Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

It was a beautiful day today...our first day in the high 70s (maybe even reaching 80), the skies were blue. It really was a perfect day. I was so excited to head out to the Tulip Festival!

The three of us got in the car, in a great mood. Katie was singing along to her iPod, Brian was listening to NPR, and I was driving with the window down, the wind (and gas fumes) in my face. The view of Mt. Hood was incredible.
We were cruising along the back roads until we decided to head over to I-5 before St. Paul (McKay Rd.). As soon as we got on the interstate, traffic came to a stand-still. All three lanes were just inching along. We figured there was an accident, as we kept seeing bed linens on the side of the road. I envisioned a truckload of moving items strewn all over the road, with the owners scrambling to tie it down, and cars trying to dodge all the stuff.

As we continued on ( 1-2 MPH; 5 MPH---TOPS), there was no sight of an accident. I remember saying aloud, "This can't be for the tulip festival, can' it?" No... Well...maybe. There was an article in the Oregonian today with pictures of it. Could all these people be heading to the tulips? Some had to be going to the outlet mall nearby. They just had to.

It would be a couple hours before we got our answer. There was nowhere to turn off. I had to pee badly. VERY badly. I seriously looked for bushes alongside the road (there were none). I also took a few glances at the empty plastic cup in the car, thinking of what I could do in a dire emergency. I tried to wish it all away.

FINALLY....the outlet mall was in sight, which meant the turn off was just ahead. It took us 45 minutes to drive past the outlet mall, and across the overpass (a good 1/4 mile tops). Best of all, the closest pit stop was mere minutes away....relief was coming. (Yes, I'm sure you're dying to know all about my bladder...) As I got to the restroom, there was a line. A line of one, but nonetheless a line. I politely asked if she had been caught in the traffic as well. No, she was just in line. I explained my situation, and asked in my nicest voice possible if I could please go ahead of her. I've never asked to do that, not even when I was pregnant. She was very kind, and did let me go ahead of her. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Back on the road, we were now officially in Woodburn. All we had to do was drive through town, turn right and we'd be there!! I did ask if they wanted to turn back, but the traffic looked a lot lighter, so we decided to forge ahead. We were cruising at 45 MPH, and our spirits were high again. 5-10 minutes tops. And then it happened. We caught up with THE LINE. Again. We were back to 1-2 MPH.

Again, I asked them if they wanted to turn back. Again, we'd come so far we decided to keep going. In the meantime, Brian started grumbling, "This better be worth it." A few minutes later, "It's not even the Super Bowl." Katie was starting to complain to. Helicopters flew overhead. They quickly made a "Help me, I'm trapped!" sign, which brought no one to our aid. We continued on....

Finally the last turn off was in sight. It would probably take us 20 minutes just to get the turn off, and then another hour to go the final three miles. It was our final chance to turn around. By this time it was 3-something, and we knew that ALL these cars would have to leave the same way they came in. And we'd be with them. This was our breaking point. We turned around to head back home.

I fell apart, crying, because we'd come so far, it had taken so long, we were just a short bit away, and we were heading home. I knew it made sense, but I had really been excited about going out there. The fields would be dry, it was peak season, the day was perfect, the view of Mt. Hood was spectacular. But it wasn't meant to be.

Brian drove home, and I started to feel better. I was determined to see tulips. I had my camera ready. We actually had fun on the way home, pointing out every little tulip we saw along the roads. Here are the highlights: