle to meet up with my sister's roommate who would be joining us on our journey. We rode the ferry, which we've done so many times in the past its hard to appreciate the beauty of the scenery. But it was a beautiful sunny day and Mt. Rainier was picture perfect.

We were spending the night in Seattle and setting off in the morning as soon as the roommate was ready. She had to work until 7am, but she wanted to leave without sleeping. That is how pumped we were for this trip. The next morning after some extreme caffeination and filling the Prius up with gas we headed out at 10am. We decided to take the Kingston/Edmonds ferry because that is what the GPS told us to do. Who were we to argue? Unfortunately trying to catch the ferry from the Edmonds side was incredibly confusing. We somehow managed to pull into line without going through the toll booth. It was an accident, I swear. After asking how to pay to get on the boat, we were instructed to get back on the highway and turn around and aim at the toll booths in the far right lanes. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. We pulled a u-turn and got in line. After a 10 minute delay and ample confusion about who's lane got to load when, we made it on to the boat and proceeded to explore the vessel.

Goodbye Edmonds!

At one point on our ferry ride, we wanted to get a picture of the three of us. The roommate asked a nearby "gentleman" to take it for us which he enthusiastically agreed to. As we readied ourselves and put on our best smiles, the man says "Ok, now kiss!" Alarmed at his off color humor, we chuckle a little to ourselves without ruining our smiles. Instead of just taking the picture the man says again, this time a little more forcefully, "Kiss! KISS!" At this point I've stopped smiling and just started muttering under my breath "get the camera back, just get the camera back now..." So we quickly disbanded and got our camera back. We settled for pictures in groups of two after that.

Hello Kingston!

Upon arrival we drove through the town of Kingston headed toward Port Angeles, our first scheduled pit stop of the trip. However, on our way, we discovered we would be driving right through Port Gamble an adorable little lumber mill town, so our first stop of the trip was Port Gamble!

Upon arrival we searched high and low, but didn't not find anything Twilight related.

But we did find a stuffed seagull featured in the Barbara Streisand film "What's Up Doc?"

This was discovered in the ocean and sea museum above the general store in Port Gamble. I highly recommend visiting if you are ever driving through! Where else can you find the remains of a famous bird?

And so begins our trip to the most famous city in the vampire crazed preteen world. Next stop, Port Angeles!

Last Day in Thailand

On the last day, I stayed in the Bangkok Centre Hotel for my third and final time. The kindergarten teacher was interested in visiting the giant outdoor market, and I was interested in taking a nap. No matter where I am in the world, I do not enjoy shopping. Besides, I had no room in my backpack for anything else. I already was throwing away underwear and socks just to get the few souvenirs I did have back home. I slept, I went on the internet, I watched Toy Story and Cars, and I had a delightful coconut milkshake. I thought it was a great way to end the trip.

When the kindergarten teacher returned, it sounded like her shopping experience was a nightmare. From the heat, the crowds, and getting lost in the market and trying to find the metro to ride back, I was very glad I didn't participate.

That evening, we met up with the British couple one last time on Khao San Road.

We did some shopping and had dinner. There were fake IDs for sale and men advertising the Ping Pong show. I decided that was not a Bangkok experience I wanted to have. I ended up buying one last t-shirt. We caught a cab back to the hotel and said our goodbyes to the couple.

I was tired and ready to head back. I could have stayed in Thailand forever, but I needed a break from traveling. It felt like we had been on the move for three weeks straight. When I got back to the hotel I packed and slept a little before we had to go downstairs to meet Kitti. He showed up with his niece, who was apparently there to help keep him awake on the drive to and from the airport. Kitti drives a BMW. I drive a 12 year old Mercury handed down from my parents. I need to be a tour guide in Bangkok.

We got to the airport very early. The ticket counter wasn't even open yet. After checking in for the flight we wandered. There were plenty of duty free stores. I bought a $5 bag of M&Ms for the flight. Thank God international airports don't have normal operating hours, I was able to buy hash browns from Burger King at 3am. When our flight began to load, I had the most thorough search so far on the trip before or after a flight. Apparently Thailand really doesn't want to be responsible for letting people loose around the world with contraband from their country. Even when I ended up back in the States, they didn't even give me a second glance before letting me through. Even though everyone had already gone through security, there was another security check point set up at the gate in Thailand where we were all patted down and had our bags dug through. I am unbelievably grateful that they did not dig through my dirty laundry. I had to throw away my after-burn lotion though, which would be greatly missed.

I only saw the kindergarten teacher briefly after landing in Japan as she was ushered away quickly so she didn't miss her connection. I was sad to be leaving Thailand and hope that I return someday. I recommend visiting Thailand to anyone who is interested in travel. Make sure to look up Kitti when you are there, he gives the best tours around!

Goodbye Thailand, hopefully we will meet again someday soon!

Back to the Mainland

The next day was my final day on the islands. We were catching the afternoon ferry back to the mainland and the overnight train back to Bangkok. I wandered out on to the beach for a little while before we had to leave.

When we got to the ferry dock to catch our boat back, we said our goodbyes. Most of the group had decided to branch off and catch a boat back to Koh Phangan which would be hosting the Full Moon Party the following night. Only, Kitti, the British Couple, the Kindergarten Teacher and I were continuing with the trip back. The boat back to Koh Phangan was a little crowded:

Our ride back was a more than a little bumpy. Luckily I was tired and just tried to sleep through it. There were a couple of girls who were not so lucky. I saw a young girl and her friend run past with their hand over their mouths as the ran to get out on the deck. I was incredibly glad that they made it outside because I can guarantee that the smell of vomit would absolutely make me sick in an instant. Luckily our group stayed healthy for the trip. The boardwalk to the land from the boat was a few boards slapped together with no railings on either side. I wonder how many people fall in every year? Its amazing what things are acceptable in other countries that would cause an outrage in the US.

When we got back we rode a bus into the town, if you can call it that, which was made up of a couple of "restaurants" and a train station. We ate at one of these so called "restaurants" which had a very interesting interpretation of Chinese food and spaghetti. I had fries. Always the safe bet. We were worried about missing our train because our food was so delayed, but believe it or not, it was delayed! What a surprise! We waited an additional hour or so to catch our train. During that time we saw several others go by, including the local free train. People would just run across the tracks while the train was approaching to get in on the other side. Women were selling snacks on the platform to the people in the train windows. Stray dogs were everywhere, must have a been a great place to get some food for them.

When we finally made it on the train, it had a different set-up than our last one this one just had a narrow walk way with beds lining either side. I liked the compartment style from the first train ride better.

I kept my bag in with me because there was no safe compartment to stow it in. It was a little cramped, but not terrible. Luckily this train ride was only 9 hours compared to the 13.5 on the first one.