More Flat Friend Adventures

My flat friends are packed and ready to go on another adventure. As you know from my previous post, they had a blast in Forks, WA; home of Edward and Bella from Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. This adventure is no where near as dangerous as hunting for vampires, but these girls do like to enjoy themselves.

Here they are on the plane flying out of Dallas. They had quite and interesting conversation with a young man from Nigeria while I napped. Apparently, they got into a bit of mischief because when I woke up they were looking a bit worse for the wear. Thankfully, I brought along some popsicle sticks and some glue. I was able to fix them up so that they didn't have to miss out on any of the fun.

We didn't land and get settled in until after 2am Seattle time so, I had to drag them out of bed the next morning. Fortunately, we were staying at my sister-in-law's house so the girls had a room to themselves.

Being as tired as we were, our first stop was obviously at Starbucks #1. I mean how can you go to Seattle and not stop at the very first Starbucks? I had my usual, a grande java chip frappuccino with a shot of espresso. I don't remember what the girls ordered, they were so busy chatting with everyone in line about their little adventure and of course they had to get a snap shot to commemorate their experience.

Next, we had to eat! My husband was in charge of picking the place since he knew all the great spots. Here you can see the girls sitting out on Pier 56 at Elliott's Oyster House. They had one whole page of all the different types of oysters they offered. The girls once again gorged themselves on oysters and shrimp. Honestly, it's hopeless trying to taking them anywhere.

We drove around and visited some of my husbands old haunts, but after a while the girls were begging me to let them out and stretch their legs. My sister-in-law was nice enough to snap a picture of me with the girls on the beach.



All in all I'd say we had a great day!

Flat Twilight Adventure Tours

How many of you know about Flat Stanly? If you aren't familiar with the book and the character check it out here. He's this cute little kid that flattens himself out and travels through the mail. Teachers, scouts troops, and even parents use him as an opportunity to teach kids about different places. They simply mail Stanly (a paper doll) and have the recipient take pictures or mail post cards at each location.
As many of you already know, I am one of those TwiMoms. I have to admit I think Stephenie Meyer's did a phenomenal job of speaking to women of all ages when she decide to put her dream down on paper. That being said, I didn't care as much for the movies as I did for the books.
On a recent trip to Seattle, for my husbands high school reunion, my sister-in-law and I convinced our husbands to take us to Forks, WA. Being that I don't think you're ever too old to jump on the band wagon, I flattened some of my Twitter/Twilight friends and took them along on the adventure.

Here they are!

LovesSam, KatieBMundiMom, KatzNi, and KatarinasMama.

They're all buckled up for the trip.

We had to take the ferry over the Puget Sound.


Our first stop was in Port Angeles.




We had to see where Bella ate mushroom ravioli with Edward.

The Bloated Toad where they ate in the movie is located in St. Helens, Oregon according to AssociatedContent.com.

This is Bella Italia where they ate in the book.

After a bit of a drive, we finally made it to Forks.
Population 3,120 humans and 7 vampires.

Our first stop was here at Bella's house.

Don't the girls look disappointed?

This isn't the house we all saw on the big screen is it?

The house used in the movie is actually in St. Helens, Oregon according to AssociatedContent.com and looks like this,

remember.

We discovered that Forks High School had been razed, but as you guessed the movie version of the high school was actually Kalama High School, in Kalama, Washington. The sign seen here is the one that was used in the movie, but was moved when the building was destroyed.

Say hello to my flat friends.

I did not find out any information about the hospital. If you know anything please share.
This reserved parking spot is actually in the parking lot of the Forks Hospital.
My flat friends wouldn't miss the opportunity to get their picture taken with Dr Cullen if they could have, but this is a close as they could get on this day.

The Forks Police Station shown in the movie is actually the Wauna Federal Credit Union in Vernonia, Oregon.
This pictures was taken of one of the actual Forks Police cars at the police station.
Notice the girls didn't hesitate to hop up on the car.

Good thing no one was looking.

Here is Bella's truck in front of the Chamber of Commerce.

