September 25th continued
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. This spot is most famous for its awesome mud flats at low tide. Amber and Brad then took me to a secret paradise. It the never-never land we all dream of as a child. A fort with wood and trash art, a refuge for friends, I felt like peter pan-wonderful! This place had something spiritual about it. Something so great it brings out childlike wonder in all that venture there. We left and met up with Joey on the main drag in town, then rode back to Laura's and dropped off her bike so we could head back to the super cute cabin (only with Joey this time). Joey was also greeted by an energetic Oser. We got dropped off the bikes, got ready and headed back down to Laura and Justin's. All of Brad and Amber's Bellingham friends got together with us there and we feasted. Joey and I made guacamole:) Laura is an amazing cook and made a few dishes including vegan chocolate covered eclairs and vegan coconut cupcakes. I don't typically like wither but somehow both were amazing. Thanks Laura and Friends!! We left stuffed and tired and retreated to the cabin for sleep.

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. We hiked up past Heliotrope ridge all the way to the glaciers at which point we were literally using our hands with almost every step. Since I neglected to bring boots I enjoyed the hike in my chacos. Ha. The view was amazing and totally exhilarating. Quite a different view, the one of me slip sliding down was...hilarious. Once we got down Heliotrope Ridge we drove up to Artist Point and saw the sunset over the mountains. Again, gorgeous. Thanks to my dad and his generosity I got to have Joey teach me how to use my grandfather's old camera. Super neat. On the drive home we stopped for Thai Food and again retreated to the cabin in the woods.

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.

With an extremely limited budget we decided that we should stop and check out the brewery and then head to our temporary refuge in the woods to make dinner. And so we did, we got a beer sampler and discovered that the cream ale, lager, IPA and English pale ale were all pretty much unremarkable. I crashed on the ride home. I had been suffering from a sore throat and with that on top of the events from the day prior I was wiped out. When we got back I napped more while Joey the wonderful made Chana Masala for Brad, Amber and I. Then sleep.

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.

September 30th
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. I responded “yea but it cost fifteen bucks right?” He pleasantly surprised us by saying “yea but no one is there to collect money anymore.” We literally ran down the mountain and hopped in the car to go up to Hurricane Ridge. And yet again, I saw one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Four deer came directly into our path, super cool. Freezing and totally pleased that we got to see both the lake and Hurricane Ridge we headed down to find a place to camp. We started down coasting. Then Joey went to turn the truck on and because it was already engaged that was a bad idea-super loud pop-ouch! Freaked out, we stopped to discover that we literally blew up the muffler. We decided that the best thing would be to stop and camp and work on Jolene (the truck) in the morning. We slept on the side of route 112 somewhere.

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