We had one day free in Port Angeles and we decided to actually do something instead of hanging out in the motel all day.

We had come from Victoria, British Columbia the day before via the Black Ball ferry meaning all we had were bicycles still.

We rented a car for the day. Before picking up the car we went to the visitor center where the woman was super helpful and nice. She gave us some maps of the peninsula.

It rained pretty much off and on the whole day. This and the fact we are a bit lazy from our time bicycling, we didnt really want to do any hikes around Olympic National Park.

We took 101, which brought us to a lake and some walking paths. We did one, but with the impending rain, Dad said,

“If I was on the bike I wouldnt mind getting wet. But now that we have the car, it would be silly to get soaked.”

But this little walk was beautiful as it was through some of the rainforest. Not all rainforests have monkeys and tropical fruits 😉

The actual part of the park, which holds most of the rainforest was closed due to road work, but it was a bit out of the way.

We headed West and reached Forks.

If you arent familiar with Forks, it means you are not a big Twilight fan or even a small Twilight fan.

I must admit, I enjoyed the books in middle school, but the movies were a bit much for my high school self.

However, there were many major fans around the town. It also didnt help that this particular weekend was a Twilight festival to celebrate Bella Swan’s (the main character) birthday, Sept 13th.

Because we were there on Sunday, many of the activities were over, but according to the visitor center one needed tickets for most of them.

The visitor center lady was talking with a major fan and I just listened in, but she was saying that the woman could meet certain characters and the stars were here…

Dad and I dont think Robert Patinson or Kristen Stewart or really any of the main stars would have been here. We think it was more people dressed as the characters like at Disneyland, but hey, maybe they were there🤷‍♀️

The woman tourist was in such awe.

“Oh wow! Really?? So cool! Wish I knew!”

They have a self guided tour sheet for tourists of the major spots from the books. Most of the movies were not filmed here because Forks wanted too much money apparently.

We drove by the high school and the “Cullen house.” This is actually a bed and breakfast and I think it’s called this because it has the piano and graduation caps, not because it was in the movies.

The visitor center has Bella’s truck from the movie and the book.

Also, fun fact, Forks gets at least 10 FEET of rain a year. 😳

Another part of the story is a Native American reservation called La Push. It is also part of Olympic National Park.

This looks like the movies and it is just as pretty with the fallen trees, rocky beach, and crashing waves.

There was one guy trying to get the perfect picture and he was squatting and such.

“If he lies on his chest…” Dad said.

And sure enough, the man went completely flat.

We had lunch here and they seated us near the window with a lovely view.

Next to us was some major Twilight fans that were wearing shirts and had their nails done.

Finally, we headed North on the peninsula to Neah Bay, which is in another Native American reservation.

They charge a recreational permit to hike or camp, etc on the reserve. We just drove around so we didnt pay anything.

When leaving, we saw some elk (we think), which was cool, but funny. We biked all the way from Alaska and didnt see any elk and here, in the lower 48, we see some.

We unfortunately missed the daylight to go up to Hurricane Ridge, but the visitor center said it was really nice (when not cloudy, which it was earlier in the day). So, I recommend going there if you have the chance even though we didnt get to.

Going back to Port Angeles- it is actually a nice community. I like the feel of downtown. We didnt do much tourist things here, but everyone is so nice and they have a lovely street art.

The next day we had to return the one rental car and pick up another one. We did 2 because we just got the cheapest one for the day and then a truck for later to hold our bicycles, which then we will drop off at a different location.

While heading East, we drove through Sequim, which is known for lavenders! I was a bit worried that since it was mid-September there wouldnt be that much lavender left.

Much to what I was thinking, there werent that many lavenders in bloom. We stopped at one farm for a picture with a big lavender chair.

We kept following the 101 to Olympia, which took us through lovely trees and water views.