Tulip Festival and Other Wanderings

We started the weekend with sunny backroads drive from Puyallup to Mount Vernon for the last days of the tulip festival. The tulips are fading away now, but there were still quite a few big garden beds left that are full of blooming flowers still. I can't even imagine what it's like during the heyday.

A clever repurpose of an old phone booth!

Some of my favorite tulip blooms!

The Flaming Parrot! HA!

Long row of tulips

After the tulip festival, we cruised down the road to a brewery to drink 

a few beers on the patio, play some cribbiage, and write a few postcards.

The next day we headed for the Mountain Loop Highway on the west side of North

Cascade National Park. What a beautiful hidden gem! 

Getting ready to head to the mountains.

Gotta get the coffee going first!! :)

Then this popped up out of nowhere! 

Big Four Mountain

Beautiful North Cascades

The ice cave!
You can see 2 people near the mouth of
the cave for scale. It's BIG.

 Holes in the ice cave.

Hangin' out at camp.

A slug visiting our camp.

Our campsite along the Stillaguamish River.

Day 3: Hiking in the North Cascades - Lake Twenty-Two

Views along the hike.

 Looking toward North Cascades National Park

One of many waterfalls along the trail.

 Lake Twenty-Two

Lunch on the lake!