Travis' Birthday

Today we headed north to the Tulips. The weather was miserable but that has been the norm this spring so we paid it no mind - just bundled up and headed to Mt Vernon. Originally I had grand visions for this day - that we would stroll through the glorious fields, have a picnic lunch of wine and cheese amidst the flowers before hopping on a ferry in Anacortes to spend the night under the stars camping at Spencer Spit state park on Lopez Island....

right.

The wind howling and snow immanent there was no languorous stroll - double that for the wine and cheese. We hustled through Roozengarde's show gardens, stopping briefly to shoot a few pictures of girls in front of the flowers. From there we swung south to one of the fields you can walk through. The tulips were beautiful, but as you can see in the pictures the colors are a bit muted by the grey skies and the frigid temps. No matter, we walked briskly and made it back to the van with rosy cheeks and runny noses. A family vote resulted in our heading out of the fields and back to town for some lunch at the local micro brew joint. The Skagit River Brewing Company is located right next to a set of busy train tracks and the girls were thrilled at the trains rumbling past. After lunch we strolled a bit and happened to be outside when one of the trains thundered past - the girls loved it - Audra was thrilled there was a fence between us and the train!

We got home just in front of the weather and were cozily watching Night At The Museum while the snow fell outside. I'm not sure I've ever had snow on my birtday before - shows there can still be surprises, even at 38.

So happy birthday to me -