Forks ~ On The Road...

When last we met, I was driving around Lake Crescent on the ever so stunning Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.

Little did I know, earlier in the week, that I would be heading down this road. 

I think that my friend Alice was a bit surprised when I accepted her invitation to go camping near Port Townsend with over 30 members of her extended family & friends.  

If truth be told...

I've been quite a bit of a hermit for as long as Alice has known me...and she and her sisters, along with our friend Olivia...have gotten pretty tired of my pooping out on their parties and asking for rainchecks.

So, this summer...I decided to cash them all in and thus, I've been hitting the road...again...and again.

I've also been thinking that I should be making the most of the beautiful state in which we live.  Even though our neck of the woods is absolutely breathtaking...I know that there is more to see.  My hermit decade is over.  I can't help it.  When I get the bug I just keep going.  I spent the 90's traveling...but would you believe that the last time I rode on a plane was in 1999?

Yup!

I've also always been fascinated by places like Maine, Nova Scotia, and Ireland.  I visited the former...on a midnight run to the L.L. Bean outlet with a couple of cute Dartmouth boys way back in the day.  It was pitch black...so, that doesn't really count as experiencing Maine, does it?  I saw Ireland from the air, and have only experienced Nova Scotia from places like the pages of Victoria Magazine...they don't really count either...do they?

So, when Alice invited me to spend the weekend on the Olympic Peninsula...I jumped at the opportunity.  Her family is pretty amazing too, by the way.  It's impossible to not feel welcome with that bunch.  I took hundreds of pictures of our actual "camping time."  I'll save some of those for another day and fill you in now on where I landed...when everyone else went home.

 I pondered the idea of taking a side trip all weekend.  It was my first visit to the peninsula since I was a wee child...so, the thought of heading back home after just seeing one little corner of it was a little difficult for me.  My memories included driving through the misty rainforest with my family and visiting the cabin of old friends of my folks.   As if it were yesterday, I can picture standing and watching the husband show my brothers and me how he hand tied flies.

misty woods & fly fishing tales

hmmm...

I was intrigued.

I hit the road and headed west.

As I drove along the twists and turns of Lake Crescent, the clouds began to thicken.  By the time I'd left the water behind, the once beautiful afternoon...had turned into this...

The wettest place in the contiguous United States.

I didn't plan to stay long.  I had somewhere else to go...so, I just made a couple of quick stops.

If you'd care to take a walk in the woods behind the high school...beware of large bears...

tourist traps

and homeschool moms who encourage you to read ALL four of the Twilight books, and invite you to attend triple feature events in their homes which include the midnight opening of the latest movie and new friends with glittering faces.

What fun!

 : )

If you're still following, thank you!  

Next...

I'll be heading back on the road and over the bridge to La Push!

Have a beautiful week!

: )

Julie M.