Karen Foley
Lynn Raye Harris
Ellen Hartman
Diana Holquist
Samantha Hunter
Shirley Jump
Dee Tenorio
Jeannie Watt
Be Careful What You Wish For
They say that no good deed goes unpunished, and to be careful what you wish for. Recently, I was talking with my husband about how I'd like to go on a trip somewhere. I didn't really have a destination in mind, but wanted it to be some place that I'd never been before. So when my office asked me participate in a resource review at our Seattle office for a week, I jumped at the chance. I had an ulterior motive, however.
You see, I'm a huge Twilight fan, and Seattle isn't far from Forks (where the story takes place) or from Vancouver, where New Moon, the second installment in the series, is currently being filmed. I thought, "What a great opportunity to see the Olympic Peninsula, and maybe even Rob Pattinson!"
Silly me.
So I agreed to participate in this review as long as I didn't have to be a team leader, didn't have to work on the weekend, and had enough free time to visit either Forks or Vancouver. The coordinators agreed, but when the final schedule came out, not only was I was listed as the Team Leader, but I had been scheduled to participate for two weeks, versus the one week that I had agreed to. My two-week schedule looks like this:
Monday - Leave Boston, arrive Phoenix.
Wednesday - Leave Phoenix, Arrive Seattle
Sunday - Leave Seattle, Arrive Wichita
Tuesday - Leave Wichita, Arrive St. Louis
Friday - Leave St. Louis, Arrive Boston
Not only was I going to get to visit Seattle, but three other major cities as well. As the Team Leader, I will definitely have to work for at least a few hours on Saturday morning in Seattle, and will not have enough time to visit either Forks or Vancouver, since our flight to Wichita leaves at 0800 on Sunday morning.
I'd really love to make the most of Seattle in the short time that I'm there, and would love to hear any good recommendations for sight-seeing, restaurants, etc. And if you have any information about Phoenix (or Scotsdale) or St. Louis, that would be great, too. I'll keep a running travel log of my cross-country adventures, and collect some goodies for a giveaway when I return.
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Seattle
I would love to hear folks talk about Seattle as well -- we're vacation planning for summer, and after raking over the tourism sites, we are very stuck between SanFrancisco and Seattle, or any other suggestions, so I hope folks will share lots!
Sam
Long, long ago
Man, I wish I could offer suggestions. I live in Seattle after college for a few years but I bet everything is changed by now. (College was 20 years ago.) I'd love to hear about your time there! It was a wonderful place to have my "single girl" days. A safe, fun, growing city. Plus, grunge, so no need to spend a lot on wardrobe!
Sam--you would probably enjoy the Olympic Peninsula. Great hikes. A rain forest. Beautiful ferry ride to get there. Ditto the San Juan Islands. If you have time, I'd visit Vancouver--the trip is great and it's another fun city. Mt. Rainier was a good day trip. Mount St. Helen's National Volcanic monument is an incredibly moving and fascinating place.
Karen--that schedule really stinks, though. I'm sorry that you won't have as much time as you wanted to explore Seattle or to stalk Rob. ;-)
Ellen, my real hope was to
Ellen, my real hope was to get up to Whidbey Island and check out Oak Harbor. This is where the movie Practical Magic was filmed, and my DH has a bunch of friends in the Port Townsend area who are big on boating with some funky kind of boat (a Bartender, go figure). We've heard Whidbey is beautiful and a lot of our military friends have said they'd like to retire there. So I am very, very disappointed that I won't be able to get up there. But the Mount St. Helen's National monument sounds fascinating!
Whidbey Island
Hi Karen--Whidbey Island is terrific. I had a dog when I lived in Seattle and we did a lot of hiking/beach walking. I used to take her across on the ferry and then drive to a beach to play. Excellent food in the little harbor at the ferry dock, too.
I proposed to my husband after we spent the day at Mount St. Helen's. The landscape really makes you think. (Although it's probably changed quite a bit over the past 16 years.)
I hope you'll get to be a tourist in Seattle sometime. It is a wonderful place.
Yikes, Karen
That sounds like the trip from hell. I have no recommendations...but I have started reading Twilight. I was (I'm not making this up) 87th on the library loan list, so I borrowed a copy from a member of my local RWA chapter. 24 hrs later I'm 362 pages in, and it's...okay. Another chapter member said I probably wouldn't like Bella...I don't dislike her, per se, but she's not exactly my style of heroine. The same chapter member said I needed to give all four books a read in order to see the character growth, so I'll do that - it only seems fair, after all. I love it when characters really grow through the course of the series! And it's a quick read.
