Today was a much more relaxed day than any of our previous days. After a week of furious activity, exhaustion finally began to set in as both Libby and I dealt with the various aches and pains we’d accumulated in our dash up Mount Si and then later rock climbing. We therefore decided to spend more time just sitting around today and less time exploring, even though there are tons of neat things in the area. The fact that we awoke to the sound of waves crashing against the shore this morning through our open window didn’t hurt our desire to just stay put either. I woke up fairly early as usual, and spent the early hours of the morning reading and looking out at the ocean while Libby slept. When she woke up, she joined me for a while until we both decided we were too hungry to sit any longer. Unfortunately, we only had two options for food: eating at the overpriced and mediocre lodge diner, or driving 40 minutes into Forks. Deciding that some variation in our diet and the possibility of internet were worth the drive, we set off. As we drove, we were very impressed by the beautiful scenery; the road was surrounded on all sides by dense forest, with hanging moss. The road was shrouded with morning fog, adding an ethereal quality to everything, and we occasionally caught majestic glimpses of the ocean as we went along. (Libby here, quite impressed with the writing skill in this blog entry, nice work Steven. Haha) Despite all this, I couldn’t shake a foreboding sense of doom that strengthened with every mile as we came closer to Forks. Shaking this off as merely the aftereffects of my tiredness, I concentrated on trying to find a coffee shop as we came into the town. It wasn’t until I parked next to a cafe that I realized something was horribly wrong. Giggling teenage girls were everywhere, posters of frighteningly pale people adorned all the buildings on the street, and every sign proclaimed “Welcome Twilight fans!”. I had unknowingly stumbled into the heart of Twilight fandom: the book series was set in Forks, Washington. My sense of horror continued to mount as we ordered our Sparkle Vampire Lattes, collected our Team Edward napkins, and sat down at a table displaying various trinkets “Hand carved by members of Jacob’s Tribe”. When I finally got around to mentioning this to Libby, she answered that she’d known the significance of Forks all along, and couldn’t wait to stop in the Vampire Den souvenir shop next door after our coffee. One week into our marriage, and I’ve already been utterly betrayed by my wife. I have to admit though, that exploring the shop with Libby was actually a lot of fun. The place was totally over the top, with

Libby with her two favorite men

fake grass floor, fake trees that glittered holding the ceiling up, and of course dozens of girls seriously contemplating the merits of a “Bella for life” bracelet verses a life sized poster of Edward staring longingly at them. Eventually I managed to pry Libby away from the place, and we headed to a pizzeria for some lunch (“Twilight Menu available”), the local outfitter and grocery for snack foods and first aid supplies (“Twilight Merchandise available! The location Bella shopped for her food!”), and drove past the RV park on the way out of town (“Welcome Twilighters!”).

Thankfully, once past the RV park, there were no more signs of teenage angst or sparkly vampires, and I was able to get back to enjoying the beautiful scenery under now sunny skies. Upon arriving back at our lodge, we decided to spend the rest of the day just sitting on the beach watching the waves, and put off any site seeing for later. We grabbed our camp chairs, a couple of books and sweatshirts (the high today was 62 degrees, and it was windy), and headed down to the ocean. We set up our chairs, kicked off our shoes, and I was all prepared for several hours of relaxed reading, when Libby sprung her final surprise of the day on me. She’d picked up a paperback copy of Twilight just for me at the gift shop, so I too could join in the mania. Deciding that resistance was at last futile, I gave in, cringing only momentarily at the cover (ask me about the quote on it sometime), and spent the rest of the day reading about vampires.

Sittin on the dock of bay,

Blood sucking Steven and Team Jacob Libby

Travel question of the day: Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?