It’s April, which means it’s Skagit Valley Tulip Festival month! About an hour north of Seattle, there are acres upon acres of tulips, daffodils, and other flowers that bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world. Nick and I had already been planning to go when Mom suggested that we go together yesterday (she had to drive up that way to meet a friend anyway).

Orange Tulips at the Tulip Festival

The two big tulip farms are Roozengaarde and Tulip Town. We decided to go to Roozengaarde, whose “family business of growing tulips, daffodils and irises is the largest in the world.” It was the perfect day to visit, too; the weather was great and the flowers were at their peaks. And there were so many people there! We were incredibly lucky and got a parking place up close.

The flowers were beautiful and the daffodil field seemed endless. The ground hadn’t been packed down well, so sometimes it felt a bit like walking on a waterbed (which the kids loved). Roozengaarde had a beautiful garden area, too, which showed off some really interesting varieties of tulips. Before we left, we treated ourselves to some fresh, local fudge and kettlecorn. Yummy!

Freighter in Samish Bay

Flickr photo set: Tulip Festival

While we were chatting with Mom yesterday, she found out that neither of us had been to Bellingham (a city about half an hour south of the Canadian border), so we took a scenic drive along Chuckanut Drive, a windy road that goes along the shoreline of Samish Bay and Chuckanut Bay. We found a nice spot to pull over and we had a picnic with a beautiful view of Samish Bay.

Prior to our picnic, we drove through an odd little town called Edison (population 133 people as of the 2010 census). There were some interesting-looking shops and restaurants (like “Slough Food” and “The Lucky Dumpster”). There was even someone driving his tractor down the road. Further down, we saw a place that was advertising bison burgers and there was a whole herd of bison grazing outside! We saw some people paragliding, too.

We then drove ever so briefly through southern Bellingham (so we could say we had been there) before returning home. We all had a really nice time and great weekend. 😀 Be sure to check out our tulip festival photos on Flickr!