Day Twenty-Six: Seattle

Hello!

Even though the room last night was pretty terrible, Tim and I were able to get some rest... as well as an early start on our day. By the way, did I mention that the sink was made of metal? Honestly, how long has it been since people stopped making those things out of metal and started using porcelain or any other material? A long time I'm sure. Anyway, so we hit the road around 8 am to head down to La Push. In case you were wondering, this is really an Indian reservation, and the tribe is really called the Quileute... just like in the Twilight series. Just so you all know, I am a fan of Twilight, but the only reason I went to see Forks and La Push is because we were already so close. If I never came anywhere near Washington I would never have gone out of my way to visit this place. And now that I have, let me tell you, I won't be going back. It's not terrible, but it's definitely not worth the time and money it costs to get and stay out there.
The beach at La Push was worth the short drive off of 101, and it was amusing to see how the community was playing up the whole Twilight thing. When entering the reservation we saw a sign that said "No Vampires Beyond this Point" and below that it read "TREATY LINE". If you have read the books, or I guess even seen the movies, you will know what that means. While on the res. we stopped at a small coffee stand (which are all over the place in Washington... similar to how common snowball stands are around Maryland) and just guess what it was called? Jacob's Java! There was even a huge cut out of the guy who plays Jacob in the movies on the front of the hut! We needed coffee anyway, so we stopped to get some... only I was a little afraid to get out of the car. Why, you ask? Only because a large black dog appeared outside my car door, pretty much out of the blue, and he just stood there staring at me. Eventually he looked away, so I got out and offered him my hand to sniff. He stuck his head under it to tell me he wanted to be petted, so I knew he was friendly. We got our coffee, and it was actually really good! Then we walked to the beach with our new doggie-friend, who's name turned out to be smokey. Once we got to looking around we noticed that there were as many dogs walking around the reservation as there were people. I joked that maybe they were people, only they were shape-shifters like the Quileute's in Twilight.After La Push, we made our way through 60 miles of wilderness to Port Angeles. It was a pretty big town and we could see Canada! Tim and I stopped and walked around for awhile. We walked through a mall (if you could even call it a mall), and decided to get some lunch.

--Quick P.S. to Brittany: I so wish I could have been there with you tonight at the Eclipse showing! Once I see it I will let you know so we can talk about it in more detail. SO JEALOUS! :-P

After we had our fill of the "Twilight Zone" we started towards Seattle, with a quick stop in Tacoma planned. The reason for the detour was so that we could visit with a friend of the family, John Atkinson. After trolling the mall while we waited for him to get off work, we visited with him for a few hours... catching up and chatting until about 6 pm when Tim and I began to get hungry. After many hugs (Mom, I got one for you too) we set off to check out the grand Space Needle of Seattle. Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to go to the top so we didn't do it... but it was pretty cool to see it in real life none-the-less. On our way out of the city we decided we wanted to settle in early, so we stopped at the first Motel 6 we saw, and that is where we are now... filled with IHOP pancakes, clean, and happy to be on the home-stretch. Love and Miss you all!!!

Don't forget to bookmark our Picasa Web Album to see ALL of our pictures!

Love from somewhere outside of Seattle, WA!

Day Twenty-Five: Forks

Hey.

Okay, let me just update you real quick so I can get to the real part of this post. We left Uncle Kirk and Aunt Linda's this afternoon, stopping to get some groceries and such before hitting the road. The first thing we did was head West to Cannon Beach which Uncle Kirk said we absolutely HAD to see. I have to admit, it was well worth the drive! We walked down to the beach and put our feet in the water! So we can officially say we have been in the Pacific Ocean! There were a lot of cool things about this beach, like the fine and compact sand and the little smooth rock that littered the water line in place of shells. However, the coolest thing about Cannon Beach was Haystack Rock! It was enormous! I wanted to swim out to it, but the water was freezing and I don't really thing we were allowed to be on it. It was really awesome looking from a distance though, so I was happy about just getting to see it. Before heading North we stopped to eat at Mo's, again at Uncle Kirk's recommendation. The food here was good, though their "famous" clam chowder was not what we were expecting. Unfortunately, our server was not very attentive and was very slow in getting around to us. But overall it was a great visit, and I am very glad we went.

