We took a gorgeous drive up 101. The weather was sunny and warm, not exactly what we were expecting in the rainiest town in the contiguous 48 states. We began by checking into our Twilight Room at the Pacific Inn Motel in Forks. C was grinning in pure delight--a rare state for my normally reserved stepdaughter. But wouldn't you be, too, if you could sleep here:
Or wash up with these:
We shopped for a while. There is far more "Twilight" merchandise that I would have imagined. Most of it was crap. C is finally old enough to appreciate that you don't have to buy something just because you can. In fact, she asked for nothing. I bought a Christmas ornament, but only because I buy one wherever we go. And yes, our tree is precisely as pretty as that sounds.
But I digress! On to the tour. First off, major props to Team Forks for a truly fun experience. We were supposed to do the full-meal deal, which included a cookout in La Push, but we were the only people on the tour, so our guide downsized us to just the sights within Forks.
So on this tour...well. You drive around in a special bus decorated like the bedroom of a Twilight-crazed tween:
Randy was our guide, and he drove us, along with his life-size cut-outs of Bella, Edward and Jacob, all around town. I should note that this was a book tour, as opposed to a movie tour (since they didn't actually film there). So if things don't look like the movie, that's why.
And here are Edward and I relaxing on the porch of the B&B that would have been the Cullens' house if, you know, the movie had been filmed there:
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And here are the high school:
and the hospital:
and, of course, Bella's truck:
C laughed the entire time...worth every penny!
After the tour, C and I drove out to the Quileute Reservation in La Push, where we saw:
The Treaty Line:
Jacob's house, with his motorcycle chained to the mailbox:
and, last but not least, First Beach:
And so to bed.
In the morning we drove to Port Angeles, rafted on the Elwha River (C fell in and had to be rescued), visited Hurricane Ridge
and, finally, had dinner at Bella Italia, where Edward and Bella had their first date:
I hate to say it, but the food wasn't very good, and the service was spotty. They do have a great wine list, but since I had to drive home after dinner, I had a Coke. Just like Bella did!
No good segue here, so...
I had been having some back and hip pain, and since it lasted more than two weeks, I called my oncologist. He was not overly concerned but ordered a CT scan to check for mets.
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| Does the bed move through the ring, or vice versa? You decide. |
My sister had this test when she was first diagnosed. She warned me that the contrast dye, injected intravenously, would make me feel like I just wet my pants. Joel, my friendly neighborhood CT tech, confirmed this just before he stuck the needle in my arm. I was pretty excited. I can't explain why. But just think about what it would feel like if you wet your pants but knew that they were actually dry! Crazy, right?
Only it didn't. It felt warm down there, but not wet. More like when your laptop gets hot on your lap, except on the inside. It was disappointing, not in a devastated way, but kind of like how I felt when I saw Nordstrom's so-called spiral escalator for the first time:
Cool, sure, but not a spiral.
Monday I got the results--negative. So much happiness! Since I was not scanned at the outset (it's not typically done when your nodes are negative), this is the first objective indication I have that the cancer has not spread. So, yes, so much happiness!
Almost makes up for the dry pants.
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