I saw that which you see screen capped above this morning on Facebook, via the "You Know You're From Anacortes When..." Facebook page.
The caption says "Daffodils are beginning to pop up around Skagit County. This is a field located across from Christianson's Nursery in Mount Vernon".
To which someone commented saying, "That's what I miss the most since I moved away..."
The Mount Vernon town referenced is the town I live in before moving to Texas. For Flatlander Texans reading this, that big wall of blue in the distance, behind the daffodils, are what are known as foothills. In this case, foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
Anacortes is not part of the Skagit Valley, but the town is in Skagit County. Anacortes is on Fidalgo Island, and is the location of my nephew Jason's Fidalgo Drive-In.
The flowers blooming in the Skagit Valley every spring is not what I miss most since I moved away. I think fresh produce, readily available, along with fresh seafood, also readily available, I miss more than seeing fields of colorful flowers.
This century I have been back in the Skagit Valley only one time during the tulip blooming time of the year. That being April of 2006, when I was in the valley to go to the aforementioned Nephew Jason's first wedding. That time I was in the valley for only part of one day, and during that day we did not drive out to the Skagit Flats, where the flowers bloom.
When I lived in Mount Vernon, particularly when I lived in West Mount Vernon, before moving across the river to East Mount Vernon, I was not all that fond of the tulips and the throngs of visitors the flowers brought, from all over the world, to the Skagit Valley.
The month long Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is an extremely well done operation. The festival began several decades ago, and created massive traffic problems from the start. Which is why I was not all that fond of this event, whilst living in West Mount Vernon.
But over the years multiple fixes have greatly exacerbated the traffic congestion. Things like directional signage, alternative freeway exits to keep Mount Vernon from getting clogged up by people exiting via the Mount Vernon exits. Tour buses were added, where people could park at one of the valley's mall's parking lots and ride a bus to tour the tulips. And venues were added, like Tulip Town, to spread the visitors all over the Skagit Flats.
The Skagit Valley is pretty much one BIG tourist attraction. It's the gateway to North Cascades National Park. La Conner is the valley's top tourist town. Anacortes is where you find the gateway to the San Juan Islands, via ferry boats, which will also take you to Victoria, British Columbia.
Where I currently am located, in Texas, there is not a single tourist attraction, remotely tourist worthy, for hundreds of miles in any direction you choose to go. No foothills or mountains. No ocean waves waving within hundreds of miles. No tourist towns.
However, this month something starts to happen in Texas which I never saw happening in Washington. That being wildflowers appearing and coloring up the landscape. It really is sort of spectacular to see, particularly down in Texas Hill Country.
Just a sec, I shall see if I can find the link to the webpage I made years ago of the Texas Wildflowers.
Found the link to that wildflower webpage, which is what you see via clicking the last two words in the paragraph above...
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