Beautiful Bellingham, Day One

We'd been discussing the possibility of taking a road trip to Bellingham WA, to visit with Bruce's brother and sister. I've never traveled through the states in that region, or even been to Bellingham before. Bruce and Katie flew there some years ago with Grandma Gloria, but I stayed home with the boys, and to work, and look after Jessie dog and the cats.

We went back and forth about the logistics of driving there, but then we realized that at the end of October, the weather could be quite unpredictable with snow, possibly black ice, and the fact that we'd need to drive through a couple of mountains to get there. It would take at least three days each way, and that would be if the weather cooperated. In the end, I decided that I just couldn't be away from Mom that many days, and we decided to fly. Who knows, maybe there'll be a more leisurely road trip for us in the future.

Packing, hmmm. We decided to bring only one carry on backpack a piece. It was a challenge to pick only the bare necessities, but, really, how much stuff do you actually end up using?

We drove to the airport, and left the car in the Park and Ride. The shuttle van took us to Terminal 2, the smaller one, and we had just the right amount of time to get through TSA, talk to mom on the phone, and grab some food for the flight. We shared a strawberry yogurt Zone bar, and a chicken bacon wrap, with complimentary orange juice on the plane.  I sat next to a chatty woman, and listened to her talk about her and her husband moving to WA, to be closer to their daughter and grandkids.

Our Sun Country flight had some turbulence, but was mostly uneventful, and the airport in Seattle wasn't too difficult to navigate. We picked up drinks and snacks, then took the light rail within the airport to the area where we would connect with our transport to Bellingham. Diana had suggested that we take the Bellair Airporter Shuttle, and we'd already made the arrangements for that before we left for our trip. It took about three hours to get to Bellingham, and it was a pretty comfortable ride. 

 

Diana was waiting for us at the drop-off hotel, and had brought spring rolls and salads with her ... veggies and noodles with shrimp or tofu. She said that she always craved healthy food after a day of flying, and thought that we might, also. 💕 We drove to the Holiday Inn Express, where we would be staying. But before we did that, we made a stop at a Napa Auto store where Diana picked up some parts needed, to try and get David's car working.  More about that later!

See the Rainbow?

The weather forecast rain for the whole time we were in Bellingham, but I think that can be the norm for them, with rain starting and stopping frequently throughout the day. We saw a rainbow as we approached our hotel.

We ate supper in our room with Diana, and talked for a couple of hours, trying to decide what we would do while we were there. After Diana left, it was time to settle into bed with a cup of yummy decaf coffee and cream, and do a little reading before sleep. I had a feeling that I was going to sleep well.

Thought for the day ... Things really couldn't have gone smoother for a day of travel!