My Annual Tulip Tour

What more can I say about the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival?

I went early this year, on a Wednesday morning so there was very little car traffic and no crowds. The weather was brisk but sunny. Because I am a "Budget Traveler" I just bicycled past the fields to get the free view. The more elaborate gardens, where you have to pay for admission, aren't visible from the road but I don't mind that.

Paper maps are getting hard to find, though I still like them to get the big picture. The most recent ones I have are pre-pandemic and not very accurate any more. With Map My Ride I can keep track of where I've been and how far I've gone, but it's not very helpful for navigating. So I took a sort of random and unusual route this year, following the very badly maintained Bradshaw Road until it t-boned with the Rexville Grange Road, or Best Road. I'm not sure which because the signage was a little bent and didn't match my maps. Anyhow, I turned right to a vigorous but not difficult uphill, and got a panoramic view.

The daffodils were fading, the tulips just coming in to bloom. 

Usually I stop for espresso & pastry or brunch somewhere, but I skipped that this year, I'm not sure why. When I got back to my car, an apparently homeless woman was having a bit of a mental health crisis at the Park & Ride. She was dragging clothes and possessions out of her car, throwing things around, screaming and crying, and pouring bottled water over her head. I watched her as I loaded my bike into my car, wondering if I should approach her and try to help. After she smashed a glass bottle on the pavement, then got in the front seat of the car and started blasting the horn, I decided she was too out of control for me to handle. I called 911 and described the situation as calmly and compassionately as I could, then waited until a brigade of Skagit medics, police and fire trucks arrived. I hope they could get her to detox, or a shelter, or some sort of help.

So the ride ended on a down note. Still, it was a lovely break from my sometimes dull and dreary routine here in Ferndale. Hope for a brighter spring.