FORKS — Megan Evans, 16, of Birmingham, England, won a vacation of her dreams — to Forks.
The free tour of Seattle, Port Angeles and Forks was sponsored by Clipper Vacations — part of Victoria Clipper of Seattle — the Olympic Peninsula Visitors Bureau, based in Port Angeles, the Port of Seattle and British Airways.
In the spring, the British teen was flipping through OK! Magazine when she came across a contest.
“The center part had a poster of Twilight and said to text in the answer to a question to be entered to win a trip to Forks,” Megan said.
Forks is the setting for author Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling four-novel series about vampires and teen love.
The question: Who was in both “The Green Mile” and “Sleepless in Seattle?”
The answer: Tom Hanks, which Megan quickly texted in.
“I had forgotten about it when I got the letter, and at first it didn’t seem like it was a real letter,” she said — pulling it out.
The simple letterhead had her suspicious, but upon investigation it turned out to be real.
“When I found out, I was screaming and jumping up and down so much — I was so excited,” she said.
Her mother, Carolyn Evans, added: “We didn’t know what she was screaming about — we weren’t sure if something good or bad had happened.”
Family trip
So Megan, her dad, Mark Evans, and her mother packed up for a week’s trip to the United States.
The transatlantic flight was the first for all three.
“We’d never been on an airplane before, much less overseas,” Mark Evans said.
Mark and Carolyn Evans make up Red Shoes, a folk band.
The first stop was in Seattle, where they inspected the city where Twilight’s protagonist, Bella Swan, lands during her move from Arizona to Forks, before traveling to Port Angeles and Forks to see sites mentioned in Meyer’s books.
In the Twilight saga, upon moving to Forks, Bella meets and falls in love with the enigmatic vampire, Edward Cullen.
Their romance — and the story of Bella’s other suitor, Jacob Black — has been a worldwide phenomenon. Millions of copies of the books have been sold.
The first movie was released Nov. 21, 2008, and the second “New Moon” will be released Nov. 20 of this year. The third movie, “Eclipse,” will be released June 30.
Big fan
Megan said she saw the movie in January and then was compelled to read the books.
“I’ve watched the movie at least 40 times,” she said. “I’ve read the books about three — but I already have them mostly memorized.”
Mark Evans said the trip has been a blur.
“I can’t believe we are actually here,” he said. “It is all so unbelievable.
“When Megan watches the movies, her mouth is moving the whole time, saying the words along with the actors.”
The trip was organized by Clipper Vacations of Seattle.
“We have put together a self-drive tour for Twilight fans,” said Linda Botts, assistant vice president of sales for Victoria Clipper.
“We had a phone call from a company in the UK and were wondering about it, and then the Port of Seattle and the Seattle Convention Bureau asked us if we were interested in putting together a tour,” she said.
“It has been an absolute delight working with this family.
“They are all musicians and are just so much fun working with them.”
As part of her vacation, Megan is “tweeting” at www.twitter.com/oh_megan her vacation and sharing information on social networkign sites.
Her MySpace page is www.myspace.com/ohmeganmusic and her parents’ site is www.myspace.com/redshoes1.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
