Tulip Festival

Tulips galore

Today we, Melanie and I, headed down south to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival which is, I can attest, filled with tulips at the RoozenGaarde display gardens. It's really late for the flowers to be appearing, and we saw lots of fields that are still only showing buds, with unopened flowers that will be showing their beauty at some time in the next week or two. Since Melanie will be out of town next week, we decided to venture down to the fields today. The one good thing I will say about the weather is that it wasn't raining.

Melanie and I bundled up

You might be able to tell by our clothing that it wasn't warm: a twenty-mile-an-hour wind really brought down the temperature, and the fact that we never saw even a little bit of sunshine, meant that we wandered around snapping pictures while trying to stay moderately warm. Thank heavens for gloves, hats, coats and the ability to walk at a fast pace. When the wind was at our backs, it was much easier to enjoy the tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils.

River of hyacinths

One of my favorite places is the display garden hear the entrance. This river of blue hyacinths made for a wonderful fantasy of flowers among the multicolored (and multi-petaled) tulips. There are so many of my favorite tulip varieties mixed in. 

Red tulips make a lovely heart

When I saw this design, I was sure it was multicolored tulips surrounding a red tulip heart, but when I showed the picture to SG, he said maybe it's a glass of red wine. Who knows for sure? I loved seeing the bright colors all around it. 

Tulips to infinity... and beyond

Then we went out to the massive fields of tulips in the area behind the display gardens. They are so beautiful, and the brilliant colors were in no way diminished by the overcast skies. Although I would have spent more time out there, I was trying my best to stay warm and managed to keep walking, even when I would have liked to linger. The wind made it difficult.

Fields and fields of color

We walked around for as long as we could without getting too uncomfortable, and then we went back to the main area to shop in the great gift shop at the gardens. We did make a stop by some favorite displays, like this one.

Another hyacinth ribbon among the tulips

We really did enjoy the fabulous eye candy, and Melanie introduced me to her favorite fudge, available for purchase and to eat there or take home. I bought a sampler of several different kinds of fudge and managed to keep myself from eating too much of it all at once. It's rich and delicious. After that, we went to the gift shop to warm up and also to buy some souvenirs. Or she did, I looked but didn't end up buying anything in there after all.

Farewell until next year

And then it was time to say goodbye after another wonderful trip to the Tulip Festival. We climbed into Mel's car and headed back to Bellingham and drove to Lake Padden to walk 2.6 miles around the lake before going off to have a nice lunch together. It was truly a lovely day, but I am glad to be inside as the rain begins. We are so lucky to have such beautiful places to visit near our homes. Once again, I am grateful for all the fine places available to enjoy, just a short drive from Bellingham.

Melanie snapped this of me unawares

This picture gives me the ability to use it to say, "It is definitely springtime in the Pacific Northwest and thanks for coming along!"

:-)