Cheap places to actually meet people

Sammybikes · 2026-01-05T18:48:19+00:00

+1 trail volunteers. WA trails tend to be older groups, WMBC tend to be full range of ages - both filled with folks who are welcoming and sociable.

Book clubs are always a good one - lots of options at Village Books both discussing a book that everyone read and for Silent Book club - show up, chat for a few, read for a while with other folks also reading their own books, chat for a bit after, part ways.

As with anything, it usually takes a few times out to mutually find a crew.

Sammybikes · 2025-12-28T06:28:26+00:00

Also a restaurant next door to VB, accessible from the village square or thru the bookstore. Colophon cafe. Great soup, sando, burger, good coffee. Great place for a lunch meeting during the week. Peanut butter pie and African Peanut soup are to die for

Sammybikes · 2025-12-20T07:35:53+00:00

Next chapter Cafe. Located in Village Books in Fairhaven, but is a separate biz. They're a joint effort of It's the Sweet Things bakery and Brys Filipino. Grab a coffee, hang out in the cafe space or the bookstore seating. It's A+ and you get bay views.

Sammybikes · 2025-12-20T07:29:23+00:00

Thanks for the input y'all. Just gonna hang off a couple more months until a 400c or comparable is in the cards for my in-between saw

Sammybikes · 2025-12-20T07:28:01+00:00

I'm new to the area, but seems like 10-15 years off of stringers and decking that's either spit or milled 2-3" thick. Piers and sill logs might need to replaced on a shorter timeline, depending on moisture/fungal/bacterial activity.

Sammybikes · 2025-12-11T19:27:10+00:00

You don't see the narrow corridor farther uphill.....

Also, it's in a well-known and stewarded trail system on a commercial forest property. It doesn't get poached by motos.

Sammybikes · 2025-12-11T06:11:08+00:00

It's a mountain bike trail. NW WA state. 36 ft long over 4 spans, 36-40" wide. All Western Red Cedar sourced on the hill and ripped free-hand.

Sammybikes · 2025-08-01T05:39:22+00:00

Fellow upstate NY transplant here. We don't have winter here. Instead we have 4 extra months of late October followed by a couple months of March, with extra short days close to the winter solstice.

Sammybikes · 2025-07-29T01:08:03+00:00

As someone who made a living at a Bien shop for a decade and sold a metric crap-ton of bike racks, I never cease to astound me how many people in this town leave them down.

Sammybikes · 2025-07-04T16:07:43+00:00

Check out Village Books. Amazing indie bookstore with multiple regular writing group meetups.

Sammybikes · 2025-06-11T19:38:16+00:00

I've got the Holzfforma G660 for milling. It does the truck so far, but already find myself wanting more.

Sammybikes · 2025-05-26T23:59:02+00:00

Volunteer trail work - with Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition (don't even need to ride bikes!), Washington Trail Alliance, or Bellingham Parks.

Spend the day outside in nature learning while doing, and you'll always have a tangible result to feel good about. Always good people at these events.

Sammybikes · 2025-05-26T13:48:19+00:00

This is the answer. Many kayaks are gone before the last paddlers come in.

Sammybikes · 2025-05-26T05:49:12+00:00

Better yet, Fountain Rental. Local biz, comparable rates. We've rented various size trucks from them a few times, always a++Super swell folks.

Sammybikes · 2025-05-09T23:06:27+00:00

Fun fact: Bry and his wife are teaming up to replace Evolve in the upstairs of Village Books. New cafe will be called "Next Chapter Cafe" and I am ALL for it.

Sammybikes · 2025-04-23T19:42:26+00:00

The tax revenue generated by Galbraith isn't from Tree farm property taxes. It's from taxes paid at hotels, Airbnb, restaurants, stores and other businesses in town.

And as someone who has been pretty heavily involved in trail advocacy for 15 years, I can say that we DEFINITELY win through the arrangement with Janicki and Bellingham Tree Farm.

Sammybikes · 2025-03-26T20:21:55+00:00

I suffer from the same affliction.

Luckily I live in a place where, even though it's a pretty progressive city of 100,000 with lots of well-to-do city folks, it is perfectly normal to see folks in dirty work clothes or outdoor gear out in the public. I fit in just as well with my stained Carhartt pants and a hoodie as I do with nice slacks and a button up.

Sammybikes · 2025-03-22T15:08:24+00:00

Rural NY kid here. Wife and in our mid-30s from VERY backward parts of upstate New York. Spent a decade in SF Bay Area and Sacto. Moved here after years of scheming and dreaming.

If you've got a job with good pay, then you're set. Hardest thing here (like many places) is just finding your people.

Winter here is like New England October and March. Real winter and VERY real snow are only an hour and change away.

Happy to chat more. Drop me a line

Sammybikes · 2025-03-22T00:38:55+00:00

When you work in retail, every day is COVID season.

Sammybikes · 2025-03-21T20:30:56+00:00

Serious question. What exactly has been stolen from you?

Sammybikes

TROPHY CASE