--11_08_2008_It gives you teeth--

--11_08_2008_Leaving Forks--

Well, they give you teeth... when you order the vampire burger.

You can take the boy out of the vampire town, but you can't take the vampire town out of the boy.

It was a great two days exploring highway 101 and the small town of Forks. Definitely looking forward to making my way back out to the Olympic Peninsula and exploring even more new territory.

~cheers
-brad

If you're reading this sign... ahhhh


Currently, Forks only has a little under 6 feet of its expected 11.5-12.5 feet of annual rain.


I hear vegetarian style is the best.




Waiting for the ferry back to Edmonds.

--11_07-08_2008_Welcome to Forks Washington--

--11_07-08_2008_Welcome to Forks Washington--

Over the past 48 hours or so I have learned a lot about the town of Forks, and 'Twilight' the teenage love story between a vampire and human. Forks was chosen for the book because it is the darkest / most overcast place in the continental United States. While there, I did not see the sun and it rained the entire time except for maybe a total of 10-15 minutes.

During the two days in Forks I followed the Twilight tour twice. The first time I road along with three friends as they quickly toured as much of the area as possible to make sure that they could get back to Bremerton in time for the reason why they were in Washington, a friends reception for the upcoming wedding. This worked out pretty well since it was sort of the regular tour on a huge dose of caffeine. Plus it was a different way of seeing the tour instead of just the usual van ride along... which I did the following day with a group of 11 others, from a 13 year old celebrating her birthday, to a pair of women from California who made the trip just to see Forks for it's tie to Twilight.

The town has really embraced this strange influx of tourism with open arms. Talking with local shop and restaurant owners it seems that Twilight fans have pumped new life into the local economy. Forks depends on fishing tourism to fill the hotels, eat the food, and buy the merchandise during the peak fishing season. But with this new source of ever increasing tourism the times of the year when the fishing traffic dwindles down Twilight traffic keeps the town busy.

Thanks for looking
Brad









Yea, Forks is in a temperate rain forest... it rains a lot.


My camera had enough salt on it to cure a moose after shooting next to the ocean for 20 minutes in 40 mph wind gusts. Awesome time.


I had the bella burger, it was great. The burger consisted of pretty much everything on a normal burger and then a non fried pineapple on top. Sounds strange, tastes good.


Garden State?

--11_08_2008_Forestry--

--11_08_2008_Forestry--

Forks, Wa was once known as the forestry capital of the United States. Like a lot of environmental businesses there was a boom era and a bust era. It's always sad to see how something people depend on can be gone in an instant. Even though Forks doesn't log nearly as much as they used to, the industry is still very evident. It's sad not to see the old growth forests anymore and the lack of biodiversity that comes with the logging of such forests. However, it is nice to see the quickness of the replanting taking place, and in some places very responsible selective cutting taking place instead of the most economical and most environmentally devastating type of cut, a clear cut.

Here are just a few photos I took of the logging in the area and how different the landscapes can be in such a lively, wet place.

reduce, reuse, recycle.... be responsible

-brad

10 year forest


35 year forest


protected forest in the Olympic National Park

--11_07_2008_Vampires in the Rain--

--11_07_2008_Vampires in the Rain--

I'm heading out on a little drive out to the Olympic Peninsula in the wee hours of the morning. I am really looking forward to this trip, I haven't been farther west than Bainbridge Island since being out here in the Northwest and I am excited to wander around the OP for a couple days and make photos. To get to Forks from Seattle I am driving about 30 minutes north of the city to Edmonds and then taking a ferry across the Puget Sound. From there it is about a 2 and a half hour drive according the google.

I'm assigned to cover the small town called Forks, Washington. Forks is the featured town for the fictional series of Twilight books and the soon to be released Twilight movie. I don't know too much about the series or the movie, all I know is that it is based around vampires, a love story between a vampire and a human, and the conflict that comes with that relationship. You can read more about the books, movie, and the town here http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

I'll be in Forks until Saturday around noonish or so and then I am thinking of either heading just straight west out of the town to the ocean.... or going a tad out of my way to trek up to the northwestern most point of the continental United States. Any suggestions?

Then just cruising back to Seattle.

The OP gets a ton of rain and as you can see I think I'll be getting pretty wet over the next couple days. I won't let that dampen my spirits however.

4:30am is going to come quickly. I'll be on the look out for vampires offering me apples for sure.

Cheers,

-Brad