Tour De Twilight

This is not a joke. My sis-in-law, Amy, and I decided that we needed a weekend retreat and where in the world could be more fun than Forks, WA--Home of the sexiest vampires in existence! We flew into Portland on the morning of the 16th of January so that we could start the tour by seeing all the places where Twilight was filmed. And then moved our way up to Forks. And since we were trying to do this trip justice we decided that it was NECESSARY to drag Edward along with us. He was a little quiet since Bella wasn't with us, but I think he enjoyed himself more than he let on!
(Brace yourselves! There are a lot of pictures here. I cut it down to about a fourth of the actual number that I took.)

Edward in the rental car. Yes, I did ask Lydia, our rental car associate, for a silver car and she was nice enough to oblige.

The first stop along the way was the Blue Heron Paper company. This pic doesn't show it well, but this is where the security guard gets attacked.

Amy and Edward at the greenhouses used for the field trip in the movie.

This is the owner of Angel's Hair and Nail Salon. In the movie it was tranformed into Petite Jolie--the place where they went shopping for the prom dresses. She showed us a bunch of pictures with her in the background from the filming.

Edward and I posing with Catherine Hardwicke's actual chair.

Amy and Edward

"The" Chair

Recognize the window? It is where Bella sits to watch them try on dresses.

Amy telling Edward about the men chasing her in the alley (yes, it was "THE" alley--we should have taken a picture from the other direction too)

Behind us is the "bookstore" from the movie

Edward protecting me from attackers in the parking lot where he saves Bella.

It's no Volvo, but he still looks hot next to the Silver Camry.

Amy excited for her date with Edward at the Bloated Toad (the restaurant from the movie)

Me at the Swan Residence. Bella and Charlie were gone and I didn't dare get the key from under the eave to sneak in. Maybe next time.

Edward was forever being the gentleman. Here he is helping Amy out of the car at the high school. He just needs his hot sunglasses on.

Amy and Edward at Kalama High School where they filmed the outdoor high school scenes.

After a long day both Amy and I took advantage of the fact that Edward was there to sing us to sleep. FYI Bella's lullaby is much prettier in real life!

The next morning we drove out to La Push. This is a part of the forest along the way. Can't you just imagine a big wolf running around through there?

Entering La Push

First Beach

The beach was gorgeous. And so peaceful.

Amy found paw prints! We can't be sure whose they were since we don't have a superhuman sense of smell. But it had to be one of Sam's pack.

Amy on the beach

The trail to the beach. My hands are FULL of the cool, mulitcolored rocks from the beach.

Of course the stores on La Push were ALL Team Jacob.

(We didn't tell them Edward was in the car)

I thought this sign was hilarious--Team Jacob, above the GARLIC--Get it!!???

Another La Push store

and their menu (for some reason it wouldn't turn out clear--but you get the point)

Entering the city of Forks. When we stopped for this picture a TON of people pulled off and "borrowed" Edward for their pictures too. Luckily he's a good sport and all.

You definitely need to stop by the Forks Chamber of Commerce when you go to visit. They have "Twilight" packets that they give out with maps of Forks, trivia questions, etc...

Luckily the employee that helped us was REALLY into it. She acted as though everything was real. It was a blast talking to her. The town of Forks has places they think fit most closely to descriptions in the book, so you can go around and visit them all.

Out front of the Chamber of Commerce they have Bella's Truck (notice the vanity plate)

Inside is a framed note from Stephenie Meyer thanking them for making September 13th Stephenie Meyer Day.

They even provide a bunch of signs for you to use when you get your picture taken there.

Of course, Edward didn't want to be left out.

He needed a picture or two without us so that he could give them to Bella.

(Doesn't want to make her jealous or anything)

The Swan Residence in Forks.

This is the house they think fits the books description the best.

"THE" hospital

They even have a parking spot reserved for Carlisle!

And yes, I did park in it!!

(Carlisle wasn't working that day anyway. It was too sunny.)

Amy and Edward at the Cullen residence.

A note from Esme

Edward by himself in front of his house.

This is the mailbox for a new store in Forks. The owner picked up and moved down from Vancouver. She sells all things Twilight and nothing else. The store was PACKED!!

The Thriftway where Bella goes grocery shopping.

The outfitters where Bella works.

Amy and I proving we have been to both places.

Amy and Edward at the high school. Personally, I think they make a cute couple.

Edward taking his turn posing with me at the high school.

We decided to go to Port Angeles next, and the fastest way was on Edward's back...OF COURSE. So you can understand why our picture didn't turn out too well!

Bella Italia (actually in Port Angeles)--Home of Bella and Edward's first date.

Our "double" date with Edward.

Amber had the night off--thank goodness--so we didn't have to worry about her being our waitress and hitting on Edward in front of us. Instead we had a very nice waiter that offered to take a picture of our date.

