In Honor of New Moon-Forks and La Push

OMG you guys! Thanks to being Retweeted so much on Twitter and getting new followers I got so many more views of my blog than I ever have before! It was so wonderful to see. The most views I had gotten in a single day was 24, but yesterday I had 162 and they came from all over the world. People from Japan, Australia, Italy, Guatemala, Spain, Brazil, United Kingdom and Venezuela as well as all over America. I have felt so blessed over the pat few days that it is difficult for me to put into words. If any of those readers return another day, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Check out this map of all of the locations of people who read my blog yesterday. AMAZING!


One of my followers on Twitter read my blog about going to the Knoxville premiere of New Moon and gave me a wonderful compliment of the header photo on my web page. It is not of La Push beach, but is of Rialto Beach near Forks, WA. My son and I took a trip there for Spring Break back in March. It was a treat for myself for graduation. The nice comment made me decide to share some of my other photos from the trip. I have shared a couple of them in the past, but now that I hopefully have more people who will return to view this blog, I thought I would share a few more from my pilgrimage. I also have never really blogged about the trip and I wanted to do so in honor of the film The Twilight Saga: New Moon being released in a few short hours (squeee) and the amazing people who read my blog about the Knoxville premiere of New Moon...where I met Kristen Stewart. ;o)

We drove in after landing in Seattle. It was about a three hour drive and let me tell you, there is almost NOTHING on the road between Seattle and Forks.

We got to take our first ride on a ferry across The Puget Sound in our car, which was neat. In Port Angeles there was a Fashion Bug and a Wal-Mart, but once we passed all of that, there was nothing. A funny part of our adventure occurred on the drive. We had to use the restroom so badly, but it's not like it is where I live. There were no gas stations or fast food restaurants at which we could stop. We came to one place that was a video store/convenience store and they had a Twilight poster in the window so we stopped there. As we were walking in there was a sign that said, "No water in building so no public restrooms" and I thought, "What do you do, then?" There was a small restaurant next door and I asked the lady if they had a public restroom and she said not unless you were a customer, but then she pointed out a Port-O-Potty across the road. We ran across the road to use an outdoor Port-O-Potty with snow coming down outside and let me tell you, that seat was COLD! It was an adventure though.

Shortly after that we got into the Olympic National Forest and it was snowing. The photo above is of Lake Crescent, which is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world and is mentioned in the Twilight Saga. When I was taking this photo, I heard something moving in the woods and immediately thought, "Oh! A werewolf!" and jumped in the car. Zane said he saw something white moving in the woods, so wwho knows. Hahaha!

This photo was taken the next day, which was uncharacteristically sunny. It was actually the ONLY nice day of the four days we were there. This sign was reproduced for the film and is a popular tourist spot located on the side of the road as you enter Forks after crossing a bridge over the Sol Duc River, which Bella jumps in Breaking Dawn.

Of course this is the sign outside of Forks High School and was another sign that was painstakingly reproduced for the film, Twilight.

Once we saw the easier to find sights, we went to the Visitors Center where they have Bella's truck and posed with the sign. The green wreath on the front of the truck was in honor of St. Patrick's day and the people working there were so nice. Not surprisingly, the least friendly people we encountered in Forks and La Push were the servers in the different sit down restaurants we went to. The people at Sully's Drive-In where they have the delicious Bella Burger were super nice, though.

At the small hospital in Forks they have a reserved parking spot for Dr. Cullen and amazingly nobody was parked in the spot!

It was suggested to us that we go to the police station where all of the officers answer to the name Charlie. This was probably my favorite place that we went. A majority of the officers were out to lunch, but the lady working there, named Cyndi was so nice and took us on a tour of the police station. She also informed me that the Twilight tourism that has hit was just the "shot in the arm" that the town needed. I believe this, because Forks is the town that time forgot. there isn't much other than the Twilight tourism. The only fast food restaurant in the town was a Subway located in a gas station.

