Washington...again!

As my 30th birthday approached, I realized that I would never be able to accomplish all of the items on my list if I kept on repeating items that I'd already completed. On the other hand, I would have traded the entire list to make another trip to the Olympic Peninsula, Washington because it was that awesome. So I put the Cruise on hold and went to Washington. Again.

Saturday
We arrived in Washington on Saturday afternoon and made our way to the Link Light Rail system, one of the public transportation systems that promised to drop us off just blocks from our hotel in downtown Seattle. Once we arrived, we checked in and walked down to the waterfront. Though the city was full (there was a gaming convention a few blocks away) we managed to book a great ( and cheap) hotel just blocks from Pike Place Market. We walked around and had lunch before returning to the hotel for some rest. For dinner we headed down the street to a bar that we'd looked up that showed the UFC fight. We got to watch an amazing performance by Anderson Silva over dinner before wandering back and turning in for the night.

Sunday
The next morning we got up early and walked around in search of breakfast. Sounds easy, right? Not in the middle of a major city on Sunday at 7 a.m.! We wandered about a mile or so and worked up quite an appetite before stumbling upon what looked like a bar--a short, black, brick building with blacked out windows and neon beer signs all over it--turns out it was a diner! Who knew?! We had a great breakfast before making the trek back toward Pike Place Market to do a little shopping (and of course Derrick needed to see them toss the fish!). We wandered for a while and eventually made our way to the Westlake Center, a popular downtown shopping area. We explored for a while and got our tickets for the Monorail. We took the Monorail down to the Space Needle and enjoyed amazing views of the city. It was close enough to sunset to make the wait worth it, so we snagged a high-top table just inside
(it was cooling off quickly) and enjoyed a glass of wine while we watched the sun set over the sound. After spending some more time overlooking the city and enjoying the lights we caught the Monorail back to Westlake Center and made our way in for the night.

Monday
We'd enjoyed the diner so much the day before (and even during the week our options at that hour were relatively limited), so we took another walk to the diner. Afterwards, we headed back to the waterfront. The first place we explored was a Sculpture Park. It sounded more interesting than it actually was, so after about an hour we hopped on a free bus to Pioneer Square to take a tour of Underground Seattle. I'm not sure what I expected, but it's nothing like Underground Atlanta! It's a network of underground passageways and basements that was ground level when the city was first being settled, but was abandoned years ago as the city built up around it and hasn't been maintained. Realizing that we were just blocks from the other end of the waterfront, we walked back down to it, passing a water taxi sign along the way. Intrigued, we stopped to see what it was all about and realized that (for almost no money ($3 I think?) it shuttles (quickly) between Seattle and West Seattle. When we arrived in West Seattle there was a free shuttle (Seattle has this public transportation thing down!) that took us around the island to the Alki Beach (which is where Breena and I stopped on our first day in Washington). We stopped for lunch (and a glass of wine) and relaxed while people played beach volleyball and swam. When we got back to Seattle we were pretty tired, so we hopped back on the bus to head back to our hotel. Just as I realized that we were headed the wrong way the bus stopped. The driver informed us that he was on a mandatory 20 minute break and turned the bus off. We were stunned! With only
35 minutes until Derrick was due for his medicine (which was conveniently left in the hotel) we started speed walking. It turns out we were just over three miles from our hotel but thankfully we made it in time. There were so many hills—my legs have never burned so badly!

Tuesday
We woke up early Tuesday and walked to Top Pot - one of the most amazing doughnut places that I've ever experienced. Kara and I discovered it on a business trip in 2007. From there we got back on the Link Light Rail headed to the airport. We picked up our rental car (an awesome Hybrid Prius) and headed back downtown. We ran some errands, stopped for lunch and a Rainier beer (it's a Twilight thing), and I got to do some last minute gift shopping at Pike's. And then...we were off!

Our first stop was Snoqualmie Falls. It was awesome. There's a really well maintained park area around it and it was a nice stop. We were interested in seeing a bit more of the Seattle area, so we drove back toward the city, checking out Bellevue and the University district. The University of Washington is impressive, we loved that area. We explored the neighborhoods around the University before heading back downtown to catch the ferry to Bainbridge Island.

The ferry ride was as beautiful as I remembered. My advice: take the ferry near sunset. It was freezing but I got some amazing photos.