The night wouldn't have been complete without mushroom ravioli and a Coke.

Just down the block from Bella Italia is the movie theater. It is the one Bella went to with Mike and Jacob, remember?? Anyway, we figured a night in Port Angeles wouldn't have been complete without seeing Twilight!

We had extra time since it was the late show--so we decided to go for the double feature and see Bride Wars first. Edward thought it was okay but he was a little anxious to see "his" movie.

Everyone in the theater was so happy that we brought Edward along. He had a bunch of pictures taken of him. And yes, he manfully ate the popcorn.

The next morning we TRUDGED through the forest to find a good spot to re-create the meadow scene from the movie.

And then Amy went for another ride on Edward's back. At first she was scared.

But then she decided it was pretty nice being that close to him!

We went back to have a Bella Burger at Sully's but we forgot that small towns actually close stuff down on Sundays. We felt welcome anyway because of their sign. (FYI the drugstore is closed on Sunday too. We wish we would have realized before. It is the place to go to get Forks stuff--as opposed to Twilight stuff. But we didn't figure that out until it was too late. Oh well, guess we need to go back again!)

Amy at a random beach on the way back towards Portland.

Notice her HOT Forks Hoodie!

We made it to Multnomah falls right at Twilight.

It is the big waterfall in the background during the baseball scene.

You can barely see the falls in the background.

From there we drove through the most INSANE wind storm EVER to spend the night at the View Point Inn. It is the place where they filmed the prom.

In their foyer they have a whole Twilight display.

Because of the storm and power outages and circumstances beyond our control, we ended up spending the night ALONE in this haunted place! It actually was awesome but a little scary since the whole house was shaking and doors slamming from the wind storm. Ask me to tell you about the footsteps later!! (I was scared to death!)

We reserved the Inn Keepers room so that we could have seperate beds, but since we were the only ones there we decided to use the whole place for photo ops.

Here is Amy showing Edward how to stay clean.

Taking a nap in the Roosevelte Suite.

Edward looked cold so we gave him a robe too.

Don't tell Zach!

Edward waiting by my bed for me.

In the morning it was still SUPER windy, but at least it wasn't raining so that I could get some pictures. They have a brick walkway called the Twilight Walk of Fame. You can buy a brick with your name on it to put there.

Here is one of the many Twilight named ones.

They had a brick for every major character in the movie.

Here is what the View Point Inn looks like from outside.

And from the road. We will definitely be going back there. It is an awesome place to stay.

Very romantic!

Our last planned stop was the Carver Cafe.

It is the place that Bella and Charlie eat at all the time in the movie.

They kept all of the "Forks" stuff on the walls from the movie.

And they even kept a pic of Waylon on the cash register!

Be warned...the breakfasts here are HUGE!!! I could have ordered one and it would have been enough for both of us. We sat at the table the old men sit at in the movie.

The corner where Charlie and Bella eat.

Amy shaking her bum at the same location that Mike did in the movie. And FYI, the cook said that she isn't the first one to re-create this moment!

So we thought we were done until I noticed that the StoneCliff Inn was close by and it was on my list of locations--but I never could figure out what part was filmed there so we weren't planning on going. But since it was super close we decided to try really quick before we headed for the airport. And I was SOOOOOO glad when we did! Recognize those mossy rocks??

The place was packed with boulders covered in moss. I took a million pics trying to find ones that I actually recognized. I was about to give up and as I came down a different direction ---BAM!!! There it was!! This is one of the spots from the MOVIE!!

Do you recognize the tree where Bella trips as she is chasing after Edward? Amy is trying to re-create it for you. Unfortunately, Edward was already packed up for the trip back to Virginia so he couldn't pose for the picture.

So after finding this place my trip was complete!!! And we headed back to the airport to catch our flights home. It was the best 4 day vacation EVER. I highly recommend it. Surprisingly most of the women that were doing the same as us were actually there with their husbands! Don't think Dave is ready for a Twilight vacation yet. The only sad news was that Edward missed the connecting flight and didn't arrive to my house until a couple days later! Luckily he survived but he is a little beat up--but I love him regardless! We didn't see EVERYTHING, but we came pretty stinking close. Plus, now we have a reason to go back and see the other places some day!

Merry Christmas...or something

So this year I fell behind a little. Okay, A LOT!! So even though my wonderful husband wrote up a Christmas letter, I never printed it or mailed it. So now, in my true lazy fashion, I am posting it on my blog so that you can all know that I WAS thinking about you at Christmas but I just never got around to letting you KNOW that I was. So here goes:

Have a Very Merry Christmas from the Price’s

Well, the first item we like to inform people of is where we currently live. It changes so often that some of our Christmas card list recipients may not know. Surprise!, we still live in Virginia. We are pretty sure this is where we want to stay for a long time.

