This weekend marked the 12th anniversary of my marriage to my husband, Rod. Actually, our anniversary date coincided with Earth Day. I'd love to tell you that we spent the day cleaning penguins or stoically and stubbornly not using fossil fuels around the home taking up the push-mower or the humble rake but that would be a lie.
We started our day seated in our Subaru trekking northward participating in the annual migration of tourists to visit the tulip fields of Mt. Vernon. We love a road trip that culminates into varied photo opportunities. Vast expanses of blooming flowers on a promised sunny day guaranteed success in that regard and it did not disappoint. Additionally we got to indulge in our passion in sampling the local cuisine as well as mingle with the locals.
Our first stop was at Bill's Diner in the heart of Mt. Vernon proper, across the street from the courthouse. Normally this historic establishment caters to the business crowd Monday through Friday from 7 am to 3 pm so we lucked out when they decided to participate in the annual street fair and remain open. We unsuspecting tourists wandered in to the humble little diner hoping the food wouldn't gag us. One bite proved that we'd hit pay dirt. The food was fabulous! No, we didn't order gourmet anything (as it wasn't on the menu. I ordered a "Big Breakfast" with bacon, eggs, English muffin, and potatoes. At first glance I was disappointed to note that my English muffin was well done (a pet peeve) which I decided to overlook and accept because of the sheer quantity of the tantalizing rest of the plate. I got 4 or 5 good-size slices of perfectly cooked bacon, fully-cooked scrambled eggs, and the potatoes were baby red home-fried perfection. Each bite was delicious. My husband was fully engrossed in his own working man's meal of eggs, sausage, and over-sized fluffy golden delectable pancakes. He made the mistake of telling me how light and fluffy these golden flaps were, punctuated with an offer to taste. I immediately traded fried potato goodness (there was more than enough for two) for more bites, licks, and tastes of the maple syrup-laden masterpieces. Though I had come to scoff, I stayed to savor.
Next, we decided to meander the street fair as tented vendor booths began to unwrap for the day. We quickly found the appropo gift of a sign stating "We don't believe in skinny dippin', we prefer "chunky dunkin'" for a dear friend with a new hot tub and turned to find that the local knit shop was selling off their sample knits at bargain basement prices. Since the condition of my right hand precludes me from engaging in my favorite hobby knitting for fun, pleasure, and family, I was ecstatic to find an elegant lavender ribbed scarf knitted with strands of wool and mohair. At $15 it was truly a steal! I also fiddled with a delightful airy cotton-stranded shift that I suspected my 23-year old daughter would rock on the beaches of Newport in delicate shades of pink, white, and perwinkle. It was clear that I couldn't begin to make purchase the yarn for the mere $20.00 they were asking. It too, was mine.
Shopping gave way to our real mission as we went forth in pursuit of the eye candy of the tulip fields and this year and on this day, it did not disappoint!. The colors were vivid and glorious against the backdrop of a crystal clear Mt. Baker and surrounds. This year, the fields, not the individual flowers, were our pursuit and when we filled up our eyes and got a few snapshots, we lit out for the small picturesque town of La Conner.
La Conner, a sparkling jewel along the Swinomish Channel, remains a treasure trove of vintage homes, quaint inns, and shops fit for the discerning tourist. We took advantage of the full sunshine and mild temperatures walking the town, stopping for a photo with the Rainbow Bridge spanning La Conner and Fidalgo Island. Since we rarely get this far north our sights turned to a leisurely drive along Padilla Bay by way of Chuckanut Drive. This drive led to a drive through another one of my favorite towns, Bellingham. I love this quirky, vibrant, artistic burg with it's annoying one way streets. In fact, I wish I were in a position to buy an older architectural fixer overlooking an expansive bay like this one. We made a circuitous route leading down to the waterfront and exited by way of the site of the Bellingham Farmer's Market, closed until May, I believe.
At this point our hunger reminded us that we were looking forward to the Annual Kiwanis Salmon BBQ, currently held at Hillcrest Park in Mt. Vernon. While waiting in line at the Civilian Conservation Corps-built structure housing the event, pewter moisture-laden clouds moved in driving up the humidity. Our silver salmon dinner was devoured while dodging the first rain drops. Apparently my husband didn't get in enough driving and decided to take the backroads to Stanwood and Camano Island.
My husband hadn't been to the state parks on Camano Island since May 18, 1980 when Mt. St. Helen's exploded (and I had never been there) thus we did a quick drive through to scout for future camping. We discovered that Cama Beach has floating cottages for rent and that Camano Island State Park needs some serious road work. There are roads falling away and sinking down the slope. I know we are in tough economic times but if we can foot the bill to rebuild conquered countries, can we not work on our own infrastructure? These are our public parks that we even have to pay to access. Is it too much to ask for the infrastructure of it to be adequate? (Off the soap box.)
Our ride home was difficult and slow. Interstate 5 was a traffic nightmare. The Walmart by Tulalip Casino was evacuated and cordoned off by police, compounding the matter and we battled low back muscle spasms all the back home. Will we ever learn not to overdo a road trip?! All in all, it was a good way to spend an anniversary reaffirming our lives together. No superficial toasts, just living and exploring in the manner that we do. Here's to another 12.
