A camping trip had to be dropped this summer, due to rain that particular weekend (even though it has been a dry, long summer in the Northwest). Forks has been in my to-visit list for a while (erm, since I read and watched the Twilight series). Towards the end of summer we used one sunny weekend for a quick beach trip to Forks, WA.
The
Olympic Peninsula in WA holds a lot of places to explore. We have been to a few places here - the Hoh rain forest and Hurricane ridge at the Olympic National park, Sequim (for the summer
lavender festival), and Port Townsend (Fort Worden in this town is where 'An Officer and a Gentleman' starring Richard Gere was shot), but have not made it past the Olympic National park to the Pacific coast. Forks is located to the west of the Olympic national park.
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| Entering Forks, WA |
After stopping at the visitor center at Forks (the real Bella orange pick-up truck from the movie, parked outside the visitor center was fun to click pictures with), we headed out to La Push.
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| Twilight treaty line on the way to La Push from Forks |
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| On the way to La Push from Forks |
It was a sunny though windy evening when we got there. There are three beaches in La Push named First, Second and Third beach. There are hiking trails to get to the second and third beach. The First beach is accessible with vehicle. We stopped at the First beach.
First beach in La Push is a picturesque, very classic, northwest beach with cold waters, chilly winds and driftwood that borders the beach. It has interesting, beautiful sea stacks spread jutting out in the waters. The sun was around that day trying to warm us against the chilly winds.
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| First Beach, La Push, WA |
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First Beach, La Push, WA
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| First Beach, La Push, WA |
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The next day, we did the gift shop and the 'twilight' photo ops throughout the town. After that we headed to Ruby Beach. It was similar to First Beach. It had driftwood and rocks (which was exciting for the kids to walk on and hunt for cool rocks) bordering the beach and it also had sea stacks in the water. It was not windy here and it was warmer than the previous day. It was a day when you feel a jacket is needed and when you actually wear it, you feel too warm. We spent some time there playing, exploring and then headed back home.
It was a good summer weekend getaway for the family. I would like to experience this place as described in the book - damp, cloudy and foggy, another time.
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| Ruby Beach, WA |
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| Ruby Beach, WA |
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| Ruby Beach, WA |
Apparently this year marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of the first 'Twilight' series book. They had an 'Forever Twilight in Forks' event in Forks during the Sep 10 to 13th weekend to celebrate the occasion. Report about how Twilight series has uplifted the economy of this small town
here.
