TULIP FESTIVAL

Okay, so the actual Skagit Tulip Festival begins next week, but most reports indicate the fields are filled with color now, so rather than fight the mass of people making their annual pilgrimage to the fields next week, we went early, and were rewarded with an awesome day, with less people. Instead of a few tulips gracing a flowerbed, there are miles--well, actually acres--of rectangular blocks of color, reds, pinks, stripped, and blues dazzling the eyes. The sun cooperated by lighting up the sky to impress the blooms to show off all their glory. Even though we were a week early tour buses and groups of people strolled through the rows of plants. One little girl was having a difficult time not to pick the bright red flower in front of her while her daddy was attempting to get the right image for a family memory of the outing.
One farm had a large garden of tulips with gravel paths winding among the flowerbeds. For those uninformed persons--like myself--the tulip is a member of the lily family, and has a stem about foot long with a juice glass shaped bulb on top. Only one flower sits on top of the stem, but the richness of color is worth all the effort.
The Skagit valley is north of the Seattle area and is a rich farming area. For those interested, a number of cheese producers are located in the valley and worth a visit to their farms.
If you get a chance sometime head out to the tulip festival and explore Skagit valley.