Thursday, April 23, 2009

Road Trip Recap - Kalaloch to Forks to La Push to Sequim

Sunday through Tuesday I took a circular road trip along the Northern Washington coast. It was the perfect time - the weather was beautiful, and since it was not the weekend traffic was nearly nonexistent, I was able to get great camping spots, and I was left in blissful solitude most of my trip.

As you know, I had some trepidation about making this trip...the last time I was in the area, it was 1995. I was a depressed 19-year-old Coast Guard enlistee, fleeing from the desolate area and vowing never to return. 2 years after I left, while I was stationed in Boston, MA, there was a tragic accident at the station and three Coasties died during a rescue, including two former coworkers of mine. One of them was my good friend and mentor. It was several years later that I reluctantly acknowledged that I had to go back, if not for me, then to pay my respects to my friend.

Finally, Sunday was the day. I packed up the dog and my camping gear and set out in the sunny afternoon. I arrived at Kalaloch campground in the early evening and set up camp at a beautiful oceanside spot - another one of the benefits of unemployment is being able to camp midweek. Sadie and I played on the beach, then I made dinner and did some reading, then it was time for bed.


Sadie romping on Kalaloch beach

The next morning I broke camp and we headed for Forks, Washington. I was both excited and fearful to see it again. I remembered Forks as this dismal little podunk town populated with out-of-work loggers - this was shortly after the spotted owl controversy that severly limited logging in the Washington coastal rainforests - and punk-ass high-school kids. I was pretty impressed with myself, having spent part of my young life in Seattle, and did not want to mingle. (Actually, I didn't know how to meet new people...I used to be really bad at that. But I digress.) And always the dark and the rain. Oh god, the rain. Maybe good for a vampire family, but not good for people suffering from S.A.D., that's for sure.

And...Forks was nothing like I remembered it. I'm sure it helped that it was sunny. And that now I'm 33 years old, not 19, and can appreciate small towns. There are cute Victorian houses there. And of course the surrounding Hoh Rainforest is absolutely gorgeous. If you've never seen it, you must go. Seriously. I'm not sure how the logging industry is going these days, but the whole town has been revitalized by the Twilight series. There are shops selling Twilight merchandise, several Twilight tours, and the visitor's center even has a 'Twilight map' that shows all the locations mentioned in the book, including Bella's and Edward's homes. Everyone I talked to in town seemed excited about the Twilight phenomenon. The punk-ass kids were still there, but that's small town life for you.


The city of Forks welcomes you

And lest you think the residents of Forks are annoyed by the renewed interest in their tiny town due to Twilight, here is some evidence to the contrary:


A note from Esme Cullen to visitors of the "Cullen family residence," which is actually a B&B.


Dr. Cullen has his own parking spot at the Forks Community Hospital


The Swan residence, which is a private home, has a sign outside for visitors


After my Twilight self-tour, I was off down the road to La Push to see the Coast Guard station that was my home for a little more than a year from 1994-1995. I visited the memorial at the station and it was more emotional than I thought I'd be. I'm getting to be such a sap in my old age.



Then I took Sadie to First Beach, which is another location from the Twilight series. For some reason, they renamed it in the movie as "La Push Beach," though it was written correctly in the book. Lame.

I'm pretty sure that's Jacob the werewolf in the distance...


Finally, the memory lane jaunt mostly concluded, I pointed the car East and drove through the beautiful rainforest and past Lake Crescent, stopping once for rumination. How could I have ever hated this place??? Its forested beauty is intoxicating.

I ended the second day at Sequim Bay State Park, which was mostly deserted - only 2 other campers besides me. On the beach I found this strange object. WTF is it??? I feel a sci fi story brewing...

Radioactive dinosaur egg?

Yesterday I came home and resumed the regularly scheduled programming of my life. The end.

More pictures here.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Pilgrimage

Many eons ago, I was in the United States Coast Guard (yes, it is real military - one of the five armed services). For the first couple years, I was stationed at Coast Guard Station Quillayute River in La Push, Washington. I was 18 years old, living on the remote Washington coast on an Indian reservation. Yeah, I loved it about as much as you'd think.

You can imagine my surprise when, in recent years, La Push and Forks, Washington have gained worldwide fame at the setting of the immensely popular Twilight series of books and movies. These days, crazed fans flock to Forks to view Bella Swan's home, Forks High School, Forks Police Station, and of course they go down the single road to La Push to wander First Beach.

