Tell me about Washington, Bellingham and the U.S. west coast.

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hi y’all.

Although nothing’s confirmed yet, I figured I’d post this thread before I got booted off on account of my non-paying status.

But, still, it’s looking pretty likely that I’ll end up in the U.S.A later on this year. I will probably be heading to Bellingham, Washington as an exchange student (at Western Washington University). I’ll be there for two quarters (do many U.S unis do this quarters thing? They’re confusing the hell out of me) and will be there from September to March '05. I will make it my business to extensively check out Seattle and Vancouver while I’m there (there seems to be a very handy Greyhound service running to both cities). Also, if I have the money, I’m planning a road trip from Los Angeles to Bellingham before I actually start studying (although I haven’t planned little save for the beginning and final destination where this is concerned).

So, I’d appreciate any hints you can give me about any of this. Bellingham, Seattle, Vancouver, the west coast, WWU, America in general, going on exchange - any help whatsoever would be great.

I’ll thank you in advance, SDMB. :slight_smile:

P.S. I’m coming from Australia.

2

You might want to pick up a copy of The Stranger Guide to Seattle and/or check out a few issues of The Stranger for info on Seattle.

I first encountered the “quarters” system when I came to Seattle to go to grad school at the University of Washington–I much prefer semesters.

3

Winter+Washington=Wet. Deal with the fact that you will never be dry…ever. :smiley: The Bellingham area is quite beautiful, and the people friendly and outgoing. I have relatives all over that area. Decent local beers, crazed local politics, and college babes who will swoon over your accent.

The road trip to LA would be best done with friends, especially if you are planning on traveling by bus. From Bellingham, it would be better to use Amtrak (railroad) to get to LA.

We like Aussies here on the West Coast.

4

I think it’s a lot easier to go to Vancouver than Seattle from Bellingham. First time I ever went to Vancouver from L.A., I used a frequent flyer ticket but it was only good in the lower 48 states. So I flew into Bellingham on March 21.

It was snowing when I got there. When I got to my hotel, I asked the clerks if it normally snowed in Bellingham that time of year. They proceeded to run outside to go look. So I took the answer to be no.

I picked up a rental car the next day and made an easy drive to Vancouver, less than an hour.

Bellingham to L.A. by car is a very, very, very long drive. You will get to know Interstate 5 well as nearly the entire trip will be on that highway.

5

I lived on Whidbey Island for three years and loved it. I’m not crazy about Seattle because the traffic has gotten out of control, but if you stick to public transit it might not be so bad. The coast is gorgeous and a photographer’s dream all the way down to Ventura, CA. You will be close to world-class skiing, boating, and other outdoor activities.

6

Scotti lives in Bellingham, and can probably give you PLENTY of information.

I’ve been there many times (live about three hours away), it’s a nice town, good school. What field are you studying? Many schools here have the quarter system.

Bellingham to LA? oof - that’s a LONG trip…

7

When come back, bring Vegemite!

I live in Bellingham. Well, Birch Bay, actually; which is just up the road. And I moved here from L.A. (Obviously.)

Bellingham is a very nice town. No Fatburger, Wienerschnitzel, Del Taco, or Rubio’s; but ya can’t win 'em all. Downtown is very nice with its old buildings. I absolutely love this area. Cool weather, lots of trees, and the water is a short block from my driveway. And I just bought my first fishing/shellfishing license today. Unfortunately, dungeness crab season won’t start here until August.

silenus is right. It’s wet up here. I came up in November and I can tell you it gets a few degrees cooler here than in L.A. We got some snow. Bring cold-weather gear with you, or be prepared to buy it here.

It’s a long drive from here to L.A. You can do it in 20 hours if you don’t stop except for petrol. That’s if you go the boring way down Interstate 5. (If you do go that way, I’d suggest stopping in Redding or Anderson which are at the half-way point.) The coastal route is much more scenic, but much slower due to the nature of the road and to the nature of the drivers. But you’ve got to see the redwoods!

Send me an e-mail when you get here. Scotti, Nymysys and her husband, and I are up here; and there are a lot of Vancouver Dopers just a few miles away.

BTW: I was serious about the Vegemite.