We started our day seated in our Subaru trekking northward participating in the annual migration of tourists to visit the tulip fields of Mt. Vernon. We love a road trip that culminates into varied photo opportunities. Vast expanses of blooming flowers on a promised sunny day guaranteed success in that regard and it did not disappoint. Additionally we got to indulge in our passion in sampling the local cuisine as well as mingle with the locals.
Our first stop was at Bill's Diner in the heart of Mt. Vernon proper, across the street from the courthouse. Normally this historic establishment caters to the business crowd Monday through Friday from 7 am to 3 pm so we lucked out when they decided to participate in the annual street fair and remain open. We unsuspecting tourists wandered in to the humble little diner hoping the food wouldn't gag us. One bite proved that we'd hit pay dirt. The food was fabulous! No, we didn't order gourmet anything (as it wasn't on the menu. I ordered a "Big Breakfast" with bacon, eggs, English muffin, and potatoes. At first glance I was disappointed to note that my English muffin was well done (a pet peeve) which I decided to overlook and accept because of the sheer quantity of the tantalizing rest of the plate. I got 4 or 5 good-size slices of perfectly cooked bacon, fully-cooked scrambled eggs, and the potatoes were baby red home-fried perfection. Each bite was delicious. My husband was fully engrossed in his own working man's meal of eggs, sausage, and over-sized fluffy golden delectable pancakes. He made the mistake of telling me how light and fluffy these golden flaps were, punctuated with an offer to taste. I immediately traded fried potato goodness (there was more than enough for two) for more bites, licks, and tastes of the maple syrup-laden masterpieces. Though I had come to scoff, I stayed to savor.
Next, we decided to meander the street fair as tented vendor booths began to unwrap for the day. We quickly found the appropo gift of a sign stating "We don't believe in skinny dippin', we prefer "chunky dunkin'" for a dear friend with a new hot tub and turned to find that the local knit shop was selling off their sample knits at bargain basement prices. Since the condition of my right hand precludes me from engaging in my favorite hobby knitting for fun, pleasure, and family, I was ecstatic to find an elegant lavender ribbed scarf knitted with strands of wool and mohair. At $15 it was truly a steal! I also fiddled with a delightful airy cotton-stranded shift that I suspected my 23-year old daughter would rock on the beaches of Newport in delicate shades of pink, white, and perwinkle. It was clear that I couldn't begin to make purchase the yarn for the mere $20.00 they were asking. It too, was mine.
Shopping gave way to our real mission as we went forth in pursuit of the eye candy of the tulip fields and this year and on this day, it did not disappoint!. The colors were vivid and glorious against the backdrop of a crystal clear Mt. Baker and surrounds. This year, the fields, not the individual flowers, were our pursuit and when we filled up our eyes and got a few snapshots, we lit out for the small picturesque town of La Conner.
La Conner, a sparkling jewel along the Swinomish Channel, remains a treasure trove of vintage homes, quaint inns, and shops fit for the discerning tourist. We took advantage of the full sunshine and mild temperatures walking the town, stopping for a photo with the Rainbow Bridge spanning La Conner and Fidalgo Island. Since we rarely get this far north our sights turned to a leisurely drive along Padilla Bay by way of Chuckanut Drive. This drive led to a drive through another one of my favorite towns, Bellingham. I love this quirky, vibrant, artistic burg with it's annoying one way streets. In fact, I wish I were in a position to buy an older architectural fixer overlooking an expansive bay like this one. We made a circuitous route leading down to the waterfront and exited by way of the site of the Bellingham Farmer's Market, closed until May, I believe.
At this point our hunger reminded us that we were looking forward to the Annual Kiwanis Salmon BBQ, currently held at Hillcrest Park in Mt. Vernon. While waiting in line at the Civilian Conservation Corps-built structure housing the event, pewter moisture-laden clouds moved in driving up the humidity. Our silver salmon dinner was devoured while dodging the first rain drops. Apparently my husband didn't get in enough driving and decided to take the backroads to Stanwood and Camano Island.
My husband hadn't been to the state parks on Camano Island since May 18, 1980 when Mt. St. Helen's exploded (and I had never been there) thus we did a quick drive through to scout for future camping. We discovered that Cama Beach has floating cottages for rent and that Camano Island State Park needs some serious road work. There are roads falling away and sinking down the slope. I know we are in tough economic times but if we can foot the bill to rebuild conquered countries, can we not work on our own infrastructure? These are our public parks that we even have to pay to access. Is it too much to ask for the infrastructure of it to be adequate? (Off the soap box.)
Our ride home was difficult and slow. Interstate 5 was a traffic nightmare. The Walmart by Tulalip Casino was evacuated and cordoned off by police, compounding the matter and we battled low back muscle spasms all the back home. Will we ever learn not to overdo a road trip?! All in all, it was a good way to spend an anniversary reaffirming our lives together. No superficial toasts, just living and exploring in the manner that we do. Here's to another 12.
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