Early fall in the northwest was amazing.
At this point I clearly can’t revisit everything that happened, so I’m going David Letterman style on this with a top 10 list:
Top 10 favorite things about my 8 weeks in Washington (in no particular order):
1-My Job:
When you have a good job it really makes your life fun! From the moment I walked into work on the first day and discovered my CI (clinical instructor = boss) was both a Redskins fan and a Red Sox fan, I knew it was going to be a good 2 months. I was lucky enough to work with some super cool people in a relaxed environment, learn a ton and have a lot of fun! My co-workers rocked, my schedule rocked, my patients rocked.
Oh and we had a car crash into the side of the building one day, so that really pepped up the work-day! (don’t worry, everyone was OK)
2-Meagan’s Bike:
I didn’t have a car in Bellingham (except for when Malcolm, Michelle or Malcolm let me borrow theirs…) so my main mode of transportation was my bicycle. My mountain bike made the trip XC and would have been my ride to work everyday, until Meagan (Malcolm’s sister for those who don’t know her) lent me her totally sweet, super light-weight, nicest-bike-I’ve-ever-ridden, road bike! Needless to say, it obviously made my daily commute much more enjoyable. Thanks Meagan!
3-Mt Baker
Speaking of my bike ride to work, my commute was also enhanced by an amazing view of Mt Baker, one of Washington’s awesome snowy peaks. Malcolm and I also made it over to North Cascades National Park for an overnight hike. We had great weather and found a perfect spot for the tent with amazing views of Baker and Shuksan.
4-Vancouver
Since Vancouver is only a little over an hour from Bellingham, we took a quick trip up one weekend to check out the Olympic city. We were lucky enough to be there on a perfectly sunny, beautiful day!
After securing the car downtown for the day, we hopped on our bikes and took them for a spin around Stanley Park (yes, the same Stanley name behind that little ol’ hockey trophy!) Totem poles, beaches, cricket games, views of the city and lots of amusing tourists…. It was very entertaining! Next we rode over to Granville Island for some local beers and lunch at the market. While walking through a tiny park on the island, we stumbled upon an official beer pong tournament---which we tried to crash but it was unfortunately a private event (booo!) Back to downtown Vancouver, we walked through Chinatown and the historic Gaslight District where we checked out some local art before grabbing dinner and another round of local brews. Since we had a few Canadian dollars left, we HAD to get some gelato before we headed home, passing the night-lit olympic torch platform…a pretty good 12 hours in Canada!
5-Mom and Dad Visit:
Yah! Mom and Dad took a 10-day trip to the northwest in September. Our first weekend was spent in Seattle, walking the downtown piers, eating seafood on the waterfront and taking the shamelessly touristy Duck Tour (two thumbs up from the Gustin review).
Unfortunately I had to work during the week, but they had no trouble filling up the days with hikes, whale watching tours and other northwest fun with the McPhees. Our 2nd weekend consisted of more delicious food, hikes along the water, cycling around Anacortes and some good hang out-time.
6- Seattle Time
Since Malcolm was in Seattle for this rotation, we spent a fair amount of time in the city! The highlights included runs around Green Lake, trips to the REI flagships store and a Saturday night Huskies game complete with tailgating and an overtime victory!
7-McPhee Proximity:
Malcolm’s hometown of Anacortes is conveniently located between Seattle and Bellingham, so we frequently found ourselves spending weekend time at the McPhee household. Delicious meals, homebrews, forestland runs/bikes and quality hang out time were just what we needed to unwind over the weekend. We also made a trip out to the family cabin for a weekend ‘cabin party’ with Michelle’s extended family, complete with beach campfires and a pickleball tournament-goodtimes!
8-Bellingham Brews:
Ahhhh. The beers in Bellingham took the edge off my homesickness for Vermont beers. Among my favorites were Chuckanut’s British Brown Ale and Boundary Bay’s Imperial Oatmeal Stout and Scotch. The food scene in Bellingham also kept me coming back for more (mostly thanks to nights out with Mom and Dad and Michelle and Malcolm). Apparently “clam” chowder also includes salmon as a staple ingredient… I love it!
9-Cliffside Drive:
Talk about lucky. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw my Bellingham neighborhood. I had beautiful views of the bay from the front yard, a huge fenced in backyard for the roommate’s pups
(2 German wire-haired pointers), and a 5 minute walk to a private beach with a view of Bellingham that was eerily similar to the view of Burlington from Oakledge!
My roommate Tracy is an awesome woman- a dog lover, earth conscious and PTA student – we obviously got along pretty well!
10-West-coast Football:
Let me tell you. Waking up at 10am, sitting up in bed and turning the TV on to the 1:00 NFL game is AWESOME. Sunday and Monday night football? Over by 9. NINE.
If only I’d stayed until the world series was over…
*Oh yeah, and Mt Rainer:
It's pretty cool too! :)
Next stop, New York City...
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