(Posted Sep 24, 08:45 PM by Zac)
Where do I even start?
Simply put, I want to live in Bellingham at some point. It reminds me of Ashland on a slightly larger scale. It retains that small-town charm/attitude/character and conveys a certain sense of security, while also possessing a few of the essentials that make cities so appealing. Unlike Ashland, you don’t have to drive half an hour to find a Fred Meyer.
Max shares the house with Chris, Ethan (who owns the house), and Ashton. Ethan and Chris are brothers and very old friends of Max and family. I actually got a chance to hang out with them for the first time in many years at the Cod Toss earlier in the year.
I started off my first day in Bellingham by driving down to the computer shop where the three of them work. Ethan is VP, Chris works in accounting, and Max does graphic design. Me? I started off as Head Stapler and was soon promoted to Assistant Graphic Designer. Neither job pays, but hey, it takes time to work up the corporate ladder.
The shop is located downtown so I got a few chances to walk around, poking my head into all variety of weird and eclectic shops and stores. The streets are filled with interesting characters and personas. As I said, it reminds me a bit of Ashland. Great places to eat too… we all went out to a thai place affectionately referred to as House of Jimmy (Jimmy is the owner, I believe). Oh, and a great little exotic beer shop.
Sunday night they threw a little get-together at the house. It was pretty cool getting to meet all of their friends. Lots of good people and friendly faces, with overtures of warm acceptance. While I can’t recall even half of the people I met, there are a few faces that I managed to file into my memory. I met Johnny Five and Heather Five, who were getting married a week or two later. I met Ian, who I’d previously only known in the digital realm. I met Melissa and Hippy Ryan, who I ended up hanging out with (more on that later). I wish I could remember everyone else (and I’m sure I could, given faces to match with names).
As it turns out, Melissa is also a climber. On Monday (or was it Tuesday?) Max, Melissa, Hippy Ryan, Melissa’s friend and I headed out to do some bouldering over by the water. Or perhaps I should say, over the water. After a bit of bouldering by the train tracks, we headed down to a nice little rock cove. High tide… interesting. We ended up doing a long traverse over the water, countless sea stars and aquatic life below us, waiting for us to join them. As it turned out, only Ryan and Melissa decided to depart from terra firma during our little climbing excursion. That was followed by the seemingly requisite cliff-jumping. Max and I took pictures and watched… that water looked way too cold for my spoiled California ass.
The next day Melissa, Hippy Ryan and I drove down to a climbing spot about forty minutes south of Bellingham. We tossed up a toprope on a 5.10C-ish route, just for kicks. I was out of shape and fell at the crux… big surprise, big fun. A bit later I led up a 5.8 to set up a toprope, which we took turns climbing. Melissa is a pretty strong climber, and a blast to chill with.
Climbing at crags was a pretty big change from the overwhelming monstrosity of Devil’s Tower. Polar difference in scale. Crags don’t have fifty foot runouts.
So I ended up staying in Bellingham for three days longer than I’d planned. And it wasn’t long enough. Max, Ethan, and Chris’s breathtaking hospitality was far beyond anything I could have anticipated. I’ll have to find more excuses to ascend I5 to Bellingham in the future. Hopefully they’ll find an opportunity to make the journey down south at some point… our doors are always open, and the kegs are always flowing.
Pictures:
Aquatic bouldering
Flying
Rope + sunglasses + Melissa with camera
Chris (via Max’s phone)
Ethan (via Max’s phone)
Train track bouldering (via Max’s phone)
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It's not over... September 7 - Bellingham to Seattle to Portland