I haven't been back to the area since I moved away in 1995. For awhile I didn't want to go back ever. Then a few years after I left, some of my former coworkers were killed in a tragic accident just off First Beach...After that I realized I needed to go back, for them if not for myself. And last week I saw the Twilight movie for the first time, then read all the books in the series. It was funny to read the books and watch the movie and know that I used to live there (unfortunately the movie was not actually filmed in Washington, but they did a pretty good job faking it).

I've decided I'm ready. Fourteen years after I left, I'm packing up the dog and the camping gear and going back. Back to visit the old Coast Guard station, play on the beach, and pay my respects at the memorial statue that was erected in remembrance of my friends. I'll let you know how it goes.


James Island at the mouth of the Quillayute River, as seen from First Beach

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Cut.

I'd been thinking about it for a few months. I almost did it before going to Thailand in February; it would have been helpful in the steamy heat. But a friend said, "no, I like it long," so I didn't. One of the reasons I always wanted it long was because guys like it, isn't that silly? Of course, the boys never did come running once I grew it out.



Finally it was time. I liked how it looked, but it was getting to be quite a pain. It would get stuck under me while I slept, my head would pin it against the couch cushions, and when snowboarding it was really in the way. Finally last Friday I took the plunge.



Much better :)

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Sunny Daze

After a wild weekend spent in the upper RV lot at Stevens Pass, Monday was a day for in-city relaxation. The 70-degree weather almost made me want to head out of town again to go snowboarding or find a hike, but really I'd had enough of driving to the mountains, as it seems that's all I do lately!

In the morning, in furtherance of the "Melissa's green condo initiative," I installed a flourescent bulb in the hallway. Previous installments consisted of thermostats and dimmer switches, which along with the new bulb, are proven to save energy - and money. Yay for saving money!


After that, the weather had warmed sufficiently for a walk to Greenlake and some squirrel huntin,' or as I call it, squirreling. Squirreling has gotten much more entertaining since Sadie learned how to climb trees several months ago. Each time we go, Sadie climbs higher and higher - she's a very precocious beagle. Yesterday she was so far above my head that I actually was worried for the first time about her falling or her leash getting caught up in the branches. Eek!



More tree beagle pictures

Today the high temperatures continue and I had planned to go snowboarding in the afternoon. But I woke up with back pain like a rail spike had been drilled through my right shoulder blade. Ouch! Sometimes I sleep on it wrong and that happens. I feel like I should hit the slopes every chance I get because this might be the last winter I experience for the next several years. But I think my brain is starting to get over winter and yearn for summer already, as I really don't mind that I didn't make it to Alpental today...

Enjoying the morning


Sun Hound

Friday, April 3, 2009

A Bad Day Turns Into Good

Yesterday started out pretty crappy. There were a number of reasons: someone I was starting to care about decided he isn't in a place to return those feelings right now; I have a lot of big, and I mean BIG, life decisions to make all at once; and to top it all off I kept getting bloody noses (a British reader might wonder, 'Huh? We've all got one," but stick with me here). By the time I reached Alpental at 9:45 a.m., my nose had bled twice. Once I got to the bathroom at the mountain, it started going again! Sheesh. I considered turning around and going home. If my nose is going to bleed every time I land on my face, this is going to be a pretty crappy day, I thought. But I stayed.

And thank goodness for that! I had the best day I've ever had on the snowboard. By that I mean everything was working right, I was working right, going fast, carving turns, getting off the lifts without falling, and slaying some mad pow. I usually don't go up Chair 2 by myself because it's expert terrain and it seems like every time I go up there alone I suffer a near-NARSID experience with nobody around to save me. Finally I could no longer take the temptation and up Chair 2 I went, determined to stay on the well-populated in-bounds routes. There weren't any people waiting for the lift, which is unheard of!!! The rest of the day I had a great time, riding runs I'd never done before and learning how to ride in the trees. It was great fun. At lunch I met a couple guys in the lodge who turned out to be lawyers. We spent the rest of the day making wildy inappropriate jokes and riding awesome pow-laden runs. I was gleeful and blissed-out - it was like a high. I won't ever become one of those "no friends on a powder day" kind of assholes, but I at least understand why some people do. And it felt great to be able to ride double black diamond runs and not be afraid. All in all, an awesome day! :)


Buried again...note the fresh lines down the hill from me.



Imprints are all that remain after I molested the fresh pow