Forks: no garlic necessary

At first glance, the little town of Forks seems awash with cheesy reminders of the currently popular teen book/movie series in which it features.

"Edward Cullen did NOT sleep here", one motel boasts. Others cling proudly to the town's status as the 'home of Twilight', hawking themed pins, stickers, chocolates, and posters of sun-starved adolescents looking a little too serious about nothing at all.


Thanks to a bustling tourism drive, fiction worms its way deeper into reality than I'd like. At meals, I can't help but overhear teenaged sisters arguing over whom a vampire or werewolf would love more, while their parents enquire about 'Twilight Tours' that claim to guide visitors to locations mentioned in the series.

When Jim and I arrive in Forks on Sunday evening, we are relieved to find at least one motel that retains some small town charm and integrity. We find the sky-blue Bagby's Town Motel very pleasant for the price, and its proprietors, efficient and polite.

We stay only one night at the motel, and spend the next three at the nearby Kalaloch Campgrounds. Owing to a beachfront location in the beautiful Olympic National Park, Kalaloch campsites are in high demand. We make plans to spend at least one day reading on the beach; however, these fail to materialise due to a bank mix-up that requires us to make several hour-long drives to the city of Port Angeles.


Nonetheless, our visit to the Olympic Peninsula is an idyllic retreat from the hustle and bustle of cities. The canopy of trees and constant cloud cover provide ample shade during the summer days and keep temperatures pleasantly cool for nights in a tent.

On our last afternoon in area, we take an impromptu hour-long hike through the beautiful rainforest to a beach near the Quileute town of La Push. Sydney -- home -- is across that expanse of water. Yet, as I watch the waters of the Pacific lap gently against the shore, I feel peace and calm as I never have before.

Surely home can wait for a little while yet.