Michelle and I spent a relaxing (though somewhat laborious in the oompa-loompa sense) weekend with Meghan and Troy on the Oregon Coast. The only real objective – make chocolates for their upcoming wedding. We managed that in fine form – and Troy and I actually did help – both in cutting and forming caramel, but also in quality control – by which I mean eating the chocolates that the girls deemed not of sufficient quality.
And speaking of “not of sufficient quality”, has anyone seen The Terminator lately? It sucks! They had the original VHS tape which we watched on what must have been a VCR from that same era. We also ate well, let the dog swim in the water, and relaxed. This is in stark contrast to what Matt’s just posted, but it’s really nice to see friends in smaller groups even when you really can catch up. OBF and the 4th were great, but there are so many people and so much has happened.
On the way back from the beach, Michelle and I applied steady pressure regarding the awesomeness that is Portland in an attempt to counter the pro-Bellingham arguments. I’m not sure if it worked, but never-the-less, we tried.
Bellingham Baby!
There’s awesomeness everywhere if we can just unite the clans. It’s all in the friends and family that you have close enough to enjoy it with you. I mean, even Oak Harbor was pretty cool growing up when I was surrounded by friends.
I mean, OAK HARBOR!!!
That’s it, we are uniting the clans in Oak Harbor. Enough of this Portland vs. Bellingham stuff. We will just pick an offsite sucky location as a compromise. Hell, with all of us, we could take over the city and make it do our bidding.
Bellingham = 10 degrees colder, 10% rainier, 10 times more depressing
Well I like both places, I just really like being on the water!
From what I could find, Alan’s numbers seem a little off.
Portland Average High Temp – 63
Bellingham Average High Temp – 59
Porland Jan High Temp (avg) – 46
Bellingham Jan High Temp (avg) – 46
Portland Jan Low Temp (avg) – 31
Bellingham Jan Low Temp (avg) – 35
Porland July High Temp (avg) – 83
Bellingham July High Temp (avg) – 73
Portland July Low Temp (avg) – 57
Bellingham July Low Temp (avg) – 54
Portland Average Rainfall – 36.3 in
Bellingham Average Rainfall – 35 in
As you can see, Bellingham is obviously better. Milder temps, less rain. Pretty much ideal.
Go B’ham! Woohoo!
It fucking rained everytime I was there, but since you don’t like those numbers, let’s play these numbers out:
Number of good restaurants in B-ham: maybe 3
Number in PDX: still counting
What good is the water in B-ham when it’s so cloudy and drippy and you can’t even see the San Juans most of the time?
I did once see a cool sunflower seastar there, but that was the highlight of my time in B-ham.
Oh, and I like the burritos at some place in Mt. Vernon, but again, that’s not B-ham.
Go Portland!
there are two places I care to live in the US. Portland or Bellingham! I think they both have their own jems to offer.
Alan: you obviously haven’t been to Bham in awhile…there are a ton of new shops and restaurants opening up. Its a nice relaxed place on the water where Portland ddefinately has more diversity and organized activities to offer.
I lived in a college town in Virginia . . . when I was in college. It’s fun while you’re there. Then you look back and think: how could I have ever lived there? I haven’t been to B-ham in 2-3 years, I’ll admit, but I can’t imagine it’s changed that much.
Bellingham Int’l Airport
mean temp: 49.9F
annual total rain: 35.5″
PDX
mean temp 53.9F
mean precip: 35.6″
source:
Weather America c1996 Toucan Valley Press
Alan never lived in B’ham during the summer, which in my opinion, easily makes up for the winter. Summer is awesome there because the water warms up (in the lakes anyway) and it rarely gets above 85F. (for now….)
Portland doesn’t have the bay, granted, and you really have to trek to get to water safe enough to swim. And lacks Mt. Baker. But the Olympic games in BC and the burgeoning WWU population, great quality of life, drug trafficking and such will catch up with B’ham, and it’ll be fighting to retain it’s soul. Just look at the northern taint that is Guide-Merridian.
Drug trafficking, college kids, loss of soul… What! Thats what’s keeping me here. Did you hear about the tunnel? That’s some cowboy shit right there. Bellingham is like the wild frontier where hippies roam free. Portland is one big concrete prison, where it takes an hour to go a couple miles. The only saving grace of Portland is that you have some cool people locked up down there, otherwise it’s just a tangle of freeways with no way out.