8

Hey, thanks for all the replies!

Yeah, I’d kinda heard that. It’ll be a change. At least I’ll never have to hear about drought.

Y’know… I really think I’ll like this town.

Well, I’m going to be alone there, so the firends option is kind of out of the question. I can see the advantages, but unfortunately, it can’t be helped. Would you recommend the bus? I wanted to drive just for the American Road Trip feel, but the bus is a good option that I hadn’t considered (also, I’m not too sure how easily I could hire a car - I’m only 21, and I’ve read that most places don’t hire to people under 25.) Also, I’d like to explore Highway 1 (that’s the one down the Californian coast, isn’t it?), and that sort of thing is a lot easier, I understand with your own transport.

Also, I’m really kind of a city guy. I know Bellingham isn’t real big, but it seems to be pretty lively for a small town, so I shouldn’t mind too much. But really, I would like to see places like San Francisco and Portland as well. Hence the road trip idea.

I’m doing Communication, with a double major in Journalism and Media Production.

This was definitely a big plus in my decision to go there. I wanted somewhere different - y’know real winter. And I like your mountains! It turns out Mt Baker, just up the road, is bigger than any mountain in Australia.

I figure I’ll but it when I get there - what’s the weather like in mid-September? I thought I’d be more likely to get good cold weather gear for a better price if I’m somewhere that actually uses it. Besides, it saves me lugging it over the Pacific.

I really want to see the redwoods. Another plus for the road trip. I’m prepared to take my time - I want to see as much of the country as I can while I’m there, but obviously, the longer I take the more expensive things like accomodation and petrol will be. Are there any cheap and safe options for accomodation on this sort of trip?

Will do :slight_smile:

Really? Man, I hate the stuff. But I’ll bring a jar… I’m sure it won’t go astray.

9

Same here.

Prior to moving here, it seems I always came up in the early-Spring to mid-Summer. But I did come up last September. It was rather nice, although there was a little rain. My best mate and I took the kayaks up to Barkley Sound, on the western side of Vancouver Island. It was quite warm much of the time. (Not So.Cal. warm, but warm nonetheless.)

Car hire: I’ve heard that hiring a car if you’re under 25 is very difficult. But I’m over 25, so I can’t tell you to a certainty.

Petrol: Fuel is becoming more expensive. It’s about $1.84/U.S. gallon up here. (What’s that? About AU$3.50?) In L.A. it’s over $2.50/gallon. Prices are expected to rise until September, and should decline after Labour Day (much more slowly). Cars can be very cheap here. I saw an old Chevy Sprint (40-50 mpg) in the paper for $500 recently.

Accommodations: Prices vary according to where they are. A budget motel will probably cost $35-$65 per night.

I really like it. Since I moved up here, I haven’t found a store that carries it. I’m down to my last jar. (Thank the gods for Internet shopping!)

10

If you want to explore the Coast, then the bus really isn’t an option. They tend to stay away from the windy roads. Barring renting a car, which it doesn’t sound like you will be able to do, Amtrak is your best bet. Check out their website for prices and schedules and such. I’m sure you can get off the train and take local transport at places of interest, and the tracks run right along the shoreline for most of the way between LA and Portland.

If you need semi-local political contacts for your school work, let me know. My uncle is a mover and shaker in the Democratic Party in western Washington. He knows people. :smiley:

Buy your gear when you get here. Hit REI or the like for what is currently stylish and will keep you dry.

11

I’m just up the coast in White Rock (about 2 km or so from the border). It’s normally nice in mid-September - sunny and fairly warm, as in mid-teens Celsius, give or take a few degrees. The rains don’t start until mid-to-late October, but then you can’t count on any extended stretches of good weather until March. It doesn’t really get cold here even in winter, though I guess it might count as cold by Australian standards - maybe one or two snowfalls a year, and the rest of the time it stays above freezing. I have to admit the damp can make it feel colder though.

Just to get a plug in for my hometown, White Rock is an easy trip from Bellingham. We’ve got a beach and tons of restaurants, and a big white rock that gave the town its name. We’ve also somehow acquired a reputation for having better weather than the (B.C.) Lower Mainland. Plus your money will go farther in Canada!