When we arrived at Bainbridge Island we got going toward Port Angeles right away. We arrived a little later than I'd planned, so we checked in to our hotel and made our way to the waterfront right away for dinner.

Wednesday
We were exhausted from all the walking we did in Seattle, so we slept in a bit and got a slow start. Our first stop was Hurricane Ridge. It looked so different than the first time I went because all of the snow that we'd seen in May had melted. It was fun to retake photos that I'd taken on my previous trip to see the differences. Because there was no snow, the hiking trails that had been inaccessible were open. We decided to try Hurricane Hill. We walked up to the 5,757 foot peak, enjoying views along the way. It was hard work, but the wheezing and panting was worth every moment we spent up there.

After Hurricane Ridge and made our way toward Lake Crescent. The drive is beautiful, especially when you get close to the lake and catch glimpses of the emerald water. We stopped at the Lake Crescent Lodge and wandered for a while, enjoying the day. My favorite part of the day was sitting quietly on an adirondack chair at the end of the dock soaking it all in. Unfortunately, it was time to keep moving. We hopped back in the car and made our way toward Clallam Bay where we were staying at the B&B that Breena and I had gone to on our trip. Sandy was as sweet as ever and made us feel right at home. We decided that we didn't have time to explore Cape Flattery before sunset, so we crashed.

Thursday
We got up nice and early and enjoyed breakfast with Sandy before heading out to Cape Flattery. The gorgeous hike to the northwestern-most tip of the United States was a little tense after reading about bobcat sightings, but we made it. It was a little overcast, so the water wasn't as pretty as it had been on my first trip, but it's hard not to be completely awed out there.

We hiked back to the car and made our way south toward Forks, stopping for Chinese food when we arrived. After a couple quick stops we drove down to La Push and checked in to our room. The beach at La Push is so gorgeous. We walked for a bit and climbed around the driftwood before deciding to explore some other areas. After the Hurricane Hill hike Derrick wasn't up to another, so we skipped Second Beach and relaxed.

One of the things I was looking forward to most was a trip back to Rialto Beach (if you know me, you've seen my favorite photo from my first trip. That's Rialto Beach). The cloud cover was so thick, that even though we went at sunset, you'd never know it. The gray sky just gradually darkened, and the beach looked like something out of a horror movie. Though I was disappointed, it made me that much more thankful for the opportunity to have seen it how I did the first time. We made out way back to First Beach where we'd planned to build a bon fire and have s'mores that night, but it was far too cold.

Friday
I woke up early on Friday and sat out on the deck overlooking the beach. I watched surfers and read a book until it was time to head out. We stopped back in Forks for a lumberjack breakfast (it's the only way to describe their portions) and drove toward Ruby Beach. Honestly, I though Second Beach was my favorite, but Ruby Beach would be a close second. We did a quick hike (more of a steep walk) down to the sand and wandered around. It was a little disappointing because when Breena and I had been we were the only two on the beach for hours, and this time there were couples, families, and other tourists.

When we got back on the road, we saw a sign for Kalaloch Lodge, so we stopped to see what it was like and scout it for our next trip. It was really nice and they had a cool restaurant with a 360 degree view of the beach, so we had lunch there.

From there we drove toward the Hoh Rainforest. Though we didn't have time to do any hiking, we drove into the park and saw the base of the trails before heading further east. Finally, we made it to the Lake Quinault Lodge, one of my favorite memories from my first trip. We weren't staying there, but we stopped for a glass of wine on the patio overlooking the lake.

Eventually, we got back in the car and made our way to Olympia. Google Maps totally misguided me here--what I thought was a waterfront hotel actually had a partial view of a creek about 2 miles from the waterfront. So, we drove over to where the action was and came across a festival at the harbor. We walked around the tents and scoped out all the vendors while watching another gorgeous sunset over the water.

Saturday
Unfortunately, Saturday wasn't much more than a travel day. We got up, had breakfast, and made our way back to Seattle to turn in the rental car and head home. All in all, it was a great trip. I can't believe how good I feel when I'm in Washington. I miss it every day that I'm in Atlanta. I can't wait to see if the future holds an opportunity for me to relocate!

Washington Trip Recap

I know this is REALLY late, but I spent some time trying to figure out the best way to post this video without it getting all blurry and it took forever. This is a small sample of our nearly 4,000 pictures from the trip featuring some of my favorite songs from the movies.

