No. 262 Woodland, Wa Tulip Festival

Woodland Washington Tulip Festival
Woodland, WA

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2014 Tulip Festival   April 12-13th 10am to 4pm
                                  April 19-20th 10am to 4pm

Founded in the 1980s by the Family Dobbe, Holland America Bulb Farms is now a well known name in the bulb business with its Headquarters in Woodland, WA and businesses in Washington  and California.
Holland America Bulb Farms produces a variety of colorful flowers on it 125 acres along the Lewis River. Every spring the company donates pots of tulips to decorate the city of Woodland during the annual Tulip Festival.

Residents Garden

Holland America Bulb farms

Royal Dutch Show Garden

U-Pick Tulip Field

Syneade Blue Tulips 

Bright Parrot Tulips 

Claudia Tulips 

Salmon Parrot Tulips 

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No. 233 NAKASHIMA HERITAGE BARN

NAKASHIMA HERITAGE BARN NORTH TRAILHEAD

32328 State Route 9

Arlington, WA

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Started in 1989 during Washington State's 100th centennial celebration, the Centennial Trail is a 30 mile long paved pedestrian walkway. At 12 feet wide, slight grade this trail is popular for walkers, hikers, dogs, cyclists and even riders on horseback with the flanked grassy path running parallel to the trail. The Centennial Trail runs from downtown Snohomish to the north to the Skagit Valley County Line. With future plans to expand and connect it other popular area trails in the north and the south such as Woodinville's Burke-Gilman Trail. 

Since 2011 Snohomish County has added 9 miles to the Centennial Trail which runs through the towns of Snohomish, Lake Stevens, Marysville and Arlington as a "Rails to Trails" project repurposing a former Burlington-Norther Railroad line.

The most recent expansion was a 4-mile long extension to the trail from Bryant Lake to the Nakashima Barn. This portion of the trail crosses over to the west side of SR-9 and begins its meander through cedar and spruce wetlands. This section is also called "Eagle's Landing" for its frequent sightings of bald eagles in the trees. 

There is ample parking at the Nakashima Heritage Barn for pedestrians and a few spaces for horse trailers. There is a year round porta potty available but no water fountain. 

Nakashima Dairy Barn

Headed south towards Pillchuck Creek 

Bald Eagles off the trail

Red Tailed Hawk spotted in a clearning

Red Tailed Hawk passing by 

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No. 227 Foster Produce and Corn Maze Arlington, WA

Foster's Produce and Corn Maze
818 SR 530 NE, Arlington, WA
website: http://www.fosterscornmaze.com/

June - October, 2013
9am - 5pm daily

Foster's 2013 Corn Maze: "Pirate Ship Adventures"

Open October 1st - 31st, Daily 9am - 5pm

Foster's is gearing up for an adventure for you all to remember. The fields are full of bright orange pumpkins for you to enjoy. The corn maze is growing and will be a game to challenge you... can you solve the game? Pirate "Blackjack" will be giving you clues to help you solve the final riddle!

— Farmers Brian and Connie Foster

Foster's Barn where you can sample apple cider and ice cream

Wizard of OZ Pumpkin scape

"Black Jack" the goat pulls his treats up along this pully 

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No. 219 Snohomish Pumpkin Hurl and Medieval Faire

WATCH Pumpkins Fly & Die and Armored Warriors battle it out! Trebuchets and other launching devices hurl pumpkins! On Saturday, it's a crazy competition! On Sunday it's All Chunkers Welcome: bring and demo your chunkin device just for fun, or get a chance to launch a pumpkin with our air cannon or man-powered trebuchets. The Free Lancers, our mounted knights, battle on horseback both days! CLICK HERE for the FULL 2-day schedule. DOWNLOAD Handy Mini Schedule to your phone! PLAY in our Medieval Village! Experience so many hands-on activities, mock battles (for adults and kids!), artisans &music from Mar Cher. Learn the rules of chivalry. Historical Experts the Knights of Veritasshare real relics and reveal true history. Enjoy craft vendors and a wide variety of food too. NEW THIS YEAR: Kids' Scavenger Hunt presented by Unicornphobia Pony Ride & Photo Vendor Dreamland Ponies Seattle Premium Food Trucks- YUM! (Chopstix, Skillet Street Food, Streeteria, 314 Pie, Secret Sausage, Waffle Wagon) Black Powder Gonne demonstrations- LOUD! Come in costume! Not strictly medieval...strut your stuff, whatever your game, comic or movie...all are welcome! Family friendly please! Spirits & Wine Tasting...$5.00 for three tastes, then buy your favorites to take home! (ALIA Wines, Blue Water Distilling, Cedar Ridge Winery, Dark Moon Distillers,Dubindil Winery, Skip Rock Distillers, and Sojen Cellars) WHERE: Alexander Farm Corner 43rd Ave SE and Ebey Island Road Everett, WA (Click here for printable DRIVING DIRECTIONS) TICKETS: $7.50 per person Children 4 and under free. $5.00 parking per car HANDY TIPS:  **Wear sturdy shoes or boots. This event is in a farm field. **Ground may be too bumpy for strollers. **NO PETS ALLOWED. Service animals are welcome. **Entry & parking can be paid with credit/debit. However you may wish to bring cash for food & craft vendors and other amusements!

