Monday, October 17, 2011

A Day Trip down to Washington

Yesterday I didn’t have any work commitments and David needed a few new clothes for the christening in November so we decided to have a day out in Washington to visit the outlet mall and enjoy the forecast good weather.

Setting out around 8am there was an inversion so while it was gorgeously sunny at home down by the water thick fog lay.  The drive down was misty in patches across fields streams and the bays.

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We stopped for breakfast in Bellingham and then continued on.  This real estate agent had a cool license plate…..”email me”

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Our first shopping stop was Seattle Premium Outlets. We get our coupon book and hit the three stores we know we needed, Gap, Banana Republic and Levi. 

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We then continued on a little further South to Lynnwood where the Alderwood Mall is located. This mall contains a non-outlet branch of Banana Republic which had the specific coat David was hoping to buy.

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After another successful visit here we headed back North on the I5.  It had been cloudy over Marysville (where Seattle Premium Outlets is located) and Lynnwood but once again we returned to sunshine as headed North.  Views here from I5 as we drove back towards Bellingham.

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Having spent much of the day in-and-out of shops we decided to stop at Lake Padden Recreation Area, just south of Bellingham.  It had been recommended to us by our friend Sig as a great place to walk the dog when in the area.

The late afternoon sun cast a lovely light through the trees on the road into Lake Padden park.

IMG_6012 Views of Lake Padden.  It was certainly a beautiful place to stop and very conveniently only a few minutes drive off of I5.

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Mojo was very grateful for the chance to run around, fetch sticks and have a swim.  While he had got out for brief breaks during the day most of the time he was ‘car-sitting’ for us at the malls.

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More views of Lake Padden

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A couple going for an evening paddle.

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Evening sun over the lake.

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There was an easy trail which circled the lake together with a network of more strenuous ones through the surrounding hills.

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A great spot to stop when we are in the area and perfect for Mojo with a dog-beach and off-leash areas. Thanks for the recommendation Sig !

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After our walk we continued North on I5 and crossed the border back into Canada.  We stopped for delicious ribs at The Keg in White Rock before continuing home.  A fun day out and with savings of around $250 on what we would have paid for all these goods in Canada (David’s coat alone was $60 cheaper than the identical product at the same store in Canada and 4% less tax !) it very comfortably paid for itself.

3 comments:

Louise Ducote said...

Goodness, everything looks so lush and green. And you're so lucky you have temperatures that allow you to leave Mojo in the car some; that never happens where I live (Texas). Sounds like a fun day, and I enjoyed your recounting of it.

David and Adrian said...

Thanks Louise ! It's funny how different our worlds are, we laughed the other day reading your 'Best Day Ever' post celebrating rain for the first time in 5 months......we were experiencing our 5th day of rain the past week ! You've got to love rain to live in the Pacific Northwest or Canada's West Coast. It's green for a reason.

The temperate climate however is awesome it is generally only July & August when it's always too hot to leave the dog in the car. Most of the year wherever we go he does too.

Louise Ducote said...

I do love rain! Even though I'm born and bred in Texas, I am thinking of defecting when my kids are grown. I handled the heat okay before I had my Aussies, but now I want to live in a climate where they can go everywhere with me. And since they're going to live forever, I'll just keep working on this long-term plan. . .meanwhile, I'll have to live vicariously through your lovely photos.