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So, gex gex…

How go the plans?

13

Wanna bet? :smiley:

The Pacific Northwest is now into its fifth year of drought. Of course we are talking about that part of the Pacific Northwest east of the Cascade Range and in the rain shadow. Annual precipitation levels are way, way down.

Eastern Washington State did not receive enough snowpack this past winter to come close to breaking the drought. Already, quite a few smaller fires in NE Washington have folks concerned. Friends up there jokingly asked if they should go ahead and rent a place for a few of us now because they expect to see us when the fires really take off later this summer.

Central and Eastern Oregon aren’t much better. The current Big Scare is around Ben, OR, or thereabouts. Not only are we talking dry conditions from a poor snowpack, but standing dead caused by pine bark beetle infestations (I think that’s the bug?) has created a virtual tinderbox not just in central Oregon, but even on the western side of the Cascades in Washington.

Down California way the LA/San Diego area already had a few minor blows within the past couple of weeks.

Oh, yeah. One more thing. The federal government cancelled all contracts for heavy bomber fire fighting this week. Too many safety issues with aircraft up to 60 years old, not to mention a couple of very bad, but spectacular, bomber crashes during fire retardent runs on some big fires. With no heavy bombers, initial attack on any fast moving fires will be seriously hampered, if not dead in the (no) water.

No drought? Well, it’s not like traveling across the Hay Plains in mid-summer but it comes close. Even arriving in September you might see some nasty blowups if the expected weather patterns provide conditions ripe for forest fires.

You can avoid the drought if you bring a case of VB with you.

14

Getting from Bellinghap to LA is kind of a PITA on the train.
You’ve gotta take the Amtrak Cascade train from Bellingham to Seattle
which arrives in the evening.

Then the next morning you can catch the Coast Starlight from Seattle to LA.
I think there’s a good chance you have to take the bus for part of the way too.
I researched this a while ago and things may have changed though.

Also it ends up costing more than a cheap flight on Southwest or Alaska.

The train is a good option for a quick trip to Vancouver BC or Seattle from Bellingham though.

It leaves Seattle in the morning and arrives in Vancouver BC late morning.
It leaves Vancouver around dinner time.

The times mrs. zippyh and I have done it, the bording crossings were a breeze.
The train stops for about 15 minutes while customs guys go through the train
and collect forms and scowl at everyone.

15

A note about taking the train to L.A.: The station is in downtown L.A. Not a good area. There are some skyscrapers downtown; but much of the area is industrial, and there are a lot of homeless people about. At night it looks post-apocalyptic. Not a good place to be at night if you’re on foot. I’m not very familiar with the bus service there, but they do run through bad parts such as the infamous South Central. If you take a train to L.A. and intend to take a bus from there, you might consider arriving early in the day.

Not that I’ve ever had any problems downtown myself, either in a car or on a motorcycle; it’s just not a very nice area.

I’d never considered taking a train from Bellingham to Vancouver. It’s an easy drive. I’m 20 miles north of Bellingham, so it’s even easier for me. :smiley:

16

But unless you really, really, really like trains, it’s still a PITA, the train station in Seattle has no worthwhile parking, plus you get off in Vancouver and there’s still the issue as to what to do with stuff. Plus, it’s only a tank and a half of gas.

I can leave Seattle at almost any time (except absolute rush hour) and be in Vancouver 2 hours later by car, and it’s a nice drive - the train ride is longer, assuming it shows up on time.

I keep wanting to take the train somewhere, but it is just inconvenient going either direction, I can’t understand why anyone takes it at all, except being horrified of flying or really loving trains.

17

Duckster meant to say Bend, OR.

18

Thank you. I guess I get a “D” for the spelling mistake. :smack:

19

Oh? I figured Ben, Oregon, was a distant cousin to George, Washington, or to Duncan, Idaho. :wink:

(Does anyone but me misread Eugene, Oregon as Eugene Onegin, and vice versa? :o)

20

Drought update:

Source: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-b.c.-drought,0,3846395,print.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

You definitely jinxed yourself. Now you have to bring a case of VB to avert a personal drought! :smiley: