So, we’re here in Ferndale Washington for a month. I’ve already posted about some fantastic day trips to Vancouver, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park and out on a boat for whale watching. Jeff did an overnight trip to Whistler for two days of mountain biking.  But that leaves a lot of days left to explore the surrounding area at a leisurely pace.

Northwest Washington state (north of Seattle) is small town rural America, for the most part. But small towns have nice features and events to explore – such as the Raspberry Festival in Lyndon, WA. We wandered over there on a Saturday afternoon to discover a fantastic car show with over 200 shiny vintage automobiles and trucks on view. The entire city center was blocked off, primarily to host their annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament for grade school through adult. The young ones were most entertaining. We indulged in vanilla ice cream topped with a giant scoop of fresh raspberries ($2!) and free chocolate milk samples. We also picked up a bag of fresh kettle corn which was almost as good as the kettle corn we bought at the Las Cruces farmer’s market. Almost. Small towns are great!

The nearby town of Bellingham has all of the amenities you want – a real shopping mall, a Lowes, and movie theaters. We saw “Ant Man and the Wasp” and caught up on some shopping. We did “spa day” at the local Casino Spa, enjoying massages and their complimentary wet area which included a pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room. Bellingham also has really a few nice bike trails, one of which goes along the waterfront and connects several city parks. It’s not as extensive as Vancouver’s network, but it makes for a nice morning ride. Some of the parks are very pretty, with hiking trails as well as biking trails.

Bellingham also is home to the Upfront Theater, an Improvisational school and theater founded and owned by Bellingham resident Ryan Stiles. You may recognize the name if you are a fan of the TV show “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” He is often out of town working, but just happened to be participating on the night we took in one of their shows. I haven’t laughed so hard since I can’t remember — hilarious fun!

And the rest of the time? Grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, cleaning, and other chores. Visiting local vendors to sample and stock up on local smoked salmon, cheeses and wines. Jeff mountain bikes a couple of days a week. I do some paying work and write blog posts. Direct TV gave us two free months of Showtime, so we are recording movies and binge-watching shows we’ve missed. We’re re-learning how to play cribbage – properly, this time. Reading. Knitting. Relaxing around a campfire.

It’s nice to have some down time.