Happy Friday y’all! This week has been so crazy – between a last minute trip to Texas last weekend to see my family and working a few extra shifts as a nurse, I have been so busy and could not be happier that it’s the weekend! I guess you know you’re old when your weekend plans are to “do nothing”. Lol.
Today’s blog post is a continuation of one I wrote a few weeks ago about my summer vacation. On that trip my husband and I and a few friends flew to Seattle, drove up to Canada and spent time in a few different towns, and then drove back down to Washington to visit Olympic National Park. So get ready to read my honest thoughts about Forks, WA and see some photos I took on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula!
Day Eight – A Ferry Ride, A Mountain Drive, & Sunset By the Lake
One of the things I was looking forward to on this part of the trip was exploring Port Angeles. I’d heard so many good things about it, and honestly I was not disappointed! When we first got off the ferry, we just made a quick stop at Subway for an early lunch before heading into the park, with plans to come back into Port Angeles later in the afternoon.
Olympic National Park had been on my bucket list of places to visit wayyy back in 2021 when I took a travel nurse contract in Tacoma, WA. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to visit the park back then. So when I started planning this Canada trip and realized we would be just a short ferry ride from the Olympic Peninsula, I knew we had to visit!
That first afternoon in the park we choose to take a scenic drive up to Hurricane Ridge. Known for its stunning mountain views (and it was clear skies and sunshine on the day we visited!), that area of the park has paved trails as well as hiking trails. There used to be a visitor center there, but it was completely burned down in a fire in 2023. When we were there, a trailer with bathrooms in it was available as well as a (separate) trailer with gift shop items for sale.
After taking in the views and stopping at several scenic lookouts on the way back down the mountain, we made our way back to Port Angeles. The main downtown area is full of vintage shops, flea markets, and outdoorsy stores with hiking and camping gear.
I am absolutely obsessed with buying second hand “souvenirs” while on vacation – books, home decor, games, etc. that will always remind us of the place we found it in. My friend and I each found some items to purchase from vintage shops, and my husband even surprised me by buying an original version of the board game Acquire (which we always have an eye out for).
I could have spent a full day wandering around Port Angeles. For supper that evening we dined at Next Door Gastropub, and it was very good. It did get busy in the evening – even on a weekday – and we had to wait in line for a little while. After supper – and a quick stop at Safeway for groceries – we started on the hour drive to our Airbnb in Forks, WA.
The scenery along that road is absolutely gorgeous! My favorite part of the drive was around Lake Crescent. We had to stop for sunset pictures, of course. If you’re planning a summer visit, I can’t recommend insect repellent enough because we did not apply any and we got eaten alive!
Day Nine – Rainforests & Beaches
I don’t know what I was expecting Forks, WA to be like. I of course knew that it is famously the town where Twilight was filmed, though having never seen any of the series that wasn’t much help. And I knew it was a very small town; we had some trouble finding a place to stay as there aren’t many hotels and the town in general is kind of run down. What I didn’t expect was for the entire town of Forks to have made Twilight it’s whole personality.
We chose to stay in Forks because of its proximity to the Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach areas of Olympic National Park. But would I stay there again? Probably not.
Hoh Rainforest
Because we got into town late the night before, we didn’t get as early of a start as I had wanted heading into the park. Based on what I had read on the park’s website, arriving before 10:00 am is ideal in order to avoid long wait times at the entrance station. We joined the line of cars waiting to enter the park just before 11:00 and spent over an hour in line.
But it was worth it! We spent time in the visitors center there, and then hiked the short Hall of Mosses Trail. Time permitting, I would have liked to hike the Hoh River Trail, but I also wanted to head over to Rialto Beach before supper.
The day we were there was a weekday. I wasn’t expecting the park to be as crowded as it was, so if you’re visiting during peak season, remember that IT’S PEAK SEASON and manage your expectations accordingly. Getting up early on vacation can definitely be a bummer sometimes, but in the end it’s always worth it to miss the crowd in my opinion.
Rialto Beach
It was a crazy change going from clear and sunny and honestly unexpectedly hot in the Hoh Rainforest to cold, cloudy, and drizzly at Rialto Beach. But it was so incredibly beautiful. That was the weather I had been expecting for the whole trip, and while I can’t exactly complain about clear skies in the Pacific Northwest, I have to admit that the cooler temps on the coast were a nice change.
Day Ten – Where’s the Bathroom?
After checking out of our Airbnb and making a quick stop at one of the many drive through coffee shops in Forks, we got to drive all the way back around the Olympic Peninsula in order to make it back to Tacoma.
Between three of us feeling carsick (guilty) and two of us having small bladders (yes, I’m guilty of this as well), we took it slow and made several stops. We ate lunch at Chick-fil-A in the capitol city of Olympia, and after that it wasn’t too much farther to our hotel in Tacoma. We were staying at the Four Points by Sheraton Seattle Airport South, and it was really nice. Plus it had an amazing Indian restaurant where my husband and I ate supper that night, Aadat Cuisine of India.
Booking a hotel with a complimentary airport shuttle is one of my favorite hacks for saving time and money on rental cars. Especially at the Seattle airport where the rental car location is pretty far from the terminal (you have to take a shuttle to get there), if you have an early flight it’s best to avoid that process if at all possible. We were able to return our car the night before and take the hotel shuttle in the morning, and it worked like a dream.
Day Eleven – Home Sweet Home
After a 13 hour travel day, we were finally, finally home (aka the only place I can get a good night of sleep). My favorite thing we did on the trip was probably seeing the orcas, but I truly loved everywhere we visited. I can’t say that all of the accommodations were pleasant (I’m looking at you, Forks), but that’s how it goes sometimes.
“The magic of home is that it feels good to leave and even better to return” – Wendy Wunder
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