We took 101 up the Oregon coast and went over this really neat bridge into Washington. We were going to check out this fort that Louis and Clark stayed at called Fort Clatsop, but it cost money just to get in and see it, so we drove past it. Driving along the coast of Washington was quite an experience! We saw these really strange trees that had huge bulbs on them... they looked like tumors! We went down to the beach here too and climbed on the rocks and deadwood there. We took pictures of the sun setting over the water... it was so pretty! Even after the "sun-set" though, it didn't get dark until after 10 pm! That surely never happens in Maryland!

But now for the most important part of this post. OH MY GOODNESS! We stopped in Forks (I know it's lame, but I just had to see it) and they had practically NO vacancies in any of the motels. All that was left was this tiny room at a place called the Town Motel. It's... just... EW! The carpet is this orange-like shaggy stuff that is damp and smells like mold. All the furniture looks like it's at least 50 years old... and it might be! The bathroom... ugh, don't get me started on the bathroom. I'll just have Tim take a picture and show you... I don't have words to describe how small and... just... wrong it is. The water in the shower was reversed, so that when I turned it to hot it was FREEZING. It took Tim and I about five minutes of running the water to try turning it to the cold side... which finally made the water hot... for some reason? At least the bed is sort of comfortable, and the sheets appear to be clean enough. Here's the kicker: how much do you suppose we paid for this crap-hole? Go on, guess? Give up...? We paid a whopping $66 including tax! I've stayed in a much nicer Motel 6 for under $40! Oh well. It's a place to sleep. So, that is what I am going to do now. Good night faithful readers!

Love from Forks, WA!

Day Twenty-Three: Back to Oregon

Heya!

Sorry I didn't post last night or the night before. As Tim told you I was really exhausted from exploring Disneyland, and last night we didn't get into Kirk and Linda's until almost 9 pm! We had a great time this past couple days! But let me tell you a little about Disneyland!
It turns out the Disneyland park is about the same size as the Magic Kingdom in Disney World... but the Castle is quite a bit smaller. We think it is supposed to be Snow White's Castle, while the one in Disney World is Cinderella's. The whole park is made up of seven areas: Main Street, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Fronterland, Fansasyland, Micky's Toontown, and New Orleans Square.

Tim and I started our adventure in Tommorowland, where we went on Space Tours and looked around inside a house of the Future. We then went on the "It's a Small World" ride. It was much bigger than the one in Disneyworld! One really neat thing that I don't remember seeing in Disney World was the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. We got on a fully functional submarine and took a spin around a large lake, completely underwater. For the most part it was very realistic, and they showed clips of Finding Nemo on underwater screens, slightly altered to create an extension of the original story. After that, we hopped onto the train that circles around the entire park which took us across the park to New Orleans super quick! On the ride there was a model of "The Grand Canyon" which wasn't quite as good after seeing the real thing... but the section that took us "back in time" to see the dinosaurs was pretty cool. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the many rides and attractions that Disneyland had to offer... most of which we recognized from Disney World. Classics such as the Haunted Mansion, The Tower of Terror, and "It's a Small World: The happiest cruise that ever sailed". It was easy for us to forget that these were around well before we ever experienced them across the country in Florida. There were four major mountains in the park: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and the Matterhorn Mountain. Disney World sports the first three, but the last one was unique to Disneyland as far as we could remember. Like the other Mountains, this one included a ride, which was in this case a roller-coaster-like bobsled. Tim sat behind me with his legs stretched out around me, while I sat with my back pressed against him as we twisted our way through the hills and turns of the Matterhorn. There were even some parts where we were sledding though complete darkness! We didn't get to ride Space Mountain, or Splash Mountain because the wait times were really long, and we wanted to make sure we got to do the attractions that we couldn't do in Disney World. There weren't many of them, so of course we ended up flying over London with Peter pan, and joining Snow White on her scary adventure. All of the rides were excellent, and met the requirements for a Disney themed adventure but, as usual, we found that what Disneyland really excels in are it's shows!

