'And so the lion fell in love with the lamb…'| Twilight Movie Tour with Portland Movie Tours

Posted by Nathalie Weinstein

Next stop, Multnomah Falls

Next stop, Multnomah Falls

Cori and Dan Ronyak love movies. They love them so much in fact, that on their honeymoon in Hawaii one of the couple's first excursions as man and wife was a Jeep-driven tour of filming locations around the island. After finding out from their tour guide that they could possibly open a franchise of the movie tour company in Oregon, the pair purchased a tour van on Craigslist and started exposing the public to the hundreds of films filmed in the green state with Portland Movie Tours.

The Pipeline crew arrived at the Parkrose Transit Center ready to see places where attractive teen vampires roamed near Portland. Only a handful of us had seen 'Twilight' so Cori said she would point out places along our route where other well known films had been made. During the ride, Dan drove the tour bus while Cori entertained with movie factoids and showed movie clips with an on-bus TV and DVD player. Cori is a walking encyclopedia of movie knowledge; as her day job she is a writer for a Vancouver-based movie make-up industry publication and Dan is a screenwriter.

Action! at the View Point Inn.

Action! at the View Point Inn.

One of our first stops on the Twlight East tour was Multnomah Falls, where the 'vampire baseball' scene was filmed in nearby Washougal, Wash. After watching a clip about the special effects behind the scene, we headed out to the falls for a 20 minute break to eat some ice cream and marvel at one of the country's largest waterfalls.

Scoping out teen vampires in the cafeteria at Madison High School

Scoping out teen vampires in the cafeteria at Madison High School

We then headed on to the View Point Inn, where the prom scence in Twilight was filmed. There appeared to be a wedding going on there, but Cori and Dan are smooth talkers, and soon we found ourselves inside the historic building. Here, we could see the financial impact of Twilight. The inn's lobby was filled with Twilight paraphenelia, advertising itself as a filming location and romantic destination. Cori said business at the inn had picked up since it was chosen to be in the film. Throughout our tour, we ran into Twilight fans, who weren't part of any tour group, but just out looking for places that Robert Pattinson and Kristin Stewart had touched. Cori and Dan were more than happy to point them in the right direction.

After a quick stop at the Carver Cafe in Carver, OR (Shirts sold here read 'I got a bite at the Carver Cafe'), we headed to the mossy rocks at the Stone Cliff Inn in Carver to see the spot where Edward and Bella fall in love for the first time. There are now signs attached to different rocks  showing where the teen pair were filmed, including dialogue so you can act out all of your Twilight fantasies.  Cori took our photos while we attempted to recreate different scenes, directing us like pro.

Even if Twilight isn't your thing, spending the day with Portland Movie Tours is a blast. Their other tours take you through downtown Portland where the show 'Leverage' and films such as 'Drugstore Cowboys' were shot, and a Coastal tour takes you all the way to Astoria to discover the secrets of 'The Goonies.' And with new films being shot in Oregon everyday, who knows what tours the pair will have in store for us in the future.

Portland Movie Tours

$25 per person for a two-hour tour

Tours run on Saturdays and Sundays

Visit www.portlandmovietours.com



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