Riot of colors B-E-A-U-Tiful - Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Seattle is infamous for its rain and gloomy weather. But the rain works wonder with nature and spring especially is breathtakingly beautiful. Seattle is the most sought out destination in the month of April for its famous Tulip festival in Skagit valley. The second and third week of April are supposed to be the best time for tulip viewing. The official website (http://www.tulipfestival.org/) gives information about whether the tulips have bloomed and a map that identifies the daffodil, iris and tulip fields. However there is an element of luck involved - you might end up going there too early in which case all the fields are not in full bloom or you might end up going late when the fields have been 'topped' and the only places where you can see the blooms are at Tulip Town and Roosengaarde.

With the temperature reaching 91 F on Friday and dropping again on Saturday, we were not sure whether we should go this week(April 8th) or wait until the next week. We decided to trust our instinct and drove to Skagit valley which is about an hour and a half drive from Redmond.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and we drove along the tulip route with the map from the official website. The very first fields that we came across took our breath away and there was more to come. Fields after fields filled with all sorts of colors - yellow, orange, red, pink and many many more. We did not have to visit Tulip Town or Roosengaarde this year and simply walked through the carpets of flowers. I will let the pictures say it all.
Check out the link - http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/241161/

By far - the best tulips that we have seen ever!!! The weather was pleasant with a slight breeze, it was sunny and the fields were not slushy. The excitement among the visitors was palpable. Young children even those in the age group of 1 to 2 were mesmerized by the flowers. Young and old - everyone had the of broadest smiles on their faces.

We had seen the movie 'The Pursuit of Happyness' on Saturday night. It was very thought provoking and very inspirational. But I wont be exaggerating when I say - we found a lot of happiness in the tulip fields on Sunday :)

Chiang Mai Dec 18th, 2023 - A walk through a paradise of flowers, an immersive Thai culinary journey and the Sunday Night Market

We had a wonderful buffet breakfast at The Grand Napat and were ready to start the day. Somnath had booked a half day Thai cooking class and a van pickup from our hotel at 3pm. That meant we had the morning and early afternoon for sight-seeing. I had read about the beautiful flower gardens in Mueang Kaeo, Chiang Mai and even though the main flower season is in February, there were a couple of farms that still had flowers. What is the big deal with the Flower farms? The entry fee includes different props like wide brimmed hats, colorful umbrellas, baskets with artificial flowers and a couple of other things. The fields also have additional props that can be used while posing like a white piano, a swing, an English Red Telephone Booth! We saw many ladies dressed in beautiful dresses and lots of patient husbands with their best cameras clicking thousands of pictures. It is a photographer's as well as model's paradise. It was really tough to choose which farm to go to. Some revi...

Thailand Trip Dec 2022 - Seattle to Bangkok via Seoul and how we got to Chiang Mai (logistics, logistics and nothing more)

With the pandemic subsiding and armed with the confidence of being vaccinated with the Bivalent booster, we decided to resume our global adventures. Our criteria for December vacation were that it had to be easily accessible for Maa and Baba to fly in from Kolkata, it had to be a warm sunny place and the cuisine had to be suitable for Indian palates. Thailand with its proximity to Kolkata (3.5hr flight) and flavorful cuisine seemed to be an ideal destination. We flew from Seattle to Bangkok via Seoul on Korean airlines flight operated by Delta from Seattle to Incheon. The flight was longer than Seattle to Dubai that we are used to and unlike Emirates, the meal portion was extremely small. We were super hungry and wondering how to survive the flight when we discovered the sandwiches/chips/cookies that were kept in the galley at the very end of the airplane. We landed at Incheon and discovered it to be a Bidet paradise with all restrooms equipped with bidets! Yes, it matters if you ...

Ride the Hiawatha scenic rail to trail

Kids were in the Missoula Fireclassic meet for the Juneteenth long weekend. On Monday, 6/19, on our way back from Missoula to Seattle, we decided to do the scenic Hiawatha Bike ride. It is an all downhill 15mile ride through 10 tunnels and 7 sky high trestles. It absolutely falls into the do-at least-once-in-your-lifetime buckets. History of the Hiawatha scenic rail can be found at Route of the Hiawatha (Official Website) > Area Information > History (ridethehiawatha.com) . In short, the Milwaukee Road railroad company in Chicago decided to expand west to take advantage of the expanding West Coast markets and Pacific Rim Trade. Construction started in 1907 and intercontinental freight services started on July 4, 1909 with passenger service starting 6 days later. The last train west of Butte passed through in 1980 and after that the line was abandoned. Throughout the trail, historical information is displayed. The "Route of the Hiawatha" is most famous for the long St....

Priya & Somnath - A place to save our memories

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