Tonight's features: A fireworks display aptly named "Magical", and an amazing spectacle known as Fantasmic where we got to enter into Micky's imagination for a while! After the fireworks (which were set to music, and were outstanding) Micky appeared on Tom Sawyer's Island in his sorcerers outfit, and worked his magic on the surrounding water. Snow White, Cinderella and Belle came out on floating platforms, dancing gracefully with their respective prince-partners. Peter Pan heroically defeated Captain Hook on his pirate ship, leaving the Captain to be chased by the ticking crocodile as he flailed on a rope behind the ship. Then, just when you thought everyone was going to live happily ever after in Micky's imagination... A huge dragon appeared, breathing flames out over the water! Luckily, Micky imagined he had a magical sword, which he used to blast the dragon into retreat! With the Dragon defeated, Micky sailed everyone out on his steamboat, where they danced and celebrated the victory! Everyone was invited, including Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, and all of the princes. Even Woody and his pals, and Winnie the Pooh and his friends were there! It was absolutely wonderful!

Sadly, that was our last night in this magical place, but we enjoyed every minute! We are now safely relaxing here at Uncle Kirk and Aunt Linda's after a quick plane ride from LAX. We are still undecided on what we are going to do today, but whatever it is I'm sure it will be tons of fun!

Love from Wood Village, OR!

Day Twenty One: Disneyland!!!

Tim here,

We just got back from Disneyland and let me tell you, it was MAGICAL! Aftyn is VERY tired and she will post a proper blog entry tomorrow when we are waiting on our flight. Can't wait to see you all!

Love from Anaheim, CA (aka Disneyland)!

P.S. From now on, you can view ALL of our photos from my Picasa Web Album

Day Twenty... I think: Disney's California Adventure!!!

Howdy!

Well, Tim and I have kind of lost track of the days now, but I think this is Day 20, right? It's not really important I guess. What is important is that Tim and I are sitting in our fabulous hotel room, generously set up for us by Grandpa Tom and Grandma Judy (Thanks again guys!) basically right across the street from DISNEYLAND!!! We are so lucky!

First off, yesterday (Day 19) was a lot of fun! Tim and I woke up at Heather's and we were dropped off on Hollywood Blvd. We hopped on the first tour we could find through Hollywood and saw some sights. The tour took us through Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and most of the surrounding areas. We got to see where a lot of famous people lived such as Michael Jackson and Elvis! When we got off the tour, we walked up and down the boulevard to see the stars. After eating lunch, we were offered a chance to see a live taping of the show "Minute to Win it", and we gladly accepted! It was a lot of fun! Keep an eye out for the Office special of the show, and you will see us! We got our picture taken with Guy Fieri because we were Super Fans!!!

Ok, would you like to know what Disneyland is like? Are you sure? Okay, well let me tell you... the first thing you need to know is.......... it's pretty freaking awesome!!! Sure it's smaller than Disney World, but the fact is that this is the perfect size for a quick two day visit! We literally saw the entire California Adventure's Park today, and it only took us about 10 or 11 hours. We got there around 1 pm and we were strolling back into the hotel lobby by 11 pm, which is just a short walk away from the parks. There are plenty of amazing things to see here too. Just in the Cali. Adventure Park there was a roller coaster (which we didn't get a chance to ride, but we will tomorrow) as well as a wine tasting booth (with delicious wines and beers), and plenty of shows to see. I think we saw every single one of the shows: "It's Tough to Be a Bug in 3D", "The Muppet's in 3D", even a live-action version of Aladdin! And of course, we can't forget the WORLD OF COLOR! We will honestly never forget that show! It was... I mean, I just don't know if there are words for it. Spectacular! They had mist that served as a projector screen so they could show scenes from a bunch of the classic Disney movies. Favorites like Aladdin, Pocahontas, Toy Story, The Lion King, and even the Pirates of the Caribbean! In addition to the bright and beautiful colors illuminating the water being shot into the air, there were large flames being blasted throughout the show! I really can't describe it right... you will just have to come to California Adventure's and see it for yourselves. You really should!

