PELLA TULIP TIME

Last year about this time, I was traveling in Iowa and Illinois visiting family.  One great excursion was a visit to Pella, Iowa, for the Pella Tulip Festival.  It was a beautiful day with gorgeous flowers.

Actually, we visited about a week after the tulip festival was over.  The flowers were still in bloom and the town was just as quaint as ever.  The only thing missing was the crowds.  I was fine with that—and the goodies from the great Dutch Bakery (Jaarsma Bakery) were exquisite.  If you are in the area for this year’s festival—or right after—plan a visit.  Along with the tulips, there are parades and dancing and shopping and evening entertainment.  You will love it!  This year’s Pella Tulip Time runs 7-9 May 2015.

Here are a few of the sights you will enjoy if you visit:

A great way to end the day would be to drive to Sully, Iowa, to eat at the Coffee Cup Café.  You will be able to enjoy the best Iowa Tenderloin ever!  The pies are great too.

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 “I love tulips better than any other spring flower; they are the embodiment of alert cheerfulness and tidy grace, and next to a hyacinth look like a wholesome, freshly scrubbed young girl beside a stout lady whose every movement weighs down the air with patchouli. Their faint, delicate scent is refinement itself; and is there anything in the world more charming than the sprightly way they hold up their little faces to the sun. I have heard them called bold and flaunting, but to me they seem modest grace itself, only always on the alert to enjoy life as much as they can and not be afraid of looking the sun or anything else above them in the face.”   Elizabeth von Arnim, Elizabeth & Her German Garden

MY TRIP: By the Numbers

I am waiting for dinner to be delivered in my hotel room in Albuquerque, NM.  As I headed into town this late afternoon, I hit the first rush-hour traffic of my trip.  It was not terrible, but I was pleased to realize that I had not been dealing with such mundane things as traffic jams for the past several weeks. Given this is one night of traffic out of 19 days of driving, so far, I decided I would give an update about my trip by the numbers:

•  19  Days on the Road
•  6  More Days to Go
•  1 Traffic Jam
•  0 Tickets, Accidents, Flat Tires & Other Problems
•  4  Terrific Visits with Friends & Family, 1 More Visit to Look Forward to
•  4,179  Miles Traveled Thus Far
• 12 States Driven Through (CA, NV, UT, CO, NE, IA, IL, MO, KS, OK, TX, NM) Thus Far
• 11 Hotels Stayed in Thus Far, but not in eleven different states!
• 8 Stops to Enjoy Nature and at least 2 More to Go
• 2 Days Driving in the Rain
• SOME Animal and Flower Sightings
• LOTS of Bird Sightings
• TONS of Photos Taken!

As the list suggests, I have been having a great time. 

I will be home in about a week.  Once I have sorted and edited all the many, many photos I have taken I will post about my various stops along the way.  Until then, I am off tomorrow to find some Nature to appreciate at either Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge or Cibola National Forest.  Maybe both.  Then on to visit with a friend in a few days before I head into AZ to stop at the Grand Canyon.  Eventually, I will end up back at home.

A PEEK INTO SOME OF MY WANDERINGS

 

Zion National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

Coral Reef National Park

Some Deer Near Coral Reef NP

Canyonlands National Park, Needles Section

Colorado National Monument

View of Pike’s Peak

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

 

Lilacs on a Country Road near Julesberg, CO

Tulips in Pella, IA, Home of the Tulip Festival

Sunset Near Mingo, IA
“Gotta Love Those Clouds!”

Driving into Albuquerque, NM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Hue of You

“My teacher asked my favorite color. I said ‘Rainbow.’  I was punished to stand out of my class.”   Saket Assertive

On any given day, I am likely to give a different answer to the question, “What is your favorite color?” I guess you could say I am fickle.  I love the dark violet blue of the sky just after sunset. My favorite flowers tend to be purple (iris, Texas bluebonnet, lilacs), but oh those glorious pink roses.  The soft grey of wolves and pussy willows and kittens is amazing.  And when I see a big yellow dog, reminiscent of my long ago dog Murphy, my heart literally skips a beat.  I also love green, even speculating in the past that it was possibly God’s favorite color.

Today, my favorite color is ORANGE.  In all its shades and hues:  peach, terra cotta, sienna, vermillion, tangerine, amber, and coral just to name a few.  Orange is less vibrant than red but exudes more warmth than yellow.  It is earthy, enticing, and energetic.  According to one website, orange is associated with enthusiasm and creativity, vitality and endurance, curiosity and change. No wonder orange is a hue that speaks to me!

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I love quotes, but who would’ve thought I could find some about “ORANGE”?

 “There is no blue without yellow and without orange.”  Vincent Van Gogh

“Orange is the happiest color.”   Frank Sinatra

 “If love were a color, it’d be orange. Not because that’s a romantic color, but because it’s the sweetest.”  Jarod Kintz

“Orange is one of God’s favorite colors— He stuck it right there between red and yellow as the second color in the rainbow. He decorates entire forests with shades of orange every autumn. It shows up in sunrises at the start of the day, sunsets at the end of the day, and in the glow of the moon at the right time of night.”   Reggie Joiner

 “Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow.”  Wassily Kandinsky

 “The woman had told the truth. The flowers were the color of sunset. And not the yellowish tinge of a lazy sun either, but the intense orange of a sun refusing to set on anyone else’s terms.”  Dolen Perkins-Valdez

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 This is my first time completing a weekly photo challenge.  I was inspired by the entries of two bloggers I follow: Tricia Booker Photography and  de Wets Wild.

This was fun!  What is your favorite color?