Washington is insatiable. Whatever other people might think about this perpetual rainy state, I feel so lucky to have lived here for so long. There is lots of stuff to do and see here, one doesn’t get tired of it. It seems like it would take at least a decade to see and experience everything that this beautiful evergreen state offers – beautiful lakes, amazing mountain ranges, snow-capped peaks, countless trails, fascinating waterfalls, magnificient national parks, tranquil and other-worldly gardens, beckoning state parks and lots more.
I guess, I must really extend this description to the other North-Western state Oregon too. Of course, Montana has a different terrain altogether but is even more gorgeous. Every Summer seems really too short to cover anything and just flies by packed with travel and activity. Over the years, I have been to a number of scenic waterfalls and here are some pictures for your eyes to feast on:
I seem to have a special affinity towards gardens, especially botanical gardens. I assure you that this has nothing to do with my interest in botany or plant life, but rather to the tranquility those gardens seem to invoke in me.
The first ever Botanical Garden I’ve visited is the one in the famous hill stationUdhagamandalam (Ooty) of Tamil Nadu state (India). I’ve visited it thrice so far, but it’s the second time that I fell in love with it. It was drizzling lightly on that fine December day and I felt that those gardens were the most beautiful sight I ever saw. The lush green grass, the mighty trees, flowers and plants looked amazing. I took solitary walks and let myself lost in its beauty. That was an experience I could never forget. Those were the days before the advent of digital cameras and am not sure I have any pictures back at home that I can scan and share with you and let you feel the magic too. Sadly, the images are only in my mind now.
Years later, I had a similar, if only more intense, encounter with BloedelReserve at Bainbridge Island, Washington State. This time too there was a very slight drizzling for a short time. The garden seemed like magic - i felt as if I entered a fairyland. Bloedel Reserve still remains the most enchanting garden of all the ones I had the opportunity to visit.
Other impressive gardens, which I loved include:
- Bellevue Botanical Garden (Bellevue, WA)
- Ohme Gardens (Wenatchee, WA))
- Japanese Garden (Seattle, WA)
Last but not least is the Washington Arboretum, which I visited just last Sunday. It felt so good to stroll along the lovely pathways taking in the beauty of the lilacs, rhododendrons, Japanese maples and many others.
I, along with my husband and kid, set out on last Saturday towards Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near Bellingham, WA . Our intention was to drive through the forest and experience spectacular views of Mount Baker. We had no information whatsoever about what else to expect.
The drive was much longer than we expected and by the time we acquired details from the visitor Center about various scenic spots and short trails to consider, the weather turned against us. Until then we have conveniently ignored the clouds in the sky blocking the hot sun once in a while. We didn’t take it seriously because we never expected a rainy day in the middle of very hot summer days. But as it is said, one has to carry an umbrella in WA all through the year. Only after a short while inside the national forest, it became very dark and the first rain drops fell down. As it was already 4pm, we immediately aborted our sightseeing mission and returned home.
Nevertheless, we got to enjoy some of the beautiful landscape during our brief encounter with the forest. And Picture Lake surpassed everything we have come across. You can have a very good view of Mount Susksan from the lake and the name is very apt because on a cloudless day, the mountain reflects in its still water and looks like a picture.
I’ve been to Yellowstone National Park this long weekend (Memorial day weekend). It is the first national park of America. It is well known for its geysers, hot springs and wilderness. It’s a huge park (around 9000 sq km) and offers wide range of breathtaking landscape – beautiful lakes, rivers/creeks, mountain ranges, valleys etc.
Everyone who has been there says that one needs at least a week to enjoy the park (there is no maximum limit, though) and at least 3 days in order to cover the top attractions. We had only a day and half to spend inside the park as the rest of the weekend was taken by the long drive to the park from Seattle (12 hours).
Since we are not into any activities like fishing, hiking, camping etc, we could cover considerable number of attractions in that short time. Nevertheless, we felt that 2 full days would have been better.
Unfortunately, the weather on Sunday, the day inside the park, was bad – it was so cloudy in the morning and it rained from the afternoon. Despite the bad weather and short time and other inconveniences, misjudgments etc, it was a good trip.
Note: I gracefully admit my defeat and stop trying to describe the beauty of the nature’s wonders in words. I let my pictures do the job.
Montana Landscape
Even long before we reached the park, the drive in Montana on I-90 was spectacular, especially the Pintler Scenic Loop part.
Our first stop in the park was at Mammoth Hot Springs near the North Entrance. We absolutely loved it. It’s gorgeous!
Mammoth Hot Springs
Oh, I forgot to mention: We saw a couple of Mountain Goats on the way to Hot Springs.
