Friday, June 22, 2012

Day 12: Forks and Lake Crescent

When we woke up on Thursday morning, there was a little surprise waiting for us outside our window: a deer! It was evident this guy was not afraid of humans because he didn’t care at all that we were staring ta him from just feet away.



We left our hotel and headed for the great state of Washington! In order to do so, we had to cross the biggest bridge I have ever seen in my life!



Once we were in WA, it was amazing how much the landscape changed from Oregon. The trees were absolutely enormous in WA, and they lined the sides of almost every stretch of highway we crossed.







For the first time since we started driving in Phoenix, I HAD to stop to pee on the side of the road. I didn’t realize how remote this part of WA was, and there was no way I was going to be able to hold it. Of course, Jason HAD to snap a pic of me coming back from the trees.

As payback, I caught this little gem of Jason singing along to Michael Jackson. We’re really getting this whole road trip thing down…  


Our one and only stop before Lake Crescent was one of the ones I was looking forward to the most: FORKS! I may not be the biggest Twi-Hard out there, but I definitely wanted to see the landscape and town where the books were set! I think what I love most about Forks is that they embrace the Twilight phenomenon, but it is not all they are. They have still preserved a strong tradition of honoring the lumber industry which helped to build the town in the first place. The Twilight portion of the town is just a small one room visitor’s center with a few posters on the walls and some stand up cut outs. Outside the center, they do have a replica of Bella’s truck which was pretty cool. They also offer tours of the city that highlight some of the things written about in the book, but none of the movies were actually filmed in Forks, so they aren’t real Hollywood sights. The sights in the town, though, are much truer to the books than the movies where.





Next to the visitor’s center is the Forks Timber Museum which actually represents more of what Forks is about than Twilight does. The woman there was so gracious to have us. I don’t think they get many visitors interested in their lumber industry.






From Forks, we drove to our destination for the night: Lake Crescent.






Our accommodations were at a place called the Log Cabin Resort, and we were set up in a small two bedroom cabin with a private bathroom. Some of the cabins are just one room wood A-frames and the bathroom is up the hill! At 5am when I woke up to use the bathroom, I was REALLY glad we had our cabin! The whole property of the resort was pretty cute. There were boat rentals and a small general store outside the office. I chatted with the woman working at the desk and she told me Aramark had just taken the property over 2 weeks ago and were planning to renovate all the cabins. I bet it will be really, really nice when they are done. It was definitely “rustic”. There was no heat (it got into the high 30’s last night) and lots of 8-legged critters, but there was also the most beautiful deer who wasn’t at all afraid of us.















We had gotten up quite early in Astoria, so Jason decided to take a nap. I decided to hike to Marymere falls while he was sleeping. The forest was so green and alive with life, I could help but grin as I walked along the 1.5 mile trail. The falls were absolutely gorgeous, and even though Jason wasn’t there, I was glad I made the hike.

















After I got back, we lounged on a blanket by the lake for a bit before building up a campfire and making hot dogs and smore’s. It was the perfect ending to our last night on the road.







Today we are in Seattle and the drive up form Lake Crescent was amazing. Taking the ferry was so fun, and I can’t wait to blog about the runner’s expo tonight! Stay tuned!

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