Portland + 2!

I'm excited to announce that our upcoming Dorks in Forks trip has expanded to include some new dorks. My sister, Katie, and good friend, Regina, will be joining us in Portland for a few days at the end of the trip! Neither of them are Twilight fans (strange, I know), so they won't be joining us for that most dorky leg of the trip. They will be arriving in Portland the day before we come back from the Olympic Peninsula and then they will drive up to meet us at Mt. St. Helen's before the whole group returns to the city for a few days of fun.

Some sad news about Port Angles, the place we wanted to stay was booked, so we had to pick something else. I just had a feeling that we wouldn't be able to get in there. We went with one of our back-ups:

Red Lion Hotel

It's right on the water and has some great views of the nearby mountains. We got a great deal and the rooms are nicer than at our original choice, but it lacks some of the charm. It's also in the middle of the city, which puts us about 20 minutes further from Forks than we would have been at Lake Crescent Lodge. Oh, well.

As for Portland the group finally decided on the Inn at Northrup Station. We decided that the location and feel was the best for us. We sprung for the rooms with either a private balcony or private patio. And when I actually made the reservation I found out there is a free continental breakfast and they provide you with passes for the streetcar. I love free food! (Really, who doesn't?) And the streetcar passes were completely unexpected.

So, at this point we have our plane tickets and all of our hotels are booked. We still need to make reservations for our rental car and at a couple of restaurants, but that's about it. I'm so excited I can't blink.

Mmm...Cupcakes!

In keeping with the my Mom's theme over at Spun by Me I thought I'd share some cupcakes as well. Over the last few days I've been searching for fun stuff for my fellow dorks and I to do during our visit to Portland and I stumbled across this:

Cupcake Jones

That's right, it's a cupcake store. Apparently they have three special cupcakes available every day (this month's are The Pearl, Downtown Cupcake Brown and Springtime Lemon) and then three additional cupcakes available each day. Check out March's menu for descriptions of all their tasty treats.

I told the girls about this most delighful find last night and they were very excited. We plan on going there at least twice during our visit. And don't worry, we'll be bringing some home to share as well.

Dorks in Forks!

Last summer some of my friends and I stumbled onto the Twilight series and became totally obsessed. Seriously, we were like crazed 15-year-old girls. We couldn't stop talking about the books (much to the chagrin of Katie and Regina), we were constantly listening to the soundtrack and we were counting down the days until the first movie was released. We were, of course, at the midnight showing of the movie. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I saw the movie three times within the first 24 hours of its release. During this time Christine, Kate and I were also daily monitoring Stephenie Meyer's website for book and movie updates.

At some point during our near constant Twilight conversations we got to talking about the pictures of Forks and La Push on Stephenie's site. Some of the places looked really interesting, and so, big dork that I am, I brought up the idea of actually going to Forks and La Push. Of course, big dorks that Kristin, Christine and Kate are, they were thrilled by the idea. And there in lies the birth of an adventure. And as I've mentioned before, I really think that all good trips and events need a title hence Dorks in Forks! Somehow, it just seemed appropriate.

And now, after months of discussion, I am super excited to announce that Dorks in Forks is officially on! This past Monday we actually purchased plane tickets, so there is no going back now.

The plan is fly to Portland and then drive up into Washington. We'll be staying in Port Angeles for three days and while there we plan to visit all of the places featured in the book. On the drive back we plan on visiting Mt. St. Helen's. Then we will end our trip with two days in Portland.

Now that our airfare is booked I've turned my obsessive planning skills to finding hotels. I forwarded Kristin, Christine and Kate some options for the three legs of our trip and the discussion of where we should stay has begun. But I was wondering what everyone else thought.

For night one we will be staying in Portland and the goal is pretty much to find somewhere inexpensive to sleep since we will be getting up early the next morning to drive to Port Angeles. We will probably just stay somewhere near the airport.

For our stay in Port Angeles (near Forks and La Push) we are hoping to stay at the Lake Crescent Lodge. I'm just waiting to hear back about our reservation request.

The Lodge

Crescent Lake

Another shot of the Lodge...isn't it pretty?

The tougher choice will be where to stay during our last two nights in Portland. I had no idea that there were so many amazing hotels there. We've pretty much got it narrowed down to three options. Here they are:

Option #1: Hotel Modera

This choice is about $60 cheaper per night than the other two. It's a bit further away from most of the places that we would want to go, but still pretty close to everything. It's got a cool modern feel that would be very fun.

Option #2: Hotel deLuxe

This choice has a 1930's Hollywood theme carried throughout. This one is more centrally located in the city and the rooms come with a pillow menu, an iPod menu and a "make it so" button (I haven't quite figured out what that is, but I'd like to find out). They also show movies on the roof.

Option #3: Inn at Northrup Station

This choice has a much quirkier feel than the other ones. It's located in the trendy part of town near all the boutiques, art galleries and restaurant row. The room would either have a balcony or access to the rooftop garden.

So, if these were your options, where would you stay and why?