North to Bellingham

Our final excursion of October 2015 would be the longest and promised to be a good one. From Interstate 5, we headed north passing the city of Everett, once known as the City of Smokestacks. Like many old lumber and industry towns, Everett has become almost genteel. But it still has a ways to go. On its northern end we pass a lone lumber mill with stacked logs on one side and smooth, cut boards on the other.
I've got this crazy idea to locate a bird preserve. Its supposed to be where the Skagit River meets open waters. Bald eagles and waterfowl nest there in the winter months. After much determination we find it, but we're too far away to see the birds on the water. We do catch a glimpse of a bald eagle in flight. We get directions from a small country store that sells fresh coffee and home made apple pies. The side trip proved a joy to Wendy and Pa. I should have chilled, but we had a  timetable!

With a little backtracking we walked downtown Mt. Vernon. In the spring this town gets the whole state's attention for its tulips. The downtown is quaint with bookstores, an old time movie theater, and boutique shops.
Our destination on this trip, if there is one, is the city of Bellingham at the top of the state. To get to Bellingham we leave the interstate and take Highway 11. This road takes us through farm country and then hugs the coast like Highway 1 and Big Sur. They call this route the Chuckanut Drive because it cuts through Chuckanut Mountain. It's a beautiful winding road through thick woods and northerly views of the San Juan Islands. Before Bellingham we gas up in a quaint coastal town called Fairhaven. In Bellingham we find a Mexican restaurant downtown and have lunch. We discover that Wendy has been to Bellingham and Russel's grandparents lived here. They have both passed away. We do look for their home only to find out it no longer exists.