Washington: Day Five

This morning we woke up early again—determined not to miss our last sunrise on the peninsula. We hoped to rent kayaks, but were informed that the staff didn’t arrive until between 8:00 and 8:30. We got in the car and headed north within the park, and discovered a beautiful roadside waterfall. We stopped and climbed around the rocks taking pictures. We continued on the road, hoping to reach Graves Creek, an area we’d heard was about 12 miles away. We spotted several Elk along the way—and keeping our distance and access to the car—stopped to take some pictures. We continued to drive, pulling over here and there to enjoy the beginning of the day. At one stop we spotted another bald eagle soaring across the valley just ahead of us.

The road turned to gravel and became increasingly difficult to navigate in our Kia Rio rental, and we decided that we were too far away from civilization to be hiking in the area, so we turned around and headed back to the lodge. The boat rental staff still hadn’t arrived, and we felt a bit pressed for time, so we packed up and hit the road to Seattle.

The drive took about three hours, and we ended up in Seattle at about noon. We went straight to Pike’s Market where Breena got to experience the throwing of the fish for the first time. We had a lot of fun talking to the fishermen before she broke down and bought some fish to take home. We had limited parking time, so we went back to the car and drove through Seattle a bit before ending up down at the waterfront. We parked again and took some time to wander. Breena was still craving some Greek food she’d seen while we were at Pike’s, so we walked back to the market (which was much closer than we expected) and we had delicious chicken gyros. After lunch, we made our way back to the car, organized our things, and headed back to the car rental drop off. The shuttle took us back to the airport, and we were off to Phoenix.

Washington: Day Four

It was our first night away from the water, so we didn’t bother getting up for the sunrise. We slept until about 7:00 before beginning our self-guided tour of Forks. The tours (that charge $40!) cover a lot of unnecessary ground, so I was happy to pick out a few stops and do them on our own. We began at the Forks Visitor Center—the location of the infamous “Welcome to Forks” sign shown in the first Twilight movie. The sign drew such attention that they moved it from the roadside and into a parking lot for fans to take photos with. We wandered back into town and made a quick stop at Forks High School—I was sure to get a photo there, too. While we were in town, we stopped at the Dazzled by Twilight store (and tour company)—it was intense. The entire place was decorated with a forest theme (including turf to look like grass)—with New Moon playing throughout. We looked and looked for cute Twilight souvenirs, but found nothing—it was pretty disappointing. We wandered the gift shops across the street, determined to find something Twilight—but were unsuccessful. We did, however, pick up matching La Push t-shirts.

We decided that we were hungry enough for breakfast, and to make it our “big” meal of the day, so we stopped at a local diner. We had a true lumberjack breakfast (in the logging capital) and headed on our way. We found the last item on the Twilight tour list (Bella’s truck) and took a few photos as we headed out of town and south to the Hoh Rainforest.

As we made our way back into the National Park, we spotted several “Aggressive Elk” warnings, reminding us to keep our distance at all times. As we began the first trail (The Hall of Mossses) a ranger reminded us: “bobcat—stand still; bear—stand still; elk—run like hell.” We made a mental note and took off up the trail. Again, it was incredible. The trees were massive, some growing out of the stumps and roots of others. Moss was growing on any and everything. We made it up and around the first trail, and decided to try another. The Spruce Trail was even more beautiful. About half way through we heard a low growling/snort—we froze and looked at each other with wide eyes before taking off down the trail. We decided to arm ourselves, since the forest was too dense to give us much warning if something was near. We grabbed two big sticks and kept moving at a slightly faster pace.

Shortly after, we came across a river. It was just a short jump down to the rocky riverbed, so we decided to explore it and get out of the woods for a few minutes. We sat along the fast-moving river enjoying the mountains and blue skies above.

Eventually, we got back on the trail, sticks in hand. As we approached the end of the trail we came across three deer grazing in the forest next to us. There weren’t nearly as socialized as the deer at hurricane Ridge, but they stood their ground—allowing for some great photos.

We reached the end of the trail and after a long day of hiking, decided to head to our next destination: Ruby Beach. Ruby Beach was just as impressive as the beaches we’d seen the day before. Although a little disappointed that the “ruby” part of ruby beach was exaggerated, the sea stacks, tide pools, and caves made this beach well worth the effort. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the shoreline.

