Forks Fun and a Familiar Face

I have a lot of catching up to do. It's been over 2 weeks since I last blogged, and even before that, I had stuff to blog, but I was holding back so as not to raise suspicions of people... like Stacy :). So, here goes the week of March 7 through 15.

On March 7, my mom, Christina, the girls, and I went to Forks, WA. For those of you who don't know, Forks is where those ever-popular Twilight books are set. At 2.5 hours away from me, it was a do-able day trip. And it was something fun to do. Plus, I could finally get Stacy that Forks dirt she had requested months back. So we went. It was a chilly day. A rainy day. Not out of the ordinary for this part of the state. What was out of the ordinary was when it started snowing on us. Yes, here it was, March 7, and we are getting snowed on. The good news was that it wasn't sticking to the ground. So we continued our way to Forks, passing through Port Angeles. The girls did magnificently. We enjoyed light banter. We got to Forks and pulled off at the sign. And okay, so we got honked at by the locals. I was embarassed. Seriously embarassed. But as we trudged up to the sign (that has a make-shift walkway that, I'm sure, has made an appearance because of the books' popularity), I saw tons of shoe marks in the mud, so I knew I wasn't the only one :). That helped a little.


So we got that picture, and then I had to collect the dirt. I really did feel so silly. But hey, it was for a worthy cause :). And I collected the dirt by the sign so that there could be no question as to whether or not it was authentic Forks dirt ;). And my little helper Desiree helped scoop dirt up too.


Around this time, Christina said, "Hila, we have company." I immediately thought the worst and said, "Is it the police?" Hahahahaha... Turns out it was 3 teenage girls from Canada. Priceless. And these 3 girls ended up following us to the next "hot-spot" on our list -- Forks High School.


I had a map that I got from the Chamber of Commerce site. Basically the only two spots I saw worth visiting were the High School and the Police Station (where the main character's father worked). So, we went to the City Hall, where the police station really is.


Then we went to a store. My mom bought us each a t-shirt. Mine is black with silver writing that says, "Real Vampires Sparkle in Forks, WA." They sprayed it with glitter so that I'd sparkle. I didn't wear it that day, though. I was saving it for Stacy's Twilight party in Alabama. Anyway, I ended up getting pins for everyone who would be at Stacy's party. The pins said, "Vampires Rain in Forks, WA" or something like that. I thought it was clever. They aren't the run-of-the-mill pins you can get through mass distributors, since the lady said her boss designed them. So, I thought that was neat. The lady also threw in 8 pairs of plastic vampire fangs, since I bought 8 pins. Oh, I also bought a pencil for my friend April's daughter Courtney. Anyway, they also had this map of the city with all the "hot spots" for Twilight. So, you know we had to do it. We ended up going by the hospital and taking a picture with the sign for Dr. Cullen's parking space.

If you can't tell by the way I look, I felt very self-conscious. Because right about this time, a guy was walking over and saying, "Why are you taking a picture with my parking space?" I chuckled and flippantly said, "Don't you know you're famous?" And he laughed and said, "Yeah." Then he shook my hand. As I was looking down to shake his hand, I saw his badge around his neck said "Dr. Cullen." And I quite stupidly said, "Oh! You really are Dr. Cullen!" In retrospect, I feel like a total idiot. What a total duh moment. He so was not a real Dr. Cullen. I'm sure he made that up for that specific purpose. Hahahaha... Sometimes I get flustered enough to be really ditzy.

We drove by the house that was supposed to be Bella's, but it wasn't all that. But I did stop by and get a picture with the Forks Memorial Library sign.


We also went into another store, where Desiree got some vampire teeth. She loved these.


After this, we drove out to La Push.

I didn't know Stacy would've loved rocks or something from here... Sorry about that. Next time, I promise :). Anyway, we made our way down to First Beach. It was so pretty. Unfortunately, it was also very cold. So cold, in fact, that it started hailing on us. But whatever. We were there to take pictures, so we did.


Also, I thought this reminded me a lot of The Goonies. Which is probably because that movie was filmed off the coast of Oregon, and the Oregon and Washington coasts look alike. Anyway, it was cool. I'd like to go back when it's warmer.


There was a restaurant on the road to La Push that was supposed to have a full Twilight menu. We didn't stop, though, because we had planned to eat at Bella Italia in Port Angeles on the way back. So instead, we snacked on the Twilight conversation hearts I bought for us at the grocery store:


So we got snowed on again on the way into Port Angeles. And this time, it was sticking. Blech. But, we made it :).


Much to our chagrin, it turns out that we couldn't find Bella Italia. I was so distraught. We should've eaten at the Twilight restaurant!!! Oh well, guess you can't win them all... We ended up at McDonald's. I'm telling you... Italian would have been much better!

And so ended the Forks trip. But it was fun :). A great memory. And lots of fun to get the stuff to take to the Twilight party at which I was going to be a surprise guest!

That week, I just worked and watched the kiddos. Nothing out of the ordinary. Although I did take a picture of Emily holding up her head like a pro. I don't know how they grow up so fast...

Also, by this point, April and I had come up with our girlie theme for our get together in Birmingham. So we were working on ideas and stuff throughout the week.

But then on Saturday, the 14th, Donna was in Seattle! So, I took the ferry over to Seattle and met up with her at Pike Place Market :). It was so fun to see a familiar face from Alabama. So we walked all over the city -- which was super easy, actually -- and found a bakery and a burger place that were noted in her travel guide. We also hit the Starbucks at Pike Place Market -- the first Starbucks ever. Most amusing was the girl behind the counter trying to sell Donna a different coffee experience. "Would you like it brewed in this special machine that is made to enhance the flavor, for just a few cents more?" When the questions finally came to, "Do you like a creamy chocolate flavor in your coffee, or do you prefer a bold berry taste?", Donna finally said, "You know what? I think I'll stick with the regular Pike Place blend. Too many choices confuse me." I laughed so hard!


Donna walked with me back to the ferry terminal, and we passed this sign -- and had to take a picture (keep in mind St. Patrick's Day was coming up). Gotta love Seattle.


I spent Saturday night finalizing some things. And then I woke up on Sunday, and this is what I saw:

Seriously not what I wanted to see. We didn't go to church, because my mom's car was sliding on the hill coming up that morning. And before it was all said and done, we had about 3.5 inches of snow! On March 15!!! CRAZY! And seriously, I was going a little psycho... I was quite concerned about my flight status for that night. In the meantime, I packed and prepared the Forks Dirt vials for everyone. I flew out on the red-eye -- which was a tad delayed because we had to be de-iced twice. But those stories are for another day... For now, this is about half of my catch-up. With a promise of more to come!