Washington Vacation Part One

The only reason to ever get out of bed before daylight is to leave on vacation. Doug and I were up by 4:00 a.m. on July 3 so we could get out of town before the traffic was intolerable. It worked well and we were napping somewhere beyond Buttonwillow by 9:30 a.m. The drive that first day was just long but successful. Our destination was Medford, Oregon and we were there by 5:00 p.m. After dinner and a good nights sleep we covered the rest of the drive to Lynden, Washington on Saturday, leaving Medford around 7:00 a.m. and arriving at David and Rachel's before dinner and fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July.

Saturday and Sunday were hot and lazy. We napped, talked and walked to the park. Very relaxing and great to be with David and Rachel. Doug catching up on the sleep he lost doing the large majority of the driving. I was not much help this time taking turns driving. Every time we started to drive I fell asleep. Not a good idea to let me drive.

David fixing dinner for us on Sunday night, tacos with all the fixin's.

On Monday night, we drove out to Birch Bay and Semiahmoo. Since dusk is at 9:30 p.m., we were able to eat dinner after David came home from work and then drive out to see the bay. It was a beautiful evening, cool and clear. Here are Rachel and Timber balancing on the pilings. They are very talented.

Doug and David had a great time photographing the old boats and buildings at Semiahmoo. I just wandered around and collected shells.

On Wednesday we all drove into Canada and spent most of the day driving along the Fraser River in Fraser Canyon. It was a spectacular drive but we did end up with a little too much time in the car. Today Doug and I went to Bellingham and the coast. We started in historic Fairhaven. There are some great shops that sell beautiful local crafts and we especially enjoyed the woodworking shop with great furniture pieces. Of course, we could not purchase anything due to the exorbitant pricing but did enjoy trying out all the rocking chairs. Skylark Cafe provided a perfect spot for lunch and before leaving town we found the gelato place.

From Fairhaven we headed for Chuckanut Drive, one of the most scenic drives in Washington according to the signs. The drive meandered along the coast, passing large houses with ocean bay views, thick forests and intermittent views of the bay and San Juan Islands in the distance. Larrabee State Park was a nice stop. It sits on a little cove with the rock strewn beaches providing lots of tide pools to explore. Unfortunately we did not come prepared to tramp through the tide pools but did enjoy the views. The rest of the drive was just beautiful.

Don't we look great. Just like two people enjoying themselves on vacation. The day finished with a stop at The Woods Coffee Shop to visit Rachel, dinner here and some reading and TV.