Day 1: Grocery Store Hoppin'

Today was the first day of our 2.5 week vacation!

The cats gave us a sweet send-off. They all came out and begged for attention. I am going to miss them!

We flew out of Salt Lake City on Southwest. We were high up in A so we were in the front row of the airplane. This was a first for me. Did you know that there is nowhere to put your carry-on luggage when you sit in the front? It should have been obvious, but I guess I missed the obvious. Not that it was a big deal, just a minor inconvenience. Other than that, our flight was pretty uneventful.

After arriving in Seattle, we headed to Enterprise to pick up our rental car. They were out...so she had to hunt one down for us. We ended up with a Ford Focus.

As we headed out of the lot we spotted a Jack-in-the-Box (Nephi's favorite!), so we stopped in for lunch. You wouldn't think lunch at your local fast food joint would be eventful...unless you know The Hepworths. Many of you know that Nephi has a small choking problem. The first night of our honeymoon he choked on duck and a waiter had to give him the Heimlich maneuver (no lie). Anyway...stuff gets caught in his throat pretty easy and he had an episode at lunch. I got to watch him choke so hard, he threw up. Fun... I think I must have this effect on people as my friend Kim's baby often coughs so hard he vomits in my presence. Weird.

Anyway, after that fun lunch we headed on an excursion to find a grocery store. It was not easy, but eventually we found a Target. Grocery store visit #1. We got water, Cheez-its, Kudos, batteries, and Q-tips.

After that we were on our way to Forks! After about 30 minutes I realized I forgot to buy Dramamine. Grocery store visit #2. We stopped at another grocery store and bought Dramamine and Advil (just in case).

Washington is SOOOOOO beautiful! There are trees everywhere and it is SOOOOO green! I LOVE it. Something weird is that you will be driving along and it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere and then you will see some huge superstore along the highway and you realize that you are in the middle of a developed suburban area...you just can't see it. It is weird.

At one point we passed a sign that said, "24 hour lights!" Nephi and I had a hard time figuring out how the headlights worked. Eventually we gave up (though I am pretty sure we drove with the brights on...oops).

Along the way to Forks we stopped at Lake Crescent. The lake was created by a glacier and has a very little nitrogen level. The low nitrogen level makes it so that no algae can grow in it so it is so clear! It also is really deep (as much as 600 feet in some places). We checked out the very clear, blue-green lake and then took a hike up to Marymere Falls (a waterfall that drops 90 ft.) The hike was pretty awesome. Lots of cool trees...and the ground is covered in a carpet of green moss and ferns. Nephi and I took lots of pictures!

After our hike, we figured out all the ins and outs of the headlights on our Ford Focus, and we finished the drive to Forks. We checked into our hotel where we met a very talkative (but very friendly) manager. After asking him if there were any restaurants to avoid, he proceeded to talk (tangent from tangent) for about 5 minutes. Then he realized he was rambling and talked about how in Airplane someone starts a conversation and then hangs himself. Anyway...it didn't make much sense, but he was funny.

We stopped at the local pizza place for dinner. It was pricey, but tasted pretty good. It was an experience for sure. When I asked the woman working there if they had free refills she said, "Um....sure...I guess." I was like, "It's okay if you don't, I just need to know." She responded with, "Well one boss says yes, and the other says no...so sure." Um...ok. Haha. I thought it was weird. They were way busy and not very professional. We were surrounded by people who didn't speak English (there was an Indian family, an Eastern European family, and an Asian family).

After that we decided that the day wouldn't be complete without one final trip to a grocery store. Grocery store visit #3. We purchased shampoo and soda. You would think we had everything you needed, but after arriving at our hotel, I realized I needed toe-nail clippers. Oh well.

Well...that was the first day. Very eventful, but not entirely exciting. Unfortunately, I forgot the cord I need to upload pictures. Maybe at some point I'll break down and buy one, so that you can see some pictures BEFORE I get home. Miss you all!