Some days I feel like I’ve lived here for far too long, seen it all, and perhaps it’s time for newer adventures, and then I go and discover a place like Sasamat Lake.
I can’t believe I’d never heard of this place until last summer.
So last summer when my friend E. came up from Portland for a visit, we went up to Grouse, and then up to the Eye of the Wind Turbine.
On clear days, I can see the turbine from my desk at work, and I wanted to wait till I had out-of-town guests to go up there…
I’ve always loved those photos, you know… of people straddling two countries in the middle of nowhere on a lone road with a weathered sign post or tiny demarcation.
When I was a kid, I read a book about a girl from Maine who crossed the border every weekend to visit her grandmother in a New Brunswick town, where she practiced her French and learned to sew.
It seemed like a lot of fun to be able to spend weekends in another country, and I wished I could do that.
I couldn’t believe my luck when I first moved out here; I’m so close to the border I could practically spend my lunch time in another country, I thought.
I cross the border a lot – once a month at least, and at some point it stopped feeling adventurous.
I go mainly for Trader Joe’s, to stock up on pantry staples, and also to pick up multivitamins.
Occasionally, I’ll go farther south… beyond Everett, but it’s always mostly short afternoon trips.
I usually go with @adjoa, she prefers the Aldergrove crossing; it’s smaller and a little further away but I don’t mind it – it’s a scenic drive with relatively shorter wait times.
We’re regulars; over the years… it’s amazing how much personal details we’ve had to share to be let through, it’s an odd relationship but it gets us moving.
We got stuck in a slow lane one afternoon last November, where they were running one of those ‘trial exercises’, where you had to park your car and go inside.
Inside, we were greeted by a border agent in a cowboy hat who shook our hands and gave us a ‘Welcome to the US’ pamphlet – it felt special, I’d never been officially welcomed to the US.
More pictures from the Aldergrove/Lynden border…
I love bridges, especially walking across them; the views from bridges are always spectacular.
Vancouver has some wonderful bridges with amazing views.
I’ve walked across the Cambie Street Bridge about a hundred times, these photos are from the west sidewalk of the bridge.
I’ve already talked about my thing for cemeteries… and how I find them calming and centering.
So it probably wouldn’t come as a surprise that I went to the world’s most visited cemetery while in Paris last year.
Père Lachaise Cemetery is in the 20th arrondissement in the eastern part of the city, it was about a twenty-minute walk from our little apartment in the Haut Marais.
Pere Lachaise is evocatively beautiful, a place of soothing solitude, the ultimate resting place.
It’s laid out like a city; with its named cobblestone streets, and rolling hills, tall trees and house-like mausolea, with views of the Eiffel Tower.
Many famous people are buried here, Edith Paif, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Mollière, etc, etc etc…
Colette’s grave was among the many I loved seeing; her life always intrigued me.
And many more interesting graves… like this
What becomes of the dream when the dream is over?
the whinery: food, style, photography, shiny gadgets, travel and wide open spaces... but not necessarily in that order