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No. 192 Outback Kangaroo Farm takes locals to Austalia

Outback Kangaroo Farm
10030 State Route 530 NE Arlington, WA 98223-8126

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Open March 1st through October 30th
Wednesday through Sunday
Prices:$8.00 Children 2-12 & 9.00 Adults
Group price: 16 or more $6.00 per person
10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm are the tour times. 


The Outback Kangaroo Farm about 1 hour north of Seattle is a family run animal park that features a variety of animals from ducks, peacocks that roam the grounds freely to turtles and lemurs and exotic birds that are kept in caged enclosures. For those of you that like to take pictures with smart phones or point and shoot cameras capturing these animals will be a bit tricky with the fencing in the way.
Expect more visitors on the weekends and on nice sunny days. Larger crowds are split into two and head off in opposite directions before meeting back at the gift shop.
During the walking tour you are given bread and food pellets to feed the Wallaroos, Wallabies, Kangaroos, Alpacas, Llamas, and Donkies.
As with the other animal parks and zoo's in the Puget Sound Area such as Point Defiance Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, and North West Trek, the Outback Kangaroo Farm is a big hit with families.
The reasonable fee of $8 for kids and $9 for adults makes it an affordable family outing.
Pack a good deal of patience and a little more patience when visiting on busy days. Kids love animals and they will run to be first at every enclosure and animal. But they lose interest in a matter of seconds. So if you want to have enjoy your encounter with a kangaroo or wallaby just wait a few minutes and let the crowed of families and kids continue on and you will have a more private session with the animals.






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No. 173 2013 Spring has Sprung

Mount Vernon, Wa
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Distance from Seattle: 62miles 1hr 10min
Rating: 4 out 5
Reason to go: Short drive from Seattle to see hundreds of acres of wildflowers, daffodils and tulips in all sizes and colors. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is one of the most fantastic events in the state of Washington.  It runs from April 1 to April 30 every single year. Its worth it to start your day really early or go during the week. The word is out and weekends the tulip route will be packed with young kids and families. If your into Landscape or Flower photography this festival will give you great subjects to photograph.

TIPS: Although the Tulip Festival runs from April 1st through April 30th the actual blooming of the tulips varies with weather conditions. Short or long winter weather can cause tulips to bloom earlr or be delayed a few weeks. Check http://www.tulipfestival.orgTulip Festival / for current field conditions.

 If you do plan on going to the Tulip Festival. LEAVE EARLY in the morning to avoid the traffic mess, easier to find parking, setup your camera in a field looking east for a nice sunrise shot. Shoot by yourself and not have many people will be walking through your shot. The best light is in the morning and towards the evening.
It can be cloudy in Seattle but bright and sunny in Mount Vernon. Once the sun gets up over the cascade mountains the sky becomes a huge baby blue light box and it will be harder to find the right exposure for the flowers.
Tulips grow on raised mounds of dirt. Depending on previous days weather you could be walking on soft dirt or trekking through mud puddles, so bring shoes and pants that you don't mind getting dirty.

Every year the layout of fields change, to find out where things are  you can download a field map from Tulip Festival. Some of the growers charge a parking fee of $3-$5 to visit their grounds. Most of the streets that run between Mount Vernon and La Conner are 2 lane rural roads with NO SHOULDER PARKING.  There are ropes and signs all over the place telling people not to park on the side of the road, but as the day goes on and the mass of weekenders start to roll in you will see backups building up because people will stop in the middle of the road to admire the fields.

Postcards, Art Prints and Canvas Prints are available for sale here

Setting Fire to the Rain

Flooded Field at first light

Behind the scenes at the farm

Postcards, Art Prints and Canvas Prints are available for sale here

 

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