After Ruby Beach, we decided to make our way back east to Lake Quinault, where we had reservations for that night. The Lake Quinault Lodge turned out to be a bit more posh than the previous few nights, but we really enjoyed it. The lodge itself is beautiful, and it’s set right on the shore of Lake Quinault, surrounded by mountains. We got checked in, and headed down to the Roosevelt Room—named after President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who frequented the lodge in the 1930’s and 40’s. The restaurant was nice, and we had a relaxing dinner while enjoying a bottle of Lake Quinault Riesling. Our table overlooked the lakeside sunset, but we were anxious to get out to the lush lawn filled with Adirondack chairs and explore the dock as the sky changed. Our waitress invited us to step outside (with the wine!) and enjoy the sunset. We came back in after dark and had our dessert before heading in for the night.

Washington: Day Three

We’d scoped out the enormous porch overlooking the Juan de Fuca Straight and Vancouver the night before, so we’d already planned to wake up at 5:00 again for the sunrise. However, at 5:00, it was overcast and rainy. The plan for the day involved a lot of walking and hiking, so we voted to skip the sunrise and save our energy and willingness to get soaked until the afternoon. We woke up again at 7:00 to the smell of bacon and breakfast preparations in the kitchen. We showered and got ready only to find Sandy in the kitchen cooking eggs, bacon, hash browns, homemade cinnamon buns, and a fresh fruit salad. She stayed with us for breakfast and we had a great time talking to her about the area, her B&B, and all of the different guests she encounters. We spent some time out on the porch, and took a couple of pictures before walking over to the beach that we’d seen from the porch.

After a bit of wandering, we headed further west to Neah Bay. Since it was less impressive than expected, we just drove through and continued on to the Cape Flattery Trail. Cape Flattery is the most northwestern point in the lower United States, and boasts great views of the ocean and Tatoosh Island. We began the hike and quickly agreed that this trail was our favorite. The Makah Tribe has spent the last several years renovating the muddy, dangerous walking trail into one that is beautiful, unique, and safe. The trail seemed endless, as we discovered that there are five separate viewing areas—each with a unique view. At the end of the trail, we ran into Connie and Chuck, a couple that we’d seen in Port Angeles the previous day. They are avid hikers and wildlife enthusiasts—and were willing to share their knowledge with us. We spent some time learning about various wildlife and birds, even looking through their binoculars to identify species we’d never seen. From one of the lower viewing areas we could hear the sea lions barking deep within the caves, but non came close enough to see. Just as we’d planned to walk back, the clouds cleared and the sun made the dark water a beautiful green, so we stayed a while longer enjoying the new perspective and taking a second round of pictures.

After a long walk back to the car, we decided to return to Neah Bay and visit the Makah Museum. The exhibit includes artifacts uncovered from a pre-contact Makah village partially buried by a mudslide nearly 500 years ago. We wandered the museum and saw a full-size replica of a long house, cedar dug-out canoes, whaling, sealing, and fishing gear, basketry, and other man made tools. The collection and its condition were impressive. We wandered around until about noon and decided that we should head south to Forks. We still had a lot of walking ahead of us.

The drive to Forks seemed to pass pretty quickly and it wasn’t long before we were checking in to our hotel and planning the afternoon. Forks looked unimpressive, so we decided to head straight to La Push. It was a nice drive, and I enjoyed thinking about the Twilight stories as I road along the only road between the two places. We entered the reservation and made our way straight to the end—First Beach. The beach was covered in driftwood, so we did some climbing around and enjoying the view before deciding to move along to Second Beach. For this, the guide books could not be more wrong. In every book I read (and believe me, there were a lot), the recommendation is First Beach, leaving Second and Third Beach as sort of afterthoughts. This is FALSE. Second Beach was one of the most incredible places I’ve even been. There are truly no words to describe it. And to make it all better? We were the only ones there. I’ll admit, it’s not the most convenient—we walked about ¾ miles through the woods and on a steep incline to reach it—but that should be no excuse! We spent several hours walking up and down the beach taking photos as the clouds shifted and the sun began to set. The low tide created incredible tide pools with bright orange and purple starfish, hot pink and neon green sea anemones, and everything else you can image. We’d already made plans to watch the sunset from another nearby beach (with vehicle access) so we made our way back through the woods before it got too dark. As we walked back, we stopped to enjoy the silence. For the first time in my life I understand where the phrase “silence is deafening” came from. It’s the most unusual feeling to stand in complete and total silence. No people. No cars. No planes. No bugs. Nothing. The denseness of the forest silenced the sound of the waves. As we stood enjoying the perfect stillness, we heard a low humming sound—it was a hummingbird. We couldn’t believe that it was so quiet that we could hear such a small sound from a distance.

