So, if you have ever wondered about the infamous Packwood, WA Memorial Day Flea Market, wonder no more! After hearing about the weekend event (it takes place Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend every year), we decided to investigate. Packwood is located in the mountains on State Highway 12 approximately an hour and forty-five minutes east of Puyallup or Tacoma. This flea market has a little bit of everything, and vendors who have been coming for years. There does not appear to be any real organization to the event. There are no rows of vendors. It looks as though vendors pull into town, pick a place and just set up their tent. This event takes place throughout the town, along the main highway and parking is ample, courtesy of the fire department, the school or other civic groups. We opted to support the firefighters, so we parked in the middle of everything. We headed east on one side of the street to explore the maze. The shoppers were as interesting as the wares. We saw grandmothers and grandfathers, bikers, kids with parents, serious flea market shoppers pulling carts or wagons, young professionals and everyone generally having fun. The vendors were hawking everything from beer signs to wine crates, unique wine barrel furniture, every type of antique imaginable including glassware, furniture, farm implements, kitchen tools, handmade baskets, decals, and toys. One enterprising vendor even made bird baths from vases and bowls. After about four hours we had visited probably two-thirds of the vendors, crossing the main highway through town and winding our way west. Food was abundant. Corn on the cob, frozen - chocolate dipped bananas, elephant ears the size of a large pizza, burgers, brats, kettle corn, a variety of ice creams and more. Since you can't have a Washington venue without coffee, there were several different coffee companies represented with the normal lattes, iced and hot coffees and lines. The entire area, from Morton to Packwood uses this weekend for garage sales. So if you are looking for a direct line of sales, this is the place. We stopped at a few to see handmade furniture made from barn doors and scrap wood. It is amazing what beauty people can create. If you are looking to attend this event make sure to wear comfortable walking shoes (though we saw several women wearing some killer heels the uneven terrain and lots of walking would lend best to tennis shoes!). There are several places to camp within just a few miles of Packwood and there are three hotels in the area if you want to immerse yourself for the weekend. All in all, it was a good day adventure.

Tulip Festival, Mount Vernon, WA

After years of living in Washington State, we decided to wander north and actually see the tulips that people keep talking about. The Skagit Valley is known for their tulips and supply bulbs all over the world, and since my garden was looking bare, well, you get the connection. So, we loaded up the van with my daughter, son-in-law and two grand-daughters and two cameras, three Iphones and a lot of energy. After shooting up I-5 (off traffic hours, yeah!), we stopped at the Tulip Festival Office for a map to the gardens. Our first scheduled stop was to be Roozengarden. After several wrong turns (the route is not really well marked), we eventually found some tulip fields. It's amazing to see row after row of these delicate flowers. While you can not walk into the fields, you can take pictures all around them. Roozengarden was one of two (Tulip Town being the second farm), that we planned to see. Each of the two main farms has a $5.00 per adult admission. After seeing the lines at Roozengarden, we opted to head for Tulip Town and hope for shorter lines. It was a great move! Tulip Town had ample parking and the access to the farm was easy...no busy road to cross. We paid our admission and walked through an indoor area that easily had over 40 varieties of tulips! Some with feathery tips, some pointed, and so many colors! After a walk through several gardens near the main entrance, we headed over to the fields. Rows and rows of flowers give the impression of a sea of blooms. The festival runs the entire month of April. Local civic clubs put on a salmon feed, which is a great treat and a popular lunch stop. We recommend going during the week if you can, as weekends tend to be very crowded. There are lots of restaurants in the area, and an outlet mall near Tulalip Casino, if you are looking for other activities.