
I arrived in Bellingham via Amtrak and was very warmly greeted by two of my favorite people on the planet! Exhausted by the long train ride yet full of energy from my lack of activity and from my excitement to see Brad and Amber I was totally spastic when I saw them. We went out for dinner to a little local place and headed up the mountain to their way cute little cabin in the woods. I was then just as enthusiastically greeted by their totally amazing dog child, Oser (Short for bear in Spanish). The rest of that evening was spent just catching up, sharing pictures and the like.
September 26th
Brad, Amber and I set off that morning with a mission. We went to their friends Laura and Justin's house to borrow a bike (for me). We rode from there into town. We stopped at an awesome little bike co-op with junked bike parts everywhere, then at the local market which was full of amazing produce, prepared food, art, jewelry, music, etc. We got coffee and rode with it down to Locust beach. Locust beach was super fun, we went at high tide and had to monkey around on driftwood to journey down the beach.
September 27th
Early wake up call. We headed up to Mount Baker. Two coffee stops along the way. We got there and hiked Heliotrope. It was one of the most breathtaking experiences of my life. Breathtaking both figuratively and literally.
September 28th
Slow easy morning, then we drove up to Canada. We were momentarily detained at the border and then proceeded to Vancouver, British Colombia. We went straight to the public market on Granville Island. The market was super neat. Full of amazing amounts of produce, cheese, bread, meat, pastries, desserts, a huge variety of prepared food, art, and local crafts. We wandered through the market for quite some time. The we walked around Granville Island some more. We found ourselves in a hammock store, hat store (way way cute hat), and a toy store.
September 29th
Amber had to work so Brad and Joey went mountain biking in Galbraith . He loved it! While they were gone I packed and cleaned up, we thought we were leaving. But it got super cold and rainy so we decided to stay one more day. Joey and I headed into town and got a sheet for the bed in the truck and a pillow for me. Then we went to a coffee shop to use internet. (Set up the blog but didn't post anything). Went to Trader Joe's to get grOseries for dinner and our days ahead on the road. One more journey back up the mountain to the cabin in the woods. I set up the bed in the truck while Joey made dinner yet again! Stir Fry for dinner and lots of talking and making future plans. Cobb house and community?-sounds like a good idea! Goodnight and goodbye to Oser and Brad King.
We dropped Amber off at work in Mount Vernon on our way out of town. We arrived in Port Townsend in between fairy times so we went down to the beach. Hopped on the fairy and saw the pretty view. Then I took a much needed nap in the back of the truck. Joey woke me up and we were in Olympic National Park! WAHOOO! We went in to the ranger station for some info and headed up to Hurricane Ridge (this is what the super cute couple I met on the train to Bellingham suggested). To our dismay we found out that is was fifteen dollars to go up to Hurricane Ridge. Alternatively, we decided to hike up to Mount Angeles Lake. It was about 7miles round trip. I must say it was beginning to seem a little monotonous just before we came to the lake. Then the view proceeded to blow my mind. It was inexplicably peaceful and serene. The lake was so still and calm nestled amongst giant trees and mountainsides that were thick with fog. No picture could capture this scene. On our way down a man stopped us and told us we should go up to hurricane ridge.
October 1st
Today. We headed into Port Angeles first thing and found a coffee shop. We did our business and then Joey went to buy a muffler. With a lot less noisy Jolene we headed out of town. Driving through Washington in the on again off again rain I finally opened up my new harmonica and read over the first parts of my book. To my great surprise I hammered out a few little tunes within an hour. Yay! We just stopped in a super cute little town called Hoodsport and checked out a local second hand store where we were very tempted to buy a Jaguar coffee table stand. But with no extra room and little funds we decided to press onward to Portland for the night.
Miss and love you all. Staying happy and healthy. Hope you are all doing the same. Write or call me!
Love,
L
Lauren,
ReplyDeletelove the drinking in unique places and always looking for awesome second-hand shops! Of course. And the hiking truly seems breathtaking, I hope you are taking tons of pictures, and it seems like you're enjoying yourself...What a wonderful trip so far! And it will only get better! Please keep blogging your explorations and adventures.
Love, Rachel Dellinger
I love it! Between traveling to STL and Brad taking the laptop to Oregon, and then no internet working at home again, I got delayed in checking out your blog. But never fear, I decided that today I'd just blog read at work! :) Let's call this my lunch break. I'm so glad you enjoyed Bham! It was so sad when you left. But Brad and I talked about how having you and Joey there changed our attitudes--we got all jazzed about leaving and being jobless and traveling and generally being big hippies. I really felt so much more excited about life. I am fortunate to be around great people here, but it's so enlivening to be around awesome people who are out steeping themselves in the wonder of the world!! Throw off those chains! I love you and hope you never get metaphorical blisters on your wandering feet. Looking forward to the next update about travels down the coast!
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