Bellingham in the Fall

We drove up to Bellingham, WA today, it’s the last substantial city before the Canadian border. The drive is about an hour and a half from Seattle, about the same distance from DC to Richmond. The drive is pretty, the west Cascades look similar to the Blue Ridge.

Fall Colours

Bellingham is a crunchy-granola town, as they say, and like all Washington towns worth their sea-salt, they have a lively farmers market.

The main building is built from metal and glass like an old fashioned european railway The main building is built from metal and glass like an old fashioned european railway station

They had the same type of things that all Washington farmers markets have; vegetables, breads, unique jewelry, caftans. Since we have Pikes Place Market so close by, we rarely buy things a the local markets, but we were totally won over by Apple Bread they had for sale.

Various good breads

I really liked the metallic goat statue they have pulling a cart. It reminded me of the Bernese Mountain dog legends in Switzerland – supposedly Bernese Mountain Dogs were in charge of pulling carts of cheese and milk down from the farmer’s Alpine farms into town. I guess they call them “drafting dogs”. The three Bernese Mountain Dogs my family has had have not been so useful, but they are a particularly sweet breed of dog.

Baaaaahhhhh

Burf. Give me a cart.

Although maybe our latest pet additions (Bart the Bernese Mountain Dog) would be calmer if he had a cart to pull. Get on that, Mom and Dad.

Orcas leap majestically in Bellingham too.

We decided to go to the Radio and Electricity Museum, since Chris made an interested noise when he saw the name on the map. Sadly for him, it was a rather boring museum. I wish I could recommend it, since I love museums and boring historical everything, but it was really just a collection of radios and old lightbulbs.

Pre-TV

Actually, I would have loved to have gone through it with Chris’s Grandparent’s, as I bet they would remember some of the radios from their childhoods.

Speaking of family, we were excited to see this radio that was made in Chicago, since we both had family in or near Chicago at the time it was built.

Chicago!

I found a stereoscope, which provided mild thrills as it has for over a century.

Like going back in time.

Chris found a banjo. A banjo is not a radio.

Hey Kids, I'm Phoney McRing Ring

After we were bored enough by the museum, we went to Fairhaven, a little town that Bellingham’s sprawl overtook.

Fish and Chips Stand

Street

More street

The drive back home was quick until we hit Seattle traffic. Happily, we made it home in time to catch the sunset.

No snow here today, unlike Virginia.

But this would not be a post if I didn’t put a picture of the cats, so here is one Chris took.

Cat tiers

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