Minnesotans Moving to Point Roberts Washington!!

Hello all you wonderful permies!

My better half and myself will be moving to Point Roberts Washington at the end of August! I have accepted a job out there working for an organic and vegan clothing company. It still doesn't seem real that it is happening!! Anyways, we are wondering if there are any permies around the Point Roberts area. It is such a peculiar town but we are very excited to call it home. Vancouver is only 40 minutes away and Seattle is about 2 hours.  We are looking for new friends to connect with and adventure Cascadia with! We, of course, love nature, hiking, canoeing, backpacking, eating out at awesome vegan restaurants, going to music events, or just people watching! We will also be traveling from Minnesota so if any of you have any cool places we should stop and check out on our way west we are all ears.  I believe we are going to Mount Rushmore and hopefully Yellowstone. We have never been out west before so it is a completely new adventure! We look forward to hearing from you!

To health and happiness,

Evan and Mercedes

While I don't know of any personally, I do know Bellingham Wa has a lot of permiculture and natural systems folks. I grew up in B'ham.

B'ham would likely be your main decent US city to go to. Blaine is just too small and focused on being a boarder town.

Pt Roberts is a tough one though as your stuck not connected to the US. It is easier for you to hang out in Canada than other US cities.

I would however highly suggest going to B'ham and visiting Fairhaven college, where they have some great permaculture oriented stuff going on. Not sure if it is still going, but there used to be the "Freedom College" basically a low cost no degree education system where you take courses for learning rather than a piece of paper. Many of the courses are the same ones offered at Fairhaven College by the same instructors, but you don't have to pay tuition etc, just a small classroom fee and teacher fee. Lots of good opportunities to connect with like minded folks that way as well was learn stuff.

I would also suggest looking for River Farm events. The River Farm is a great community in Demming WA http://www.ic.org/directory/river-farm/ they used to hold my favorite festivals not sure if they still do. Rather than a focus on music and vending, they were focused on workshops and education. Really amazing folks out there, and one of the members was the solar educator at Fairhaven College, as well as for the Freedom college.

I am sure there is a lot more going on in the B'ham area but it is a long time since I spent any significant time there, and none of my old friends have stayed in touch with me as I traveled around the country being nomadic a lot. For amazing Burritos definitely visit Casa Que Pasa.

As for places to visit on your travels, Missoula MT of course and a visit to Wheaton Labs. Tonasket WA (the town near my homestead) is a nice little place, not a lot going on there but there are some great restaurants and a few nice shops to stop at while passing through. Ernie and Erica of rocket mass heater fame live near by there.

Thank you for the wealth of information Devin! We will definitely have to check out B'ham (love that nickname) when we get settled.  It sounds like a wonderful place and I am always in the hunt for a good burrito! We will hopefully be making a stop at Wheaton Labs. Maybe to stay for a night!

Point Roberts is a lot closer to Vancouver, Canada a place I have always enjoyed visiting.  Turns out there is a permaculture meet-up there http://www.meetup.com/The-Vancouver-Permaculture-Meetup-Group/ It is worth noting that the nearby Delta area has a lot of high tech greenhouses where thing like tomatoes and bell peppers are grown.

You would for sure want to visit the Bullock's Permaculture Homestead on Orcas Island
http://www.permacultureportal.com/index.php

I grew up in MN and moved to the Puget Sound region and really loved it while I lived there.  Mushroom hunting in the fall is the best. Walk along the shore at low tide.  Learn the native plants; eat salmon-berries, salal and huckelberries