The Coast of Bohemia

Kayakers in Blaine Harbor

Mount Baker again, this time from Tennant Lake Park.  The old heap didn't lose much snow over the summer, and the first winter snow came last week.

Naturally, it's pouring rain on my days off so I'm spending today baking cookies and messing with the computer.  These are a bunch of photos from Bellingham, Ferndale and Blaine on some recent sunny-day rides.

The Burlington-Northern railroad bridge over the Nooksack River.  This is also where Ferndale's Main Street crosses the river.

To improve access to the city center, a roundabout has been put in at the Portage Way underpass to I-5, and the road has been widened and repaved, including bike lanes, sidewalks, and a dog-walking path.

The granary dominates the Ferndale skyline.

The Hub Community Bike Shop in Bellingham, between North State Street and the Interurban Bike Trail, on the way to Boulevard Park, is inhabited by inventive, talented and committed bicyclists and mechanics.

Whatcom Transit Center
- another hub for the carless

Boulevard Park.

Public fishing dock

The Interurban Trail crosses the railroad tracks to a small outcrop into Bellingham Bay that is one of the most popular parks in the city.  A new boardwalk connects it with Taylor Dock in Fairhaven, but it's usually so crowded with elderly walkers, moms and small children and bunches of tourists that it's best for bikes to stay off.  Maybe on a rainy Wednesday morning in January or February . . . but it's bumpy, too.

The Woods in Boulevard Park may have one of
the world's most scenic locations for a coffee shop.

 Jugglers, and the Bellingham Fire Department Pipe Band practicing after work (sorry they're so blurry, it was getting dark).

And some downtown scenes:

The Mount Bakery Cafe opens very early in the morning in July to offer live coverage of the Tour de France.

Find the radish in this picture.

Old City Hall is now the old museum.

The Whatcom County Courthouse.
Don't go there if you can help it.

This sign explains the tree
in front of the courthouse
(click on it to enlarge).

 At Whatcom Community College:
This sculpture was made from the Donovan Rock, a glacial eccentric that was found at the south end of town, in Fairhaven.   Donovan Street was split down the middle to go around it, but when I-5 came through, the rock was blown up into several pieces and dragged away.  A technology class at WCC used a laser cutter to make this sculpture.  The globe floats on a film of water forced up from below, and can be spun around in any direction.



A traffic roundabout was put in a coupla few years ago at a high-traffic (and high-collision) intersection near the college, the north end transit center, Bellis Fair Mall and a couple of other major shopping centers.  Students and Canadian shoppers complained at first, but it has helped slow down traffic.

That's Mount Baker in the distance again.

I felt a lot better about riding my bicycle ten miles home in the dark when I saw gas prices above $4 a gallon at this station.

The End.