Long story short...have a great trip. I'll look forward to hearing all about it when you get back!
You are so much more patient
You are so much more patient than I am. I tried it, but gave up after about 50 pages. It just didn't do it for me (what can I say?). I tend not to read on when something doesn't really grab me.
Ellen, thanks for all the Seattle info. We'll have a solid week... if you have a car, then, it sounds like a lot is possible, but not much within the city itself?
Sam
Car
Hi Sam--I went with the natural attractions since I figured they wouldn't have changed much in 15 years. I'm sure the city has a ton of great stuff--Pike Place Market, for starters. I wasn't confident anything I enjoyed would still be around or worthwhile since it's been so long and Seattle has gone through a lot of growth.
I lived on Capitol Hill and loved the community there. Tons of great restaurants and funky shops. Have no idea what it's like now, though. There were gorillas in the zoo--I think it was called Woodland Park zoo. I know you're a zoo person so that's worth a look, maybe?
Patient? Moi? ;)
Not really, LOL. The friend who loaned me the book said she didn't get into it until page 60, so I promised to give it 60 pages and then I was...interested. I finished it today - my kid's sick, so I'm home doing mindless things - and...well...I'm not getting the next three. Let's just leave it at that. I will watch the movie, but I just didn't like Bella well enough to go through another 3 450 pg books of her.
I tried. Good enough for me!
Okay, the weird thing is
Okay, the weird thing is that I didn't enjoy the books so much, but loved the movie. I tried to read Twilight when my daughter was reading it, but just could not get into it. At the time, I thought the writing was a little juvenile, but understood this was a book geared toward adolescent girls. After I saw the movie, I did go back and finish the first book and then skimmed the other three. I still like the movie more than I did the book. Okay, maybe it's just Rob Pattinson that I like. However, as much as I'm looking forward to the next movie, I am so hoping they never make a movie of the fourth book, Breaking Dawn. Eww, hated it. I did check out Stephenie Myer's excerpt on her website, a 12-chapter book (sort of) that is totally from Edward's point of view. I thought it was really good, and made his motivations so much easier to understand.
Wow, that bites
I hate when work doesn't listen to your stipulations. That's like being ignored when you mention an allergy.
Alas, have never been to WA, but I hope you have fun with the little bit of time you get there!
Dee
At first...
I thought that sure was a roundabout way to get to Seattle. Then I read further and you have to visit ALL those places. I've never been West - but I think of the movie Sleepless in Seattle. Is the Space Needle still there? That is what it's called right?
It does sound you have a good starting point with Tour Guide Ellen.
Be safe. And may you get to see Rob :)
Seattle
Pike's Place Market (you can watch them throw fish), Pacific Place, University District, Chinatown, Seattle Center (where the Space Needle lives).
Forks is about 4 hours from Seattle (as is BC) and Mt St Helens is about 5 hours south. Just to put some things in perspective for you.
If you can spare the time for a quick ferry ride (and if the weather is nice, you MUST. It's like a mini cruise), come over to Bainbridge Island and I'll meet up with you! ;-)
ani
goddessani at gmail dot com
Really, Ani? Would you meet
Really, Ani? Would you meet me for coffee if I could swing that? That would be so much fun!!
Of course I would meet you!!
And my husband says Mt St Helens is only about 3 hours away. I don't know how I got that so messed up!
Also, the bridge that you need to cross to get to Forks is shutting down for an approximate 6 weeks beginning next Friday, May 1st. So to get to Forks from Seattle would take you, oh, at a guess, 8-9 hours!! You probably wouldn't have been able to make it anyway. I hope that's consolation for you!
Drop me an email and we can work out time/place.
ani
Thanks, Ani! I'm glad you
Thanks, Ani! I'm glad you told me about the bridge; you're right that I wouldn't have been able to make it to Forks anyway, but imagine how frustrated and upset I would have been if I'd decided to make the drive, only to realize the bridge was out!
That'll teach you to wish for a trip....
The only place I've been out of all of those is Boston. Since I presume that's where you live, I won't suggest you go to Cape Cod If you get clear weather and a window you'll get to see a lot of America from the air, which I totally love.
Have a great time anyway :-)
Jen
http://www.jenlewis.com
Yikes...
I have no useful information on any of those places, Karen! (I wouldn't mind visiting them someday, but it hasn't been in the cards yet--maybe I ought to be careful how I phrase this, huh?) I do hope you'll travel safe, and bring some good reading for any times when you might be stuck waiting. It is unfortunate sometimes how our wishes get answered... ;)