Today our task was to pick up some metal plates to cover a repair we are going to make to our trailer. It seems there was a sneaky leak up near the roof/front cap joint that was allowing rainfall drainage to take a shortcut through a crawlspace. It found its way to the plastic cap around the kingpin assembly and eventually formed a white hematoma about the size of a racketball which finally cracked and put out some former particleboard remains. We think we fixed the roof leak a couple weeks ago in La Conner but soon I must excise the popped zit in the plastic cap. The cap plastic itself cannot be patched with similar plastic so today I picked up some shiny aluminum diamond plate to scab over the zit hole.

I called a place called Carlson Steel in Bellingham and the voice at the other end said they probably didn’t have what I wanted (two 6.5” square plates) but they did have a huge remnant selection and they would be happy to make some $15 cuts for me if I selected the material. Peg and I hopped in the truck and headed down I-5 into town. There was a girl behind the counter that looked like she may have been an ironworker or jail matron who directed me into the shop to speak with the foreman. Soon I was rummaging through a great selection of various types of sheet metal. A relatively new employee took my selection, set his really nice shear and chopped out my stock to the dimensions desired. I took my two plates to the shop foreman, while he was standing under a sign indicating cuts cost $10 a pass. I expected to pay for two cuts and the cost of the metal itself but he asked if $10 for everything sounded fair. I immediately coughed up the cash and left thanking them liberally as I backed out the door. Our chore agenda for the day was complete at that time, so we made a short stop at the Bellingham Trader Joe’s and cruised through some neighborhoods with gorgeous houses before heading over to the coast to eat the lunch Peg had bought.

We ate the salads overlooking the sea, then turned north and west to follow the coastline through the lush Lummi Reservation. The Lummi are apparently doing well because they have nice modern-looking buildings and full service facilities for tribe members, including a college. I think they must have a casino. Their land encompasses some hilly terrain with conifer forests mixed in with ample bottom land bordering the Nooksack River. Everything was quite green except the river.

We then wandered into the dinky seaside town of Birch Bay which I read in the local paper had as many as 8000 residents although it doesn’t look like most of them live in town. They must be talking about the zip code. We left Birch Bay and I was surprised that I had closed today’s driving loop about a half mile after leaving the coast when we turned back into the Lighthouse RV Park. The weather here and the scenery in this part of WA is terrific. Looming just east of us is Mount Baker and its glacier-covered cone. I’m glad it isn’t erupting because we would be screwed with the ocean as our only retreat.

We got a few great wood house pictures you can see if you click the link. https://photos.app.goo.gl/S4u2RTdbF57vKVUq5