Driving from Forks to La Push there is this sign and I nearly died when I saw it! It references the treaty line that Stephenie describes in the novels. The treaty line is an invisible line that the vampires must never cross. This was a total surprise and such a nice added touch. The folks in the area are so savvy and it's a wonderful thing for them to take advantage of the tourism that Twilight is drawing in.

My baby boy was so happy to share this experience with me and we were thrilled to be in La Push. "It's La Push!"

Once we saw the Twilight sights in Forks we headed to La Push and went to First Beach, which is where Bella and Jacob sit on the driftwood tree and Jacob tells Bella about the legend of Quileutes and "The Cold Ones". The tree probably wasn't as big as this one, but I couldn't get over the size of the driftwood.

The beach there was just as Stephenie Meyer describes it. There were rocks in all of the colors of the rainbow. Looking closer at them, they were green, purple, yellow, and pink. The pieces of driftwood were everywhere. It was so beautiful that my son Zane jumped for joy.

When we were walking down First Beach there was a set of large paw prints in the sand. The strange thing was that there wasn't a dog anywhere in sight. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the possible werewolf paw print. :o)

A massive and gorgeous driftwood tree on First Beach. It was so beautiful and looked like a piece of artwork.

We went back to La Push the second day and it was so cold and rainy. There was a man fishing the inlet there and there were seals swimming around him. Shortly after I took the above photo, the fisherman had to fight to get a seal out of his net. It was such a neat thing to watch!

To warm myself at the end of the day I had to try "Vitamin R". Charlie and Billy Black drink this beer in the film Twilight. It can only be purchased in the Olympic Peninsula area and it was pretty darn tasty.

This is Ruby Beach. It is said that on a sunny day the beach is a red color. Of course when we there it was VERY rainy and cold, but it was still so beautiful.

On the way back from Ruby Beach we went to the Duncan Cedar. This is the world's largest Western Red Cedar. It is 178 feet high and 19.4 feet in diameter. It wass very difficult to get to. The road was very narrow and mostly gravel. My rental car lost traction at one point and it scared me a bit. It was amazing to see and a bit unreal!

On one of our other day there we went up into the Hoh Rainforest where we saw some of the largest trees I have EVER seen as well as The Hall of Mosses.

This is another huge tree we saw in the Hoh Rainforest. I had to get a photo of it not only because it was so large, but because it looked like one of Treebeard's feet from Lord of the Rings. I am a huge fan of Lord of the Rings also, so this was a cool sight.

This was in the Hall of Mosses. I loved this spot in the rainforest. It looked like it could have been a setting for Twilight. My mother even agreed with me when she saw the photo. It looked like Bella and Edward should have been standing there with him telling her, "Say it. Out loud." "VAMPIRE!" It was just so beautiful.

We stayed at The Olympic Suites Inn and they had this cute sign out on the road. It cracked me up. As far as the place itself, it was terrific! It was very affordable and it had apparently been an apartment in years past. There was a living room, bedroom, kitchen with a stove, a restroom and a patio. The staff there was so friendly and if you ever plan on travelling to Forks I highly recommend staying there.

I love this photo looking down Forks Avenue. There is a logging truck driving down in front of us and so few cars with the rain falling down. It is a perfect photo of what the small town of Forks is really like. So peaceful, rainy, and remote.

It was such an amazing trip. It was a long voyage from Tennessee to Forks, but it was well worth it to get to see some of the spots from my favorite books. It was also great to take in some of the other beautiful scenery in the area.

For good measure, I also just want to share another reason I love the Twilight Saga. This is from the 3rd set of outtakes from the Vanity Fair photoshoot done by Bruce Weber. These photos just keep getting better....*Le SIGH*
One more quick thing...the official trailer for Remember Me has been released! This is a film starring Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Emily De Ravin, and this gorgeous guy you might have heard of, Rob Pattinson. This movie actually looks amazing and the trailer will be shown before the film New Moon. I have not read any spoilers on the film, so I know nothing about it. Apparently there are 3 sex scenes in the film! When I see these I will either be really jealous or I will spontaneously combust. Check out the preview and thanks to robssessedpattinson.com for the heads up.

Fall Weather Friday

A writer for a celebrity website has written one of the saddest celeb-encounter stories I think I have ever read. Molly at popsugar.com was thisclose to being there before anyone else but passed up an interview with Rob Pattinson at the 2008 MTV VMAs. I won't tell you who she was interviewing instead, but let me assure you...it's sad. It is one of those times that a person wishes they could invent a time-machine or have Alice's ability to see the future. Personally, I have had times where I came in contact with celebs (one in particular that I LOVE) and luckily had someone with me to say, "Say something to her!" so I did. However there was one time I could have gone to try to meet another celeb (Brendan Fraser) but I didn't go and I really regret it. This trumps all of that though. If it were me, I would never forgive myself, but luckily this girl works in an industry where she will get other chances. Give it a read. Thanks to RobPattzNews for the heads up.
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Robert Pattinson Celeb Sighting! (AKA The Saddest Celeb Sighting Story Ever Told) by Molly

In September of 2008, I was still resistant to the Twilight phenomenon. It was idiotic, I know, but the movie hadn't come out yet and the books seemed a little too young for me (again...no need to say it, I KNOW). Considering what percentage of my day and job — PopSugar.com — is taken up by Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and all the rest of the cast now, it feels so silly. And thus begins the story of my biggest professional, nay...life, regret. My colleague and friend Becky and I were set to attend the 2008 MTV VMAs in LA. We were so excited for our first big red carpet together and got all gussied up for the event. During the red carpet the celebrities' publicists would come over to offer interviews for their clients "Would you like Kid Rock? Would you like Chris Brown?" Then, one came over and said, "Hey, would you ladies like to chat with Robert Pattinson? He's from the upcoming Twilight movie?"

I answered, "Is Kristen Stewart available?" since at that point, she was more famous to me (Panic Room being a classic, in my eyes, plus she had worked with Adam Brody...). The publicist said no, we gave a tepid "Sure, we could maybe talk to Robert..."

Right as Robert was making his way down the red carpet, closer and closer to us who did we see but Brody Jenner! Believe me, this hurts me to even talk about, but we let Robert walk right by. We were trying to talk to Brody. As you can see from this photo — we were SOCLOSE. Sigh, how much would I love to have that moment back? Since then, Robert has obviously blown up into one of the biggest stars in the world. There will be chances to talk to Rob on red carpets to come, but nothing like catching him right before the storm, right before everything changed in his quiet life. My celebrity sighting of Robert Pattinson is a sad, sad tale.

Lesson learned: Believe the hype and never question millions of teens. They're usually right.

Epilogue: At the InTouch Icons and Idols afterparty that night at the Chateau Marmont, Robert was alone smoking in the corner all night. Not even talking to anyone. I was busy making small talk with one of the kids from Greek. FML.
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Again, thanks to RobPattzNews I can report that Empire Magazine has a list of the 50 sexiest male movie stars and I am very glad to say that Rob is number 2 on that list. I replied to a comment that one of my readers (Casey) made yesterday, saying that Rob would always be my number one. I must go on record and say that as far as Twilight guys, Rob will always be number one. However, anyone who knows me knows who is truly my number one. Empire Magazine also thinks he's number one. Here he is and if you have a problem with it...you're crazy. I'll share two photos to make up for the suckfest above that is the photo of Brody Jenner.


