"Bella Berry Pie"

One of the first things we saw as we drove into Forks was a restaurant sporting the sign "now serving Bella Berry Pie". Sigh - - I didn't see Edward or Bella . . . but it was fun anyway! You Twilight fans will be interested in hearing about our trip to the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington this last weekend. Jon and I went there on our Honeymoon in May of 1998, long before Twilight was even a thought. We stayed in a little bed and breakfast right outside of La Push and Forks. Yes, it rains a lot- but to me it is one of the most romantic places on the planet. We were close to the wild Washington coast (we were right off of Rialto Beach), and the amazing Olympic National Park. It is one of my favorite National Parks due to the diversity- there are snow capped mountains, rain forest, mirror-like lakes and even the ocean. So- it was really fun to read the Twilight series which happens in the same place we Honeymooned. It is only about 4 hours from Yakima to get to the Peninsula (Discovery Bay)- and another two to the other side of the Peninsula where Forks is located. Jon and I hadn't been back since our Honeymoon, and we thought it is about time! So we took off for the weekend and had an amazing time. I am so glad we went this time of year- the fall colors set against the deep evergreen forest was spectacular!!



We headed to the far side of the Peninsula to the Forks and Hoh Rain forest area first. We got a kick out of seeing Twilight fans walking around the town in black T-shirts, and seeing the reader boards welcoming fans. Here are a few:






The Hoh Rain forest is one of my favorite things about Olympic National Park. It is the only Temperate Rain forest in the Northern Hemisphere- and it is the greenest place you will ever see. The "Hall of Mosses" is one of my favorite hikes, with its towering trees COVERED in long green moss. The fall leaves littering the ground just added to the romanticism of the place.






even the water had green moss growing in it!!




Before our hike, we had fun watching the birds while we ate lunch. The birds were so brazen, that one flew onto our table and took a huge piece of bread out of our sack. We had fun feeding them straight out of our hands!



After the rain forest, on our way back up the Peninsula, we headed over to La Push and the beach, and to find the place we stayed on our Honeymoon. My favorite was seeing the cliffs exactly the way I remember them, and what I pictured while reading New Moon- when Bella goes cliff jumping.



The beach was also amazing. It was freezing cold, though!! The kids loved climbing on the HUGE driftwood logs - - and there is something so amazing about the raw power of the ocean.




That night we stayed at the Worldmark at Discovery Bay- it was SOOO awesome! It is nice that we bought into Worldmark years ago when we could pay for it- now when we wouldn't have been able to afford to stay in a place like that,we get to enjoy it without having to pay (every year we get a certain amout of "credits" to use). We had a two bedroom condo- three level town house style with a master suite at the bottom, living room and kitchen in the middle, and a bedroom at the top. We had fun taking the kids swimming and having a nice romantic evening after the kids were in bed! The view of the bay was amazing.

The view from our condo.

The second day of our trip was shorter- basically just the drive up to Hurricane Ridge- up on the mountains. The fall colors were AMAZING at the bottom, then changed to dense magical evergreen forest, and then to the sparser mountain vegetation at the top- which I call a Christmas tree forest!



part way up



You can see the Straight of Juan De Fuca in the distance (the waterway between the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island, Canada).



The forest of christmas trees



Isn't is spectacular!!