We had a very sad event this year. Dave’s mom, grandma Sue, passed away in June. Christmas time was always her favorite time and so I’ve been thinking a lot about her recently. It certainly wasn’t sudden and Sunny and I had started to pray and fast that her suffering would come to end. We miss her a lot and even more around the holidays.

Here are the individual reviews. We will go oldest to youngest…so Sunny is up first

Sunny:Sunny completed her college degree. I am so proud of her and glad she is finished. The other life changing event Sunny had this year is the Twilight Saga. It might be more, but Sunny admits to reading the four book series at least four times. She has a trip planned early next year to go visit the town where the book takes place with her sister-in-law. Big Twilight, Stephanie Meyer, Rob, Edward, Jacob, Forks fan!!!

Dave:Well, in addition to working on the basement I had a few things that kept me busy this year. I finished my Captain’s Career Course. This is the school I have to take prior to being selected for major. It will be another few years before I am eligible for promotion, I was just lucky enough to get a seat in the school and get it knocked out early. I was also sent to Iraq for about a month. This was a short or temporary duty assignment. Other than being away from Sunny and the kids, I really enjoyed it. Iraq in short time periods if fine, it’s the 18 month assignments that get old. I spent a lot of time in the AIRPAX terminals, (small, uncomfortable holding locations where you wait for your plane or helicopter to show up). I caught rides on black hawks, Chinooks, baby Chinooks, C-130s and a few others. The ride is always the fun part. The hours spent waiting for the ride with a bunch of other stinky Army types is not.

London:To say that London has adjusted well to Virginia would be somewhat of an understatement. She is in the Drama club, tested well enough in math to be selected for the math club, and was voted class president. London has always had an easy time making friends, which has come in handy since we moved around so much. The most important event for London this year was her baptism. Yes, London turned eight and was baptized. Sunny and I are happy she was baptized but I am a little nervous that she is half way to driving and dating. Its happening too fast.

Tank:Is still doing great in school. In fact, he did so well that he was nominated for a special school/leadership course this summer. We probably won’t end up doing it because it is crazy expensive, but are proud that his teachers felt he was such a good student and role model that they took the time to nominate him. Tank just turned seven and had a way cool birthday party (see Sunny’s blog post). Two words, Indiana Jones. The ward called us to schedule his baptism for next year. Thanksgiving weekend 2009 Tank will also be baptized.

Zeke:Well, Zeke now goes to school all day and is doing great as well. He is supposed to be at a level 5 reading level by the end of the year and is already at a 4. He is so proud to ride the school bus with his big brother and sister. He is such a good kid at school, his teachers just love him.

Jonas:Even little Joe goes to school now. His preschool is Tuesday through Thursday in the mornings. The girls at the school recognized Joe as Zeke’s little brother and immediately started to take good care of him. I think Joe will be the beneficiary of a lot of that in the future. Joe going to school has given Sunny a taste of the freedom she will have in a year and a half with Joe goes to school with the rest of the kids. It’s a bitter sweet feeling, but Sunny has definitely had the hard job during our marriage so hopefully she will have a little more Sunny time when the kids are in school all day long.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.
The Prices

Twilight Michelle

A handful of you have asked about my new Twilight BFF and so I thought that I would introduce her to you. Say hello to Twilight Michelle. That is what we call her in order to distinguish her from my other friend Michelle.



Twilight Michelle and I started talking while in line to see Twilight the opening day. She was so fun that I asked if I could sit with her during the movie since we were both alone. As we talked we realized that we love all the same things and we really had a blast. We said goodbye at the end of the movie, but I went back to get her email address to send her something Twilight related that she wanted. And since then we have become great friends! Thank goodness for Twilight! Without it I would never have met Michelle...and I wouldn't have someone to share all my silly obsessions with.

Before and After

We just updated our Laundry Room this weekend. So here are the befores and afters. The "before" is actually before we moved in. I should have taken a picture to show you how cluttered and chaotic the room was before we put the cabinets in.
Our cabinets are a little crazy, but we got them off of Craig's List for SUPER cheap, so they will fill the need just fine for the price!

I finally have a place to hang brooms, etc... so they aren't falling all over the place.

In case you were wondering about the color. It was a mistint that was only $6 for the gallon instead of $20-something. So I thought for that price it would work well for the Laundry room--and after putting it on the walls, I LOVE it!
I also have a place to hang my ironing board and step ladder!!!


This last photo has nothing to do with the Laundry Room, but I thought I should throw it in. This is Tank with his birthday gift from Zach and Amy. The reason why it is such an important picture is because Tank is actually SMILING...AND he is even looking at the camera without squinting his EYES! A rare picture, indeed!! If only I could get him to do this for group shots!!