As the sunset began, we were torn as to whether to go straight to Rialto Beach to watch it, or to find dinner. The few restaurants that are available in the area stop serving at 8:00pm, and it was already just after 7:00. We went further into the reservation and found a diner right on the water. We were the only patrons, so we grabbed a seat next to the large windows overlooking the water. While we waited for our dinner we watched the seagulls in a frenzy as a fishing boat returned, a seal in the harbor fighting with more gulls for fish, and as we sat, a bald eagle landed on a post about 15 feet from our table. We were thrilled! I’d never seen one so close, and didn’t realize how large they were. As we stared at the bird in awe, another flew up and landed beside it. Dinner and a show!

We finished up our dinner and made our way to Rialto Beach to watch the sunset. Along the way we stopped at a gas station which happened to be the Forks/La Push Treaty Line, so having just re-read Eclipse, you know I had to stop for a photo!

Rialto Beach was i.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.e. The sunset went from yellows and teals, to deep oranges, amazing blues, and hot pinks. We sat along the driftwood in amazement, staying until well after dark.

After a long day, we went back to Forks and unloaded the car. Our hotel was Twilight-themed! We flipped on the light and squealed (well, I did, at least). The walls were red and black, with trendy red and black comforters, Twilight embroidered towels, red lampshades, movie posters, and last but not least—a flatscreen with DVD player in order to watch Twilight with! And yes—we watched it again. We’d picked up some champagne earlier in the trip, so we popped the bottle and relaxed after a long day of walking and exploring.

Washington: Day Two

We got off to a great start on the first full day of our trip to the Olympic Peninsula—we woke up at 5:00, just before the sun rose over the pier in Port Angeles. We decided to head down to the water for a better view and spent about an hour and a half wandering around and taking pictures. We returned to the hotel and enjoyed a bit of breakfast before showering and getting ready for the day.

We packed the car and made a quick stop at a grocery store for some fruit, pretzels, and water before heading up the mountain to Hurricane Ridge. The drive up to the top of the mountain was beautiful. We stopped a couple times on the way up to photograph the lush landscapes and random wildlife. We even encountered a socialized deer that rushed toward us (hoping we had food to give) when we stopped to take a picture. The weather has been unusually cold, and Hurricane Ridge was covered in snow. So much so that the hiking trails were covered and off-limits for us. We spent some time wandering around the top of the mountain and playing in the snow before heading to Lake Crescent.

The road to Lake Crescent was beautiful. The lake itself is emerald green, and contrasts beautifully with the surrounding area. We drove around the perimeter of the lake and made our way to the Lake Crescent Lodge. We strolled around the edge of the water and spend a few minutes relaxing on the dock—looking out at the beautiful water. We considered renting Kayaks at the Lodge, but the clouds were beginning to look gloomy, and we still had a couple hikes on our itinerary, so we passed and made our way to the Marymere Falls hiking trail.

The ¾ mile trail to Marymere Falls was beautiful and definitely worth the effort. The waterfall is relatively small, but the hike and the surroundings make it a must-see.

After hiking back to the car, we made our way a little further west to the Sol Duc Hot Springs. Again, we went to the Lodge (which, in this area, is usually the only sign of civilization). We were SO disappointed that this natural wonder had been converted into a pavement-filled tourist attraction. The hot springs themselves have been channeled into man-made pools that look like any other hotel swimming pool. The best part of the resort was the small stream of water running alongside the parking lot. The smell of sulfur and the steam rising in the cool air was pretty interesting.

We decided to head further into the Sol Duc area and look for the Sol Duc Falls. We made a few stops along the way to explore a beautiful emerald stream running alongside the road. Breena and I both braved the hill and climbed down to get a closer look and some photos.

A few minutes later we arrived at the Sol Duc Falls hiking trail. Again, the path itself was beautiful and we enjoyed the journey at least as much as the destination. The Sol Duc Falls were much larger than the Marymere falls, and we spent quite a bit of time wandering in the immediate area.

