Our plans to camp at Larrabee State Park took a strange turn, yet we still managed to have a blast throwing a celebration picnic for our friend Zola on Bellingham Bay. Here’s our latest lesson in rolling with it.

Just when we started feeling settled in our new home base and Leslie began emerging from the post-surgery blues, there was a painful hiccup. She’d been feeling well enough to make a trip to Mount Rainier National Park and then boom! What a pain, and oh, the itchiness.

When she finally got back in to see the surgeon, he took one look at her incisions and said, yup, you’ve had an allergic reaction to the surgical glue. It’s rare, but it happens. Benadryl cream was recommended and relief soon arrived.

But by that time, we’d made the decision to change up our plans and skip the camping portion of the adventure up north. We booked a room at the fabulous Chrysalis Inn on Bellingham Bay in Fairhaven and, boy, are we happy we went that direction.

We set up our picnic in the park next to the hotel and waited for our friends to arrive. We spent a few moments chewing over some sweet memories of living in this beautiful part of the Pacific Northwest during the pandemic lockdown and then returning from our travels to home base there in the summers. Beyond the magnificent body of water, the views of Lummi and Orcas islands are striking. It’s truly a special place.

It was a perfect day for a picnic and soon the table was filled with so many flavors of potato chips, smoked salmon spread, local cherries, potato salad and pesto pasta. A small Coleman propane-fired grill was just the right size for cooking sockeye salmon – thanks, Ted! – and warming up bratwurst brought by aunt Mary and uncle Frank.

John set up a treasure hunt with clues and a payoff for the grad, who picked up her diploma in June from International School Bangkok, where her parents are teachers. She and her brother, Zane, were born in Spokane, but have had so many global adventures since Ted and Virginia decided to teach abroad in 2015. Here’s a very cool twist to this full-circle story: Zola will be attending Gonzaga in the fall. Welcome home!

After hanging out, enjoying the sunshine, getting stuffed on yummy food and packing up, there was one more celebration ritual in store. We walked down to the dock and watched a few crazy/brave souls take the cold plunge into the bay. Hooray for summer picnics, congrats to all the grads and here’s hoping Leslie continues healing so we can hit the road again soon!

In the meantime, though, we slept well in the comfy room and woke up early so we could enjoy that waterfront view. What a treat.

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We’re posting photo updates on Facebook (Facebook.com/goingmobiletravel) and Instagram (Instagram.com/goingmobiletravel). You’ll also find all of our content at Spokesman.com/going-mobile, along with stories from our globetrotting buddy, Dan Webster.  Dan recently posted about a memorable trip to Albania.

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