So, anyway, tomorrow we are going to the other park. I'll be sure to update you all on it tomorrow night!

Disney's California Adventure

Love from Anaheim, CA (aka Disneyland)!

Day Eighteen: California

Hey!

So, a quick update for everyone. We caught our flight to California yesterday morning at 7:40, had a layover in Oakland, and got to Burbank a little before 11 am. The flight was smooth, and Tim and I really enjoyed the sights. We couldn't see much because there were a lot of clouds below us, but there is just something about seeing the ground from that high up. The few views we got of California from up high were amazing, which made us all the more happy that we ended up flying.

Heather and Kim picked us up at the Airport and took us all around LA! We had lunch in Malibu! I actually bought some make-up at the Malibu Country Market, which made me feel really rich. Even though the make-up didn't cost much more that it would have back home... and even then it was mostly because tax is 10% here! So, it wasn't that expensive, and now I can tell people that the foundation I use is the same brand that does the make-up for Glee! Anyway, as we drove, Heather and Kim pointed out tons of things to us that we would never have known without them! Things like, where the hot clubs and restaurants are that all the celebs go to, which famous people own certain businesses, and where we are most likely to run into star!

Speaking of running into a star... in Malibu they took us to this amazing cupcake shop (they were pretty as well as yummy) and there was this friendly lady who came in after us. I kept looking at her, because I thought she looked familiar (aka famous) but I didn't know, so I wasn't going to say anything. Plus, I was on hyper-alert for something like that, to the point that every tall blond lady looked like Cameron Diaz to me. Anyway, when Tim made a comment about the calories in the cupcakes I said "Vacation calories don't count, right?" and looked at her and her friend. She smiled and said, "sounds just about right to me". When we left the store Heather told me that she was Linda Hamilton (you know, Sarah Connor from the Terminator) and that she would probably be willing to get a picture with us! I was like "Oh my god, Linda Hamilton talked to me in a cupcake shop in Beverly Hills!" But then I pulled myself together. I took the camera, thinking I would just casually stroll up to her and start a conversation. She had her cupcake, so I was like "So, which one did you pick?" She just smiled, told me, and nodded when I said "yum". Then I had to do it... so I said " you look really familiar". Again she smiled, actually, bless her, I don't think she ever stopped smiling, and said simply "Actress". I verified that she was Sarah Connor in Terminator and then I just started babbling like a boy with a crush. Tim came up to us, finally, after making me do all the hard stuff, and her friend took a picture of the three of us. She was so nice, which I knew before I walked up to her just because of how she was in the cupcake shop. We chatted a bit, and it turns out she grew up in Salisbury! I told her that I graduated from Salisbury University and she was like "Really! Congratulations!" Before we go I tell her that I love her ring, which was a Sapphire, and of course we were both born in September! Even more strange, both her and Tim were born on September 26th! It was quite a coincidence! Anyway, we all wanted to get to our cupcakes, so she gave us both hugs and told us to have a great time in California and wished me luck with my acting (I told her that I wanted to be an actress when she asked what we came to California for). It was an awesome experience and one I will never forget!

After leaving Malibu, Heather drove us around downtown Beverly Hills and showed us a lot of the sights. We drove down Sunset Blvd and saw where all of the famous, rich people lived. Tim and I are going to be taking a tour later on a tour bus. We saw all of the famous, expensive shops on Rodeo Dr. Hollywood Blvd was full of people! We didn't get out and walk around because Heather had a Palates session at 5, but it was totally cool.

After our little tour, we were dropped off in West Hollywood because Heather had to work. We went to this great book store with many different scripts for plays. We walked around a bit and waited for Heather to come pick us up so we could go to dinner.

Dinner was in Venice Beach! It reminded us so much of Ocean City, except even more beautiful. We ate at an Italian restaurant where we ate good food and drank great wine! We were all pretty worn out after that and instead of walking around, we decided to go home.

Anyway, we have to get a move on. I'll update again soon!

Love from Sherman Oaks, California!