I just love crossing the border and being in a different country. I’m on call 24/7 and though it’s mostly only urgent calls I can handle over the phone, it’s still only when I’m out of British Columbia I truly relax. When Laura and I were in Dublin I received a call at 3 in the morning wanting me to come in person to an emergency. I loved being able to say I wasn’t able to as I was in Dublin. I knew that everyone would be able to handle the matter without me anyway.
This trip was a compromise. Given the Canadian dollar was only 70 cents I decided against going to Seattle arguing that just crossing the border and spending a couple of nights in Bellingham would be a saving. The fact is, it’s far easier to spend Canadian money in Seattle. Just the cost of hotel’s in Bellingham is a third less.
Best Western Plus is where we’ve stayed before. It’s by Bellis Fair. Nice dog friendly 3 star hotel. I like Best Westerns. I’ve stayed in them all over the world and have never been disappointed. Maybe they’re a bit more than a Super 8 which is also dog friendly but I like the extras. This one had a hot tub and the Best Western breakfast, neither of which we used, but we could have. The dog walk along the stream though is perfect. It was right outside our door and Gilbert and I and Gilbert and Laura enjoyed many strolls there.
Laura loved the room. She’s a regular Howard Hughes when it comes to hotels and hotel baths and the daily cleaning service. After checking in, I left Laura and Gilbert in the deluxe room, going off to get myself a hair cut. With only a half hour delay at Peace Arch border crossing, it had been a lovely drive down to Bellingham.
I was going to get Laura some perfume for early Valentine’s Day but she decided on shoes and a purse in the designer discount store, Marshalls. Later we found out her retro purse is a Steve Madden, the male equivalent of Martha Stewart. A couple of white collar jailbirds caught for money frauds.
I'd emailed ahead to St. Paul’s Presbyterian to find out if they accepted Gilbert the therapy dog in church. I told them he’d been blessed by the Bishop in Vancouver and was a member at St. James Anglican. But no. Dogs were not welcome. So in keeping with my belief that I’ll not go to heaven if they don’t accept dogs, I felt I’d done my bit. I’d tried. God knew.
There are ‘dog friendly’ hotel listings but so far the churches haven’t caught on. So Laura, Gilbert and I went to the park along the Bay. There’s a crane sanctuary and a wondrous off lease run. Gilbert, whose back has been healing since last fall, got to run free. I’ve literally restrained his motion only allowing him off leash for short walks. Today I wanted to see how well he was recovering. It was a blessed sight to see. He ran and jumped just like he does with his cockapoo cousin Eva. He may still have trouble climbing still he’s a regular rocket again on the flat. He also played with a big dog and a little bossy Yorkie. That was worth the trip, to see Gilbert running and playing. Slept on the King sized bed with us.
One night we had pizza and caesar salads and read books in the room. Another night I went out and got us Macdonald’s Burgers and Fries. It’s Gilbert’s favourite and he deserved a reward. So Laura and I and Gilbert ate together on the king sized bed watching Tom Select in Blue Bloods on the big screen tv.
We’ d planned to stop at the Harley store but they were closed so we’re now heading back leisurely. We’re at the Macdonald’s having egg mcmuffins. Laura’s checking her Facebook and I’m uploading photos we took while here.
The US primaries continue. The Muslim migrants remain news with eerie denial by leftist politicians about their potential for terrorist acts feeding the conspiracy theorists. Meanwhile the war with ISIS continues. The Super Bowl has dominated the weekend with Lady Gaga’s outstanding performance of the American Anthem.
We’ve enjoyed being here this family day long weekend. I like America and Americans
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