Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

I love tulips! Now that I was back in Washington, I was itching to see some Northwest culture! I went up to Mt. Vernon with my aunt Maren and her friend Carol to check out the beautiful blooming tulips in the fields of the Skagit Valley.

Rows of pink tulips in full bloom.

More pink tulips.

Multi-colored, yellow and red tulips.

An old, dirty school bus next to the tulip fields.

A field of red tulips with a sign to keep out of the fields.

Capturing the long shadows of the tulips in the sun.

The Dutch inspired windmill of the Roosengarten tulip farm.

A garden of black, pink, red, yellow and purple tulips glowing in the sun.

Bunches of beautiful tulips for sale. The 2007 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival poster.

Views from above

On my flight back to Seattle, I was placed in the very back corner of the plane where I ended up with some fantastic views of the world below.

An hour or two into the flight, the pilot came over the loud speaker to announce that we were nearing this small island above the arctic circle in the seas between Iceland and Norway. This island, consisting of mainly a volcanic cone-shaped mountain, is called Jan Mayen and belongs to Norway. The captain said it was very rarely seen so visibly as it was that day, as it is usually covered with clouds.

Zooming in on the crators on Jan Mayen.

Jan Mayen

Another view of Jan Mayen.

The glacial mountains of Greenland.

Looking down over the Shoreline area with Lake Ballinger in the upper left corner and Interstate 5 snaking along the right. This is the area where my dad grew up. (Nov. 8 - As I look at this picture again, I realized you can see where I work in this picture. There are 4 buildings situated together in the upper left hand corner of the picture and that is where I work! Click on the picture for a bigger view!)

A view of north Lake Washington.

A view of Lake Washington and the 520 floating bridge. I was hoping for a view of Husky Stadium, but this picture was the closest I could get as we were flying right above the University of Washington.

Vejers Strandhotel, Last day in Denmark

My wonderful Danish "exchange" family invited me to a very nice going away dinner at the Vejers Strandhotel the day before my departure. It was probably a celebration that I was finally leaving! J/K!! The food and the company were supberb! Thank you Petersens! (April 16, 2007)

The view of the dunes from where I sat in the restaurant.

Christian, Niels and Christina

Carsten

Annelise and Irene

Michael with his girlfriend, Christina.

My last sunset in Denmark for that 25 øre!

Blåvand, Danmark

In my last days in Oksbøl, I was able to visit with an old friend and take a short drive to the beautiful Blåvand on the Danish west coast. (April 14, 2007)

The Blåvand Lighthouse

Annelise and looking down the middle of the lighthouse.

The view to the south of the lighthouse with the huge bunker beach horses in the distance.

Looking to the west out to sea and the farm of windmills in the water.

The shadow of the lighthouse far below us.

One of the old WWII bunkers decorated with a touch of art to represent a horse. I had seen postcards of the bunkers in Oksbøl and had wanted to see them before I left DK.

The bunker horses and Blåvand Lighthouse.

Another bunker horse.