Jackie Granger, Author at PNW Concierge

Multi-generational family at their vacation rental home in Bellingham, WA

Self-Managed Vacation Rental Bellingham: What Tends to Go Wrong

Leave a Comment / Vacation Rental Management / Jackie Granger

Owners of a self-managed vacation rental in Bellingham don’t usually fail dramatically. There’s no moment where something goes catastrophically wrong, no bad guest incident that makes the decision for them. What happens is slower and harder to see from the inside. It usually starts going sideways in the reviews. Self-Managed Vacation Rental Bellingham: How Reviews […]

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Front of Alger Alps, a two-story home with a covered porch and two-car garage in Sedro-Woolley

What to Expect After Booking a Vacation Rental in Whatcom County

Leave a Comment / Vacation Rentals / Jackie Granger

Your confirmation email arrives within minutes. A second message follows, with a rental agreement attached. That second message is the one people skim, and it is the one that answers most of the questions guests ask us later. This is what it says, in plain language, and what else comes your way between booking and

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Family gathered around a stone fire pit with red Adirondack chairs beside Lake Whatcom at sunset

Managing a Legacy Vacation Home Responsibly: A Lake Whatcom Guide

Managing a legacy vacation home responsibly starts with a conversation you can’t really prepare a script for. One family on Lake Whatcom came to us with theirs already half-decided: their mother had bought the home later in life, and when she could no longer live there on her own, her two sons inherited the decision.

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Mt. Baker seen from the Nooksack River near Glacier, WA

What to Do in Glacier WA: Beyond the Highway Stops

Leave a Comment / Vacation Activities / Jackie Granger

Most people driving Mount Baker Highway have one destination in mind: Artist Point. They pass through Glacier at the posted 35 miles an hour, stop for gas maybe, and keep climbing toward the overlook everyone’s already seen online. The town itself gets treated like a bathroom break between Bellingham and the mountain. What to do

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Corner dining room windows with a view of the bay and wooded shoreline at a Rosario Ridge vacation rental in Anacortes WA

Skagit County Vacation Rental Management: Anacortes and La Conner

Leave a Comment / Vacation Rental Management / Jackie Granger

Skagit County vacation rental management in Anacortes and La Conner: the same care in both towns, and what fills the calendar in each.

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Avenue Bread and Cafe storefront on a fall morning in Fairhaven, Bellingham

Coffee Shops in Fairhaven, Bellingham: Five Stops, Five Moods

Leave a Comment / Pacific Northwest, Vacation Activities / Jackie Granger

Fairhaven is small enough to walk end to end in about twenty minutes, and it’s not far to any of the coffee shops in Fairhaven. Pick the one that fits the morning. Each does something the others don’t. October is a good month for it. The summer crowds thin out, the fog off the bay

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View from the stern of the Lummi Island ferry over its wake toward the receding Gooseberry Point dock

How to Get to Lummi Island: The Ferry, Step by Step

Leave a Comment / Pacific Northwest / Jackie Granger

You drive out of Bellingham toward Gooseberry Point (map to 2557 Lummi View Drive, Bellingham for directions), and the road ends at the water. A ramp, a small boat, and five minutes later you are on Lummi Island. No bridge, no airport shuttle, no alternative option. If you are staying here, you plan the trip

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Low late-summer sun over Birch Bay WA with driftwood and beach grass in the foreground and a forested point across the water

Best Things to Do in Birch Bay Before Summer Ends

Leave a Comment / Pacific Northwest, Vacation Activities, Vacation Rentals / Jackie Granger

Labor Day comes and Birch Bay changes character almost overnight. The day-trippers thin out. The state park lot has open spots again by mid-morning. The water, which took all summer to warm up in this shallow, west-facing bay, is at its best right as most people stop coming. That gap between the calendar and the

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Alpine hiking trail near Mt. Baker in late summer with green fir trees and mountain views, Whatcom County WA

Mt. Baker in Fall: Things to Do When the Crowds Thin Out

Leave a Comment / Pacific Northwest, Vacation Activities, Vacation Rentals / Jackie Granger

Winter is the obvious peak on Mt. Baker — the snow record, the ski season, the crowds that come with it. But for the hiking corridor, summer gets the traffic. Mt. Baker in fall — after Labor Day, once the crowds thin out — is better than both. The crowds thin out after Labor Day.

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Heavy storm clouds rolling over the water at dusk on Lummi Island in Whatcom County Washington

Storm Watching on the PNW Coast: A Fall Preview

Leave a Comment / Pacific Northwest, Vacation Activities / Jackie Granger

Whatcom County has a reputation built on its summers. Blue skies over Bellingham Bay, long evenings in Fairhaven, kayaks in the water and bikes on the trails. It earns it. But the county has a different season that doesn’t get nearly as much attention — and if you’ve ever watched a storm roll across the

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Jackie Granger