Did You Ever Have Just that Perfect Day?

Have you noticed that some days are just better than others? We had the perfect day this week which was a microcosm of everything we love about being up here in the Northwest. First and foremost, the weather was absolutely perfect: cool and sunny with a blue sky dotted with snow white puffy clouds. You know, the kind of sky you see in picture postcards. We've quickly learned that when nature gives you a sunny day up here in October, it's your duty to spend it outside. Drake loaded the bikes on top of the car, and off we went.

First stop was another bike trail that is just north of us that skirts Samish Bay. While the trail was not a good as we had hoped - we only did about 2 miles - the scenery was wonderful. On of the surprising aspects about the fall season is that there really isn't any 'color'. There are a few yellow trees among the evergreens, but it isn't the multi-color extravaganza that I sort of expected. I guess that treat is for next fall in New England.

We decided to go into Fairhaven which is the old part of Bellingham and is filled with Victorian houses and buildings that are the remains of the salmon canning industry that shriveled up and died around the turn of the century. This part of Bellingham is now where the art crowd lives. The shops are cute and there are a lot of galleries - including he Good Earth Pottery Gallery which handles around 50 potters from the Northwest. Well, I was in heaven. We spent about an hour in that place picking out some gems that I couldn't live without. Fairhaven also sits right on Bellingham Bay and they have a wonderful walk along the harbor which includes a boardwalk right out over the water. A leftover remnant of the salmon canning factories is this brown lump in the bay - which we originally thought was a big rock. Instead of being a rock - it's actually sheets of tin leftover from making cans. The companies just pushed the tin sheet remnants out their dock doors and gradually, they fused together to make a big lump of tin in the harbor.

This entire area is scattered with Native Indian Reservations - the Swinomish, the Snohomish, the Lummi to name a few. They all have their own casinos, so Drake has been able to indulge his love of playing blackjack. We dropped into the Lummi Casino for an hour - casinos are great places to find clean bathrooms when you're traveling. We wound up winning $38 - not a fortune, but it paid for lunch at the Colophon Cafe in Fairhaven - one of the many restaurants up here that base their menu on locally grown food. Drake has become something of a connoisseur of salmon sandwiches. My speciality is fish and chips and micro brews.

As the day wound down, we realized that there was going to be a terrific sunset. That's another surprising thing - they don't have that many great sunsets up here. There's a local highway called "Chuckanut Drive" - isn't that a fun name - I love to say it out loud. Anyway, it winds south along the shore between Bellingham and the Skagit Valley, and there is a restaurant we had marked down as someplace we wanted to try. The Oyster Bar sits right on Samish Bay, high up on a bluff, and we arrived just in time for the sunset and a lovely dinner. Part of the 'farming community' that we live in not only farms on land, but they farm the water too. The Taylor family raises shellfish - including oysters (huge ones - each about the size of a chicken tender). Again, this restaurant uses as many local foods as possible, so not only were the oysters homegrown, but so were the potatoes, and all the vegetables on the plates.

Speaking of the farming community, I have loved living in a farming valley that claims to be some of the richest farmland in the USA. This is a partial view of the Skagit Valley. There are mainly family farms here, some of which go back five generations. They raise 90% of the red potatoes consumed in the country - at least that's what the InFARMation radio station claims (AM1630). They also raise berries, vegetables, flowers, specialty meats (like bison), and some wheat and hay to feed their dairy cattle and there's a thriving cheese industry. There's a real movement here to preserve farmland.

I think the recession hit just in time. Drake jokes that every house is for sale here, but the truth is that you can see lots of 'second homes' and rural farmettes up for sale now. Most of them have been built in the past 5 years on farmland. We wanted to buy some cider (both hard and soft) and we only had to drive 2 miles from our apartment to find both. Here's a great picture of the produce shop of the Gordon Skagit Farm - it's 3rd generation and has been in the family for 3 generations. I had no idea there were so many varieties of squash and pumpkin (about 40 types were for sale here - including heirloom varieties that have been raised since the 19th century). We got our soft cider here as well as a small pumpkin to decorate our doorway for Halloween. Then, we motored another mile down the road to the Tulip Winery which makes hard cider in addition to wine. Boy, is that stuff tasty - about 7% alcohol volume. We are currently trying two types of hard cider. It's funny to drink something that tastes like apples with a kick.

The final perfection up here for me is the flowers. I send out my 'weekly flower picture' to a few friends who I know love flowers. I buy fresh flowers (dahlias) for the house every week. They are so common up here that the price is $.20 a stem. Here's a picture of this week's flower arrangement. Cheers!

We've still having a great time, and next week it's a trip into Seattle to see the 150 original Picasso paintings and drawings from Paris on exhibit at the Seattle Museum of Art. We'll probably make it a big day trip with other stops. Until then.........oh, and GO RANGERS!