Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
I took Monday off from work and since I was still in the midst of tulip fever decided to haul it to Mt. Vernon to see some tulips. Marshall and I were heading north on I-5 and it started raining. As we drove past the Everett exits I realized that our destination was still another 35 minutes away. I underestimated the distance by a longshot. It seemed like we drove forever before we got to Exit 226. It was so far away that the clouds broke and it was sunny!
It was surprisingly difficult to find the tulip field(s). Not a single speck of tulip at the Mt. Vernon exit (c’mon Chamber of Commerce – go to Costco come fall time, get a bag and plant them!). Good thing I had the sense to bring a map of the tulip farms otherwise I would have had to stop and ask someone if anyone had bothered to plant the bulbs this year.
There were no tulips in sight as we drove through downtown. For a town that is supposed to be known for a tulip/daffodil festival I was quite disappointed. There are more daffodils (and tulips) planted at the Woodland Park Zoo – actually there are more planted in my yard than the entire downtown.
We left the house at 3PM and arrived in the middle of a tulip field at 4:45PM. As I parked the car and let the little man run free (he was screeching to be let out by now) I realized how muddy it was in the field. The ground had huge tractor tracks with water filling the gulleys. The dirt actually looked like heavy white clay and it was amazing that anything would grow out of it at all. Good thing I wore my Wellies and Marshall had his boots on too (and an extra change of shoes). Next time I’ll bring him a spare outfit too. Marshall loved splashing around the puddles but I really had to hang onto him since he’d lose his balance and fall front-first into a mud puddle.
Despite a bit of a heavy wind it was great weather. We were tuliped out after walking around the field and as we headed back to Seattle I was planning out how many bulbs I’d need for this fall…