Johnny Depp completes me, but here is a sexy picture of Rob, too...just for good measure. ;o)

Well, since the New Moon soundtrack hit stores today, you knew it would only be a matter of time before the soundtrack for Eclipse would be speculated about. The band Muse may become the "Twilight Band". In an article on MTV.com the band discusses how they are friends with Eclipse director David Slade because he has directed some of their videos. They also talk about how they have become a new band in the eyes of so many even though they have been around since 1994. They have a song on the Twilight and New Moon soundtracks so the odds look good, but nothing is set in stone. I would also like to repeat how much I love twifans.com for all of the dish.


Just one more quick bit of Rob related news thanks to robsessedpattinson.com. Rob will be featured in Joepie Magazine, which is a magazine from Belgium. He looks so young, but so sexy. I love the little bit of skin showing. It reveals one of those spots that I really love on a guy. I want to nibble it. *blush* Enjoy!


Oh my. Can I just say how much I have changed since 2001. Last night I read some entries in an old journal and I can't believe how I used to be. Zane's birth changed me so much for the better. Although, I used to get a lot of dates! Something has happened to my game. That and I have become a bit of a hermit and don't have as many friends as I used to. I have no desire to go to bars and I don't really have any friends to go with. My cousin Evan is so awesome and we go out on the town together every now and then, which is always fun. The only drawback is that I think sometimes people think we are "together". Now that my hair is brown, I feel a lot more confident. I am about to up my "game" a bit more, so hopefully there will be good news on the horizon.

I am so glad that it is the weekend. My mother, my step-dad and I are planning to take Zane to Boo! at the Zoo tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it. Zane is going to be Snake Eyes from G.I Joe! It's a little creepy, because the mask looks like a man's face and it is weird to see on Zane's little body. He loves it though. His dad usually takes him every year and I think that might be in their plans for next weekend, but it is the sort of thing that I think will be enjoyable more than once. I have never been, but apparently the kids get to walk around the zoo at night and get candy, and it's not scary. It sounds like a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it. Hopefully I will have a couple of pictures of Zane in his costume to share on Monday.

I am also extremely excited that the weather is going to be very Autumn like. This is my favorite time of the year. I know I've said it before, but I love wearing boots, scarves, coats and hats. I love to drink cider and mulled wine and curl up with a blanket and read. It's just cozy to me and I am glad that we will have the chance to get out and enjoy it.

I just wanted to let my readers know that I have decided that I will no longer be blogging on Saturdays and Sundays. Of course I haven't blogged the past couple of weekends, so this isn't much of a departure. Everyone pretty much has their own things going on during those days and the hits to my blog are typically very low on those days. Therefore, I will continue to do my best and bring you my Twilight tidbits and personal musings Monday through Friday.

Be sure to comment if you want to, 'cuz it completes me.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Blogger Burnout

I want to apologize, but I am on blogger burnout. I am really exhausted today. I took Zane on his first field trip today and we had a really good time. I promise to blog tomorrow and to fill you all in on the field trip. I hope that my lack of blogging won't keep you all from coming back to read. Until I see you all tomorrow...ENJOY!

Rainy Day Enjoyment

It's a rainy day here in Knoxville and there is very little in the way of "news" today, so how about some nice photos to brighten this gloomy day. The last 3 photos are for my sister. She might need some cheering up. ;o)

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Today was the craziest of days at work, so this is all I really had time for, but I hope you all enjoyed the blog today!

One quick Zane anecdote. Last night we were watching the news and they were talking about a serial killer and Zane asked me what a serial killer is. Then he jumped right in and said, "It must be a guy who kills the people on cereal boxes. The Lucky Charm guy comes off of the box and some guy attacks him with an axe?" I have no idea where that idea came from, but it made me laugh.

Also, when I walked him to his classroom yesterday morning, I was walking down the long hallway, working my way back out of the school and I passed these two little boys that I didn't recognize. The smallest one said, "That's Zane's Mom!" and I absolutely loved that. That little guy knew who I was because of Zane. I really feel like he is going to be a popular kid and hopefully that will stick with him as he grows. He is a precious and kind boy and I hope people continue to discover that.