After a busy few weeks at work, Justin was looking
forward to taking the Friday of Spring Break off to spend with the family. This also happened to be Katie’s
birthday. We hemmed and hawed all
week about whether we should do the Tulip Festival – Deception Pass – Fort
Casey loop or not. The weather
looked iffy and the tulips weren’t quite at their peak, but it’d been three
years since we’d been and if we didn’t go that day we knew we’d miss it again
this year. It wasn’t until the
morning of that we finally committed ourselves to doing it. And just like usual, we were so glad we
did.
First stop was the Snow Goose Produce Market where
I’d heard about the giant “immodest” ice cream cones. Not only were they huge, but the ice cream was delicious. Good thing this isn’t closer to home or
we’d be in trouble!
Justin wasn’t keen on the idea of paying for entrance
into one of the two main tulip attractions. I told him I was fine if he wanted to drive around a try to
find some free fields that we could pull over and enjoy. We’ve usually visited much later in the
season, missing the daffodils completely.
They were a bit past their prime, but still so lovely.
We ventured across the street hoping to get some
pictures – it was so, so muddy.
We only managed walking a few feet before Katie
slipped in the mud. She caught
herself with her hand, but ended up with mud on her pants and shirt.
We drove around trying to find some free fields for
over 45 minutes and then Justin finally, begrudgingly; pulled into the
Roozengarde entrance and we paid the $7/pp admission. Well worth the price in my opinion. Even though there were lots of tulips
that still hadn’t bloomed, it was truly stunning and we had lots of fun walking
around and taking pictures.
Next stop on our little road trip was Deception
Pass. We typically stop just pass
the main bridge and walk down to the beach. Instead we drove down a little road and stumbled upon
Rosario Beach were we spent some time skipping rocks and exploring the beach.
What are these things on the rocks??
Justin and ACJ took off to climb a hill at the end
of the beach. Drew was super
disappointed I wouldn’t let him follow.
selfies
at the top
view
from the top
Drew
being a limp noodle
The beach to the right of the bridge is where we’ve
typically hiked. It was fun to
switch things up this time and explore somewhere else.
Next stop was Fort Casey! Unfortunately, there was some concrete repairs going on so
part of the fort was closed off which made it harder for the kids to run around
and play tag/hide and seek.
Drew had no hesitation climbing up the ladders to
reach the higher levels.
He had me very nervous up there though with all the
building edges and areas that just drop off. Danger! Danger!
My heart couldn’t take it so Drew and I wandered
around on the lower, safer levels and left Justin and ACJK played tag. This is the first time I remember
exploring the cannon huts (doubtful their technical name) on the hill and the
buildings off to the left. It
sprinkled on us a little – just enough for a rainbow.
Justin ran up to the huts to hide from Jason and
tricked him by sneaking out one of the narrow windows.
After lots of running around and exploring we
called it good and headed to the end of the island to catch a ferry back to the
mainland.
The ferry ride was short and windy
Since it was Katie’s birthday we let her choose
where we would stop for dinner on the way home. She chose Chick-fil-A with the request that she be the only
one to get to order a shake. That’s
my girl!