Cistern Spring
Our next stop was at Norris Geyser Basin. It was beautiful too. We reached there at dusk just before the sunset and it gave us a memorable experience.
On Sunday, a few Bison greeted us soon after we entered the park (through West entrance).
Fountain Paint Pots
Our first destination that day was Lower Geyser Basin. There we have seen a few fountain paint pots in addition to many geysers.
Firehole river flowed beside this basin, which added to the kaleidoscope.
We loved the Excelsior geyser, with its crater.
Besides a few geysers, Midway basin also consisted of a few colorful springs.
Old Faithful is the most reliable geyser, and hence the most popular, with eruptions spaced around 90 minutes apart.
Watch the eruption below:
Old Faithful Lodge
We also took a quick peek into The Old Faithful lodge nearby. It’s a wooden structure built in 1920′s and looks great. We just walked around a bit and spent a few minutes at the Cafeteria inside.
I think the next destination was West Thumb Geyser Basin. Here we could see a herd of deer. More than the geysers (By this time geysers no more excited us), the view of the massive Yellowstone lake was magnificent.
After we left that point, we saw an Elk by the roadside. It sat calmly as if posing for a photo session, while people were clicking their cameras at it.
We drove along the Yellowstone Lake for around 20 miles.
Some part of the lake was frozen and we paused at a few viewpoints to take in its beauty.
Frozen Yellowstone Lake
Dragon's Mouth Spring
The clouds darkened when we were on the way to Mud Volcano and they broke into steady rain while we were sneaking up to the Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth Spring.
Bison in Hayden Valley
After that we drove along side Hayden Valley and caught sight of a few bison on the way. By that time I had enough of bison and was hoping to see some other species – but not much luck.
Our next stop was the highlight of the park – Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It’s stunning. It’s supposedly much smaller than the Grand Canyon of Arizona, which is one of the World’s top attractions. I haven’t been to Arizona canyon ,so this is my first experience with a canyon.
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Tower Fall
We ended the day by taking a look at Tower Fall. We couldn’t go down the trail to the base of the falls, as it was already 8 pm and there were no people around. I was afraid, lest any animal attacks me..
The drive to the Tower Falls from the Grand Canyon was very good – actually a little frightening too as we were driving to the edge of the cliff at a very high altitude (around 10,000 ft). There is still lot of snow in the park.
While we were leaving the park, we saw a herd of bison, which are running and playing. It was quite a sight. There were a couple of baby bison too.
Talking about animals, we might have seen some wild buffalos too. It’s a bit difficult to distinguish between bison and buffalo from a distance.
This sounds like a really good trip. Isn’t it? But I have my own list of disappointments and disasters:
I feel that Tulips are the most beautiful flowers only next to Roses. It’s really a feast to the eyes to look at a whole bunch of them together. I’m not talking about just a few dozens but literally thousands and thousands of them spreading across the fields. I got to experience the beauty of their sight, not once but thrice.
Skagit Valley, WA (2 hours from Seattle) celebrates Tulip Festival each year from April 1st to April 30th.
The main attractions are:
Roozengarde – A garden where numerous colors of tulips are grown in small patches
Tulip Town – Tulips of different colors in long rows
Farms
While the first two are great to see a wide range of colors, it is large farms which take your breath away. In a typical farm 2-3 colors of tulips are grown in really large numbers , mostly red, yellow, pink, orange and purple.
In addition to these common colors, one can find many others in Roozengarde and Tulip Town all at one place.
Oh yeah, there will also be farms of Daffodils, those cheerful yellow flowers, which remind me of the classic poem of the same name by William Wordsworth.
There are supposed to be a few Irises fields too, but I never got to see them.
Tulip Town
Roozengarde
Roozengarde
Tulip Town
Daffodils
This year, the festival has been extended up to May 3rd, because of late bloom.
There is another such destination in North-West: Wooden Shoe Farm in Oregon. It boasts 40 acres of tulips and daffodils.
I believe there is just one more such show (on the East side): Tulip Time at Holland, Michigan. I’ve never been there. So, I can’t possibly give any first hand information. I’m sure though that it won’t be as amazing as Skagit Valley’s one.
There are a couple of similar, but smaller, events showcasing Tulips in Iowa:
Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!
-- From "Beautiful Dreamer" by Stephen Foster
Quote Zone
People would never fall in love if they hadn't heard love talked about.
-- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
While most of the stuff you would find in this blog is my personal reflections, I occasionally quote from the books I read and from other online sources (the fact that I usually make sure to mention in the post). If anyone finds it as a violation of the copyright law or detect the absence of reference to a source, please let me know so that I can take the appropriate action. Thank you!
