Charley, Stella and I are back from a vacation that was absolutely lovely and fun and beautiful and relaxing. All of that in one.

We ended up in an AirBNB that my friend set up before coming into town for the holidays. It was at this closed cabin community in Glacer, WA. We had to go through a gate to get into the community, and all throughout there were different sizes of cabins, a lot of them looking as vacation rentals or vacation homes for the certain seasons. Some were being built and others were getting add-ons. Either way it was very charming.

I can see where it could be easily a winter get-away with all the mountains with snow on them all around, but I also see where it would also be a hit in the summer time, with all the mountains and trails and flowers. Either way, the weather was fabulous, not too hot or cold. Chill enough at night to throw on covers and warm enough to wear shorts during the day.

It did actually rain two of the 7 days we were up there, but that just added to the coziness of the adventure in a cabin. It actually got cool enough those days to warrant a fire in the fireplace!

The cabin we stayed in was 3 stories, with a living room/rec area downstairs with a washer and dryer, and a full bathroom. The room was equipped with a Wii, and had an outstanding DVD movie collection along with any board game imaginable. Skis were available, along with goggles and gloves. Tennis balls and racquets were available, along with pickle ball equipment. A fold out bed served as a couch.

The second story was the kitchen, a door out to the back patio, a fireplace, and a large bedroom. The kitchen was lightly stocked with condiments and had access to all the pots and pans, cookers, coffee maker, toaster…… all of that kitchen stuff I would have never thought of!

Upstairs was the master bedroom with a full shower/bathroom and a little loft off to the side that held another bed. It was an A shape so the ceiling made it look even larger and very spacious. Ski decorations and antique skis dotted the log cabin’s walls.

At first Stella was a little apprehensive and hid under one of the upstairs beds at first. She’s been to another AirBNB before so I don’t think she was too shocked or upset about the new surroundings. She did a lot better than she had the last time for she came out and was lounging on the large banister railings that were on the top floor within the first day. I think she got a kick out of being able to stay above Charley the whole time we were there. Drove Charley nuts, though, as she kept whining every time she would see Stella peering down on her.

Stella does not have good spacial awareness about her, so there was the occasional time she’d be rolling around on her back loving life on the railing and fall down to the couch below. She’d act all embarrassed but would turn around and do it again. Maybe she thought it was fun, I’m not sure.

There were trails that were literally 1/8 of a mile away from the front door that went in all directions. We followed one that took us to the Nooksack Falls and to the Nooksack River. There is nothing like the roar of a running river. We saw a couple of kayak-ers and I couldn’t help noticing the huge grin on one of the guys as he got turned around backwards after going over some rough spots.

It looked like a lot of fun.

On one of the days when we were exploring trails we came across a sign that read “Glacer Township Cemetery”. There were these graves that were hiding amongst the foliage and the forest ground. They dated from the 1800’s and on. It was a bit eerie but also pretty cool.

I think that was Charley’s favorite time was being able to go off leash as we explored these trails. We’d occasionally run into other people with or without dogs so it didn’t feel too deep in the woods. I tend to get a little wary deep in nature sometimes for I think I’ve been living in the city too long. I’ve watched too many “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” episodes about people meeting ill fate in the middle of nowhere.

Every time we got back from a little hike Charley would plop down and just pass out. A couple times I had to make sure she was breathing because she wouldn’t budge for a few hours. She would get tuckered out.

There was also this community park right down the street that had a baseball field, horseshoes, a little dog park, a stocked pond and a swimming pool.

This was all at the base of Mt. Baker, which still had snow on it. We even ventured further up the surrounding mountain/hills and was able to see Mt. Baker clearly through the clouds.

It was quite beautiful, and I wish I was able to upload some photos of it. Turns out I have to have them in jpg or .png format, and they got taken in HEIC mode. According to Google I have to copy them to switch them over and I have not taken on that challenge as of yet. I’m not that good at that kind of thing so for the meantime I’ll have to wait to upload. At least I didn’t accidentally erase them, I don’t think.

We ended up leaving the day before the 4th, when everybody seemed to have the great idea of coming up to these cabins for vacation. We beat the rush and happened to be there at a time during the week where not many people seemed to be around.

The cabin was huge, and the land around was large. Charley got to run around the woods while Stella got to run up and down the stairs and around the cabin and hide whenever and wherever she wanted to without having to worry about Charley giving her grief.

It was relaxing, and to be honest I am kind of bummed to be back smack in the middle of the city again where sirens and street car racing seems to be very prevalent right now. Not to mention the random pop of a firework that scares Charley every time. I’ve got to be careful when I’m out with her for she tends to get spooked and as been known to run off as soon as something like that happens.

Anyway, that was our summer trip this year. Hopefully we’ll be able to get away for the winter time but if not this trip will be able to hold me off for awhile.