Golden Times at Golden Gardens

After a long winter of gray, gray, gray !*BAM*! The sun showed it's face in a big way. A few weeks ago the temperature climbed above 90 and those thick, drab Seattle clouds were but a distant memory. So what does a typical Seattlelite do in these circumstances? Call a few friends, gather the necessities, and head to the beach!

Heres the gang: Sanatan, Lesley, Patrick, and Sarah and Chrissy










We decided to head over to Golden Gardens Park, which is a beautiful sandy beach right on the Puget Sound. And as you can see, we are not the only ones who thought this was a good idea.


Where was Jake you ask? Off playing in the sand by himself, as usual...











Its a shame that we don't see the sun more often because the sunsets over the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains are better than a seedless watermelon on a hot summer day.







This is a ship coming out of the Port of Seattle. With the Olympics as its backdrop, I am again reminded about the delicate balance between man and nature.



And to you Mr. Sailboat man, I salute you.




And with the moon as my guiding light, I traversed the entire city (east-west) by bike to finish off a stellar evening.



(cue music now) Good night sweetheart, well its time to go...

Tulip Festival

After two years of intending to go to the Skagit Valley Tulilp Festival, Jake and I finally bucked-up and did it! We threw our bikes in the car and headed up North to Mt. Vernon, WA. What should have been an hour drive took us much longer due to all of the weekend warrior traffic. Thankfully, we were thinking in advance and decided bike through the countryside to see the tulips, which sure beat the stop-and-go traffic on the country roads (no kidding - this is a hugely popular excursion for Americans and Canadians alike.) There were fields and fields of tulips in all different colors. I felt like we were in Holland! Enjoy!

(left) Jake puts new clip pedals on my bike! I got biking shoes and learned how to clip in and out on this trip. I was very proud of myself for not falling once! (right) A timer shot balanced from the handlebars of a bike. This was the first field we came to. We later found out that it was not yet in it's prime.


This field was a striking display of orange tulips from a distance. Up close they were red and yellow striped!


Jake poses in front of a field of red and yellow. Look closely in both these shots - you will see Mt. Baker poking over the surrounding hills. Mt. Baker is approximately 60 miles north east of Mt. Vernon.


(right) This rare field featured tulips and daffodils. The Daffodil fields had mostly been cut already. What a picturesque little barn! (right) Red tulip field and Mt. Baker


What a beautiful day! It was a feast for the senses.