After a long day of driving and hiking, we decided to head to Clallam Bay, where we planned to stay in a B&B before our drive to the scarcely-populated Neah Bay and Cape Flattery area. We arrived around 7:00 and after a brief tour of the B&B we made our way to Sekiu—a small fishing town about a mile away, and ate at the only restaurant in town.

After dinner we returned to the B&B, and since we were the only guests for the night, we commandeered the living room and watched Twilight until bedtime.

Washington: Day One

Day one is off to a great start! We arrived in Seattle around 1:30 today and found ourselves on a detour almost immediately. Our rental car company suggested a visit to Alki Beach in Seattle—boasting great views of the city and a nice, beach-side restaurant. We went straight there for lunch and a beer before heading back downtown to find the Ferry Terminal.

We took the Ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island (pictured above)—it was amazing! The views were absolutely gorgeous. After arriving in Bainbridge, we continued to head west toward the Peninsula, crossing the Hood Canal Bridge along the way. We arrived in Port Angeles around 8:00 tonight, checked into our hotel (overlooking the harbor) and went to dinner at Bella Italia (the restaurant that Edward takes Bella to in Twilight!). I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us! It's about 10:30 here, but feels like 1:30 to me—time for bed!

Off to Washington

The day has finally come...I'm within 24 hours of my trip to the Olympic Peninsula! I've spent the last couple of nights finalizing reservations, organizing paperwork, charging camera batteries, updating my iPod, and planning my packing list.

Since we'll be all over the place over the next few days I pulled the weather report for the Olympic National Park itself—our weather will vary a bit each day, but it's looking pretty nice!

I think we'll have wireless in most of the places we're staying, so I'll try my best to keep updating, but worst case scenario, I'll update when I get to Phoenix.

Washington Update: 30 Days Away!

One month from tomorrow we'll be on our way to the Olympic Peninsula! I am truly excited for this trip—it's a great chance to explore someplace new, and spend some quality time with Breena. Because it's a scarcely populated area, I knew it was important to plan our itinerary ahead of time. Right now we have a basic idea of where we'll be each day—of course you never know how things will work out, maybe we'll love something and spend extra time, or not care much about the next thing and skim over it—but at least we have an idea of what direction we're headed, and a place to stay each night.

Here's the plan so far, each day is highlighted a different color on the map. Day 1 (Pink): We'll start in Seattle, take a ferry to Bainbridge Island and head toward Port Angeles. Day 2 (Green): Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, Marymere Falls, Sol Duc Hot Springs, and a drive to Neah Bay. Day 3 (Yellow): Exploration of Neah Bay and Cape Flattery (the northwesternmost top of the continental United States) and a drive to Forks, La Push, First Beach, and Rialto Beach. Day 4 (Blue): Hiking in the Hoh Rainforest, Ruby Beach, then a drive to Lake Quinault. Day 5 (Yellow): Hiking in the Quinault Rainforest and a three-hour drive back to the Seattle airport.

(Click the image for a larger version)

The Countdown!

As you can see, I'm REALLY excited about my trip to the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. I've spent hours researching, cross-referencing, mapping out routes, and planning itineraries. It's not that I want the trip to be planned down to the minute (which it already is) but I'm so afraid that I'll miss something! There's so much to see, and so little time!

I found the picture below in one of the guide books online, it's one of the beaches we're planning to hit. Absolutely gorgeous.

I'm going to Washington!

It's official! I'm off to the Olympic Peninsula, Washington in May 2010.

I must say, I didn't expect to be making plans for such a big item on my list until closer to graduation, but I'm completely thrilled!

How it all started:
I put this item on my list for two reasons. First, I have a thing for this type of scenery. When I was in Ireland last summer, I fell in love with all the greenery—in particular where there are areas of lush green met the rocky beaches/cliffs. I told myself that I would find something similar in the U.S. and explore it. That brings me to my second reason...

Again, those of you who know me know that I'm currently obsessed with Twilight. Part of my fascination with the first movie was the scenery--it's just so beautiful! I began to research the locations that Summit used to film the movie, and although there were several locations, the Olympic Peninsula seemed to be in the center of it all. I did quite a bit of research and figured out exactly where I needed to go.

As more details of the trip become available I'll be posting them online--and I'll also try to blog from the trip (or just after it, depending on my mood, internet availability, etc.)