I first saw Bellingham Bay from a train en route to Seattle.
The train tracks runs right along the bay, and the views are glorious shades of blue; from vast oceans, to fluffy layered clouds, to huge blue mountains.
The lady behind me told her companion it was her favourite scene; the view is different every time, depending on the season and or time of day.
We sat there transfixed and awed by the views, as the train moved away.

I promised myself I would return soon.
It took me a while to get back to Bellingham Bay, a few months later; a Saturday spent at Boulevard Park on the Bay’s waterfront.
The shoreline is rocky, and the views are picturesque.
I hear the sunsets are legendary here, next time I’ll stay long enough to catch one.

There are long and curvy boardwalks that goes out over the ocean.
Along with spectacular views, are winding trails, picnic area, and play areas.
Oh and there’s a coffee shop and that somehow just makes it all perfect.
There’s a trail the leads all the way to downtown Bellingham.

Outfit details: Jeans – Dekker | Shirt – Uniqlo | Jacket – Aritzia | Scarf – Holt Renfrew | Shoes – Deena & Ozzy (UO) | Bag – Massimo Dutti

Being here, you can’t help but have one of those ‘if I lived here…’ moments
I’d go jogging everyday, I’d write from my perch at the coffee shop with views of Lummi Island, and I’ll watch sunsets in the summer… every night!

This is one of the reasons why I love living in the Pacific Northwest, it’s full of spots waiting to be explored.
A few miles south and it’s like I’m in a different country; well, technically it is a different country but you know what I mean.

I’m looking forward to spending more time at this lovely location.

We took a short trip down south on Saturday.
We got stuck in a long wait at the border, which was a bit startling because I use the least used border crossing – the Aldergrove/Lynden border.

I haven’t used the Peace Arch crossing in years, so I’d gotten used to short waits (ten minutes at most) at the border.

On Saturday we waited for over an hour, it was nice and sunny, but there was no reprieve from the heat out there on the country road.
On a positive note; I had my camera, iPad and phone as distraction so the wait didn’t feel as long, except I really had to pee.

The ride through the farms is so beautiful and peaceful, and the bluest sky… oh my!

I just recently started crossing the border using my Enhanced Driver’s Licence even though I’ve had it for over a year.
It makes crossing the border a snap and I spend less time being interrogated than when I use a passport.

The plan was to make it back home in time for lunch, but that didn’t pan out.

We rushed through the usual locations but barely managed to be back home by dinner time.

Coming back, I shot a video of the farms on the way, I’ve always been fascinated by them.

The music is Mamadou Et Bineta by Meiwey, a beautiful song from his M20 album.

I’ve been meaning to write about Bellingham, WA for a while now but wasn’t sure exactly what to say about this awesome town.

I took some pictures on my last trip down there and I just thought I’d share them.

Bellingham is the closest ‘big US town’ to me, about an hour’s drive away depending on the wait at the border.

These days we use the Aldergrove/Lynden crossing which has short wait-times and then Bellingham is just about twenty minutes away.

A lot of cross border shopping happens in Bellingham.

It’s close, has most of the basic big box American shops we don’t have here in Vancouver and efficient because most of these stores accept Canadian dollars and or take Canadian debit cards.

Bellingham’s where I get my Target and Trader Joe’s fix; and it’s close enough for a quick afternoon trip.

There are also quite a few organic health foods stores too, which makes it even more great.

In the past year we’ve began exploring the city beyond the strips and shopping malls, on this last trip we did the downtown proper.

Downtown Bellingham is charming with galleries, museums, specialty stores and cafés.

Behind the abandoned Dahlquist building.

The Post Office, downtown also has beautiful old buildings.

The Public Market – contains a series of year-round local stores.

In here is Terra Organica, a well stocked great health foods store is one of the many in Bellingham.

I just love the textures of this building.

Local business thrive, I bought a lovely pair of boots here .

And of course, the adult store; every great town deserves one of those.