Whidbey Island

This year we had a staycation for spring break and for one of  those days we decided to take a day trip up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, in Mount Vernon.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has become a non-optional part of spring for me. Our first time going was only back in 2016, so this year was our fourth in a row. I can't even put a finger on why it has come to mean so much to me. This year, due to the family schedule, it didn't look like we were going to make it and I was truly disappointed. The week before spring break there was a change at work that freed me up so we made a last minute decision to head up to the festival.

We were there for the first week of it. Due to the cold winter, the tulips were late to bloom, so for us it was mostly the Skagit Valley Tulip Bud and Daffodil Festival. There were some early bloomers, but for the most part, the gardens were still coming into their springtime look. I'm still glad we went.

One thing about the tulip festival is the traffic. So. Much. Traffic. When you approach from I-5 you have to plan on sitting on an off-ramp for at least 30 minutes. Longer if it's Saturday. The first time we went that's how we did it. I think that will also be the last. It is so much better to approach Mount Vernon from the west since nobody does that. There's much less traffic, it's all right turns, and you get to see Whidbey Island. It's all awesome.

This was the first and last time I rode the Port Townsend to Coupeville ferry without a reservation. I thought, it's a Wednesday morning, I don't have my trailer, there should be no problem getting on. That almost turned out to be a huge mistake. We arrived for the 9:30 ferry and couldn't get on, then we were the LAST car allowed on the 11:00. If we had missed that one, there wouldn't have been time to do the activities. Always reserve. Always.

Whidbey Island has become far and away our favorite place to go when we're feeling like getting away a little, but we still need to be close to home.

On one of our trips with my parents we were looking for a place to get some lunch and found some yelp reviews for a little place called Pickles Deli in Clinton. We decided to take a chance. That chance has become almost a semi-annual pilgrimage to have lunch there. It may sound silly, but they have the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I have ever tasted. It is truly artisanal. Now, I generally don't get that because of the other incredibly delicious offerings they have such as a turkey club with bacon and a barbeque chicken sandwich. The visit is also not complete without stuffing my face with a spicy "Kick your butt" dill pickle. Chelsea prefers the garlic dill pickles which are also extremely delicious. I'm usually amused by crowd we usually see there. Despite the fact that there are toys and games for the kids, just our family's presence in there dramatically reduces the average age. When we went there with my brother's family all the kids decided the several puzzles should all be in one box. What are you going to do?

Here's our current list of Whidbey Island trips over the last few years. 

2011 May, Mother's Day Trip
2013 May, Coupeville cabin rental for Mother's day
2013 June, Deception Pass camping with my scouts
2015 November, Langley Cabin rental with my parents, discovered Pickles Deli
2017 April, Cabin rental in La Conner with Chelsea's friends, also visited Whidbey Island.
2017 September, First RV camping trip at Fort Ebey, also met my brother and his family there
2018 April, Fort Ebey camping with the trailer, went home via tulip festival
2018 October, Fort Ebey camping, Coupeville pumpkin patch
2019 April, Day trip to Skagit Valley via Whidbey Island

We love it. You should try to visit sometime. If you do, I'll make a trip coincide. It will be a great excuse to get out there again.