Bellingham or bust

So Steve and I, craving exercise, decided we were sick of the following things: snowshoeing, Snoqualmie Pass, snow, skiing, Stevens Pass, socks, silly string and stairs. (Okay, we're not really sick of the last three things, but I thought it was funny that everything I was listing started with an S. Easily amused, I know.)

Anyway, the point is, we were tired of our usual winter activities and we're now in that rough shoulder season when the rain is, well, raining on our parade. So we did what anyone else would have done in this situation: we went to Bellingham. Of course, we forgot our camera. So unfortunately I have no exciting pictures to post here. Instead, I'll just describe what they would have been. Probably better anyway, since the best photos on this blog were taken by Anne and Ira.

Picture 1: Steve biting into a gas station breakfast burrito while filling up somewhere in Mount Vernon. Strangely, we knew that this gas station had really good breakfast burritos (?!)

Picture 2: Me trying to change from jeans into soft shell pants at the Pine and Cedar Lakes trailhead in Bellingham, without exposing too much. I am WAY more graceful when it comes to towel changes after getting out of the ocean. That's a special skill only those of us from San Diego have mastered.

Picture 3: What my dad would call a DVS - Dense Vegetation Shot. All the pretty, mossy trees bent in every direction that look really great in person, just not on film.

Picture 4: Steve and I standing by the first lake, smiling like we're really excited when really we're completely de-sensitized to beautiful mountain lakes. I mean, it really has to be spectacular to blow us away. This one is unfortunately a bit shallow and buggy. But the smiles aren't fake - the hike is a great one, around 6 miles roundtrip with a kick-ass first mile that has you hike most of the elevation gain (or about 1,000 feet) all at once.

Picture 5: Steve standing on the sidewalk in downtown Bellingham, which unfortunately reminded us of downtown Pueblo, Colorado, which unfortunately is the armpit of that state. So, what's this about how cute and how quaint Bellingham is? Maybe we were in the wrong neighborhood? Because everything we saw looked like a vestige of the 70s and just plain sad. Except for the surrounding trees and water. That was beautiful.

Picture 6: An accidental shot of the side of my face, which is basically a close up of the deep, dark bags under my eyes from actually having to show up at work every single day for 9 to 10 hours.

And on a completely random side note, I got back from hot yoga this evening to Steve holding up his newest purchase for Denali: A pair of long, thick, socks with a built-in electric heater. What will this guy come up with next?