This truck resembles the one in the movie. It seems that I read somewhere that it was found by someone in Forks and donated to help with tourism, but I can't be sure about that.

Of course, my flat friends still wanted their picture taken on the truck.

As you'll notice I didn't take a picture of the Cullen's house. Why you may ask, because the B&B that was tag as the Cullens house didn't resemble the house used in the movie. The house featured in the move is actually the real home of the Nike Director of footwear design, John Hoke and is located in Portland, OR.

We were so excited on the drive up because there was enough cloud cover to let all the vampires run around town without fear of detection, but as we got closer the sun started to shine through and any hopes of seeing Edward or his family were dashed.

As I had buckled my flat friends in I felt like I was being watched.

I stepped into the edge of the woods and guess who I saw? That's right Flat Edward was watching me. I just gave him a little peck on the cheek before we had to leave.

Please don't tell my flat friends that I met Flat Edward. *wink*

Valley of Fire

We took a day to drive just northeast of Vegas to Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park. It is located in the Mojave Desert. The rocks appear to be on fire.

This is Arch Rock. Here is where a native American Fugitive, Mouse, hid away in the 1890's. Mouse's Tank is a natural basin in the rock where water collects after rainfalls, sometimes remaining for months.

While walking we passed a number of prehistoric Indian petroglyphs.

The 1966 movie The Professionals was filmed here at the White Domes.

Truly an amazing place.

Red Rock Canyon

One of the nicest places we went we was a short 13 mile loop just west Vegas.

Called Red Rock Canyon .

The area showcases a set of large red sandstone peaks and walls called the Keystone Thrust.

There are several side roads and parking areas allow access to many of the trails located in the canyon.

I highly recommend going if your ever in Vegas.

Melts in Your Mouth Not in Your Hands

On the Fabulous Vegas strip is the bestest place in the world!

The M&M store.

The kids found the Kyle's car to be very sweet.

Four floors of M&M's and M&M merchandise. I think I died and went to heaven.

We walked out with a nice dent in our pocketbook.

But, don't ask me for any M&M's I'm fresh out.

The Fabulous Vegas Strip

When we landed in Vegas we did the very touristy drive down the strip.

Here we are outside of the New York hotel.

This is the Excalibur.

Of course you wouldn't want to miss the fountain show at the Bellagio.

This inside the Bellagio.

Cool bike, I think this was inside the Treasure Island Hotel.

where we saw Cirque Du Soleil's Mystere.

This is at the Monti Crisco.

And finally, we stayed at The Paris.

Adventures to come....

Oh Dam

We just spent the last seven days in Las Vegas which would lead one to believe that I have a lot of things to blog about except that as you know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Just kidding...

I do have a lot to say, I also have a ton of pictures to sort through and share so I will spread this out over several post so that I have time to get other things done, like laundry...

We went to the Hoover Dam one day.

As you may, or may not know, a by-pass is being built to "decrease the potential for accidents, and to decrease the bottleneck to the interstate." As we approached the dam, I got a view of this little 234 million dollar construction project. I can safely say that I will never, and I mean never use the by-pass no matter how "safe" it's supposed to be.

Do you know how high that is? When finished, the 1,905-foot span bridge will be 890 feet over the river!
Go here to see a picture of what it's going to look like when it's completed.

Here is a statue of a high-scalers who's job was to climb down canyon walls on ropes and remove loose and weakened rocks along the canyon walls where the dam walls would join together.

There are two liberty statues that have developed a green patina. The toes, however, are very shiny and looking new. We were told that the toes are polished as a result of people rubbing the them for good luck and good fortune.

Here are a couple of pictures on the Lake Mead side of the dam. Notice the white line on the lower part of the rocks, that is the water mark, a sign of the water level changes in the reservoir, which is due to the drought.

I took this picture over the edge of the dam. I couldn't actually look at it because I was getting dizzy so I just pointed and shot.

Here is the Arizona Nevada state line. I'm sure I've stood in two states at once but this just seemed much cooler than that.

I will try and sort through more pictures soon. Look forward to seeing Red Rock Canyon and The Valley of Fire very soon.