Tuesday evening. The weather app shows that we have only one more day of sunshine. After that we can expect lots of rain. We decide to take a half-day outing on Wednesday. We just don’t know where.

By mid-morning we’re on our way. Haze tints the sky to a faded blue. Not sure where we’re going, we turn right on the road out of town. Then left when we reach the freeway.

It’s nearing the end of tulip season, a major tourist draw in the area. So we head to LaConner, famous for its tulips. Lots of people prefer the stunning sculpted gardens and their gift shops. We are partial to the fields with their boundless rows of blooming tulips.

How About the Tulip Fields?

And then there are the people!

As much as I love seeing the beauty around me, I love meeting the people. It’s my lucky day—we have two delightful encounters.

I watch as a group of women set up for a photo. They are clearly enjoying themselves. Ready for the photo, one of them looks at me. “Will you take our picture?” she asks. Of course I say yes!

We chat for a few minutes. They tell me they call themselves the Alaska Walking Women. Did you walk here from Alaska? I joke. Of course they say no!

They all lived in Fairbanks where they raised their kids. Each morning, after the kids went off to school, these moms walked a five-mile loop. “Every day?” I ask. “Almost, even when it was 20 degrees.”

Most of them have left Fairbanks, but they still get together from time to time. How nice that they came to LaConner today. To the very same field we came to.

Everybody loves lunch (smile)

We eat lunch at Anthony’s Restaurant in Anacortes. Haze still lingers in the sky, but we are more focused on our delicious meal than on the Cap Sante Marina outside our window. (Hint #1—If you happen to go to Anthony’s during rhubarb season, we recommend the Fresh Rhubarb Slump. It is seriously delicious.)

Where shall we go now? One more place will be just right. So we ask our server. She offers us a local’s favorite. (Hint #2—Locals are usually a great source of suggestions for places to see. Maybe even better than travel guides.)

“Have you ever been to Cap Sante Park? It’s that hill  behind the marina.” She gives us directions.

Cap Sante

The Washington Trails Association calls Cap Sante “a forested rocky headland jutting out into Fidalgo Bay from the northeast corner of Anacortes.” The view is spectacular. The haze keeps us from seeing Mt Rainier, but Mt Baker shows off for us. Not being fleet-footed, I stay off some of the trails. But I love the views and the Madrone trees.

(I wonder if the Alaska Walking Women know about the park!)

 

You can see Cap Sante Marina and the blue roof of Anthony’s from the Cap Sante Park.

One last encounter

Many of the homes on Cap Sante are luxurious and we want to look around.We turn on a side road which stops almost at the water’s edge. Tom takes a few more photos while I sit down on a bench. A gentleman sits on the other bench. It’s our other encounter of the day.

We exchange pleasantries. A few pleasantries in we discover many people and places we have in common. Here’s one: the year I started college at Seattle Pacific University he started a job as a professor there. We discovered at least a dozen mutual friends. He even knows Houghton, New York. (Hardly anyone I meet have every heard of Houghton, a tiny town with a small Wesleyan University. But it’s special to us because we spent three happy years there when our boys were little.)

Our joy-tanks are full.  We turn toward home.

♦     ♦     ♦     ♦     ♦

Come along with us as we occasionally explore the Side Roads. I hope you enjoy our travels, and your travels too.

Ginger

P.S. Tom and I took all of the photos, including the one of the Alaska Walking Women. They gave me permission to use it and to share about them.