Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Have you ever walked through acres of tulip fields?  We did just that today, and it was a spectacular sight.  The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, Oregon, sponsors a Tulip Fest every April.  Tim and I had attended the festival two years ago, and we were so impressed that we wanted to return while we were in the area.

When we walked through the gate and got out first glimpse of the tulip fields, it was hard not to gasp.  It was such an amazing sight.  The tulip fields were a mass of color and seemed to go on forever.  The fields were planted in wide rows of single colors, although there were also areas that contained a mix of colors.  Vibrant reds, soft pinks, deep purples and sunny yellows were just a few of the colors that caught our eyes.  The names of the varieties were also catchy, although Tim came up with a much better name for one of them.  “Red Top, Yellow Belly” had such a nice ring to it.  If you can’t get to Holland to see the tulips, this is a nearby alternative.

Rows and Rows of Tulips

Yellows, Blacks, Pinks. . .

A Riot of Color

Pick a Color, Any Color

Sarah Among the Tulips

Don't We Make Cute Little Dutch Children?

"Red Top, Yellow Belly" Variety

Looking Skyward

From the tulip fields we traveled to Silver Falls State Park to look at waterfalls.  Oregon has many beautiful state parks, and this is one of the best.  The falls were thundering today and were an impressive sight.

Silver Falls State Park

The Oregon countryside was lovely, and we passed green fields planted with somewhat unusual crops.  Oregon is the grass seed capital of the world and is also known for its Christmas tree farms.  Hops that end up in beer are also grown here on tall trellis systems.  I actually could identify all of these.  (I confess that Kevin had pointed out hops to me several years ago, so I knew what to look for.)

Trellis System for Growing Hops

One of my favorite restaurants in the Pacific Northwest is Burgerville, a fast food restaurant that promotes fresh, local and sustainably-produced food.  It’s not your typical fast food joint.  We had missed In-N-Out Burger while we were in California, but I especially didn’t want to miss Burgerville.  I think it’s so much better.  Even though we had eaten lunch at the tulip festival, we stopped at Burgerville and ordered one of their seasonal milkshakes.  This time of year it’s fresh strawberry.  How delicious.

We ended our day with covered bridges.  Who knew that Oregon has one of the country’s largest collections of these picturesque bridges?  We went to see the ones around Cottage Grove, the “Covered Bridge Capital of Oregon.”  Most were no longer functioning bridges, but we were able to drive the RV through one of them.  How cool was that!  We actually weren’t too tall or too heavy for the Mosby Creek Bridge.

Dorena Bridge

Getting Ready to Drive Through the Mosby Creek Bridge