Simon and Meredith's Day of Adventurous Fun

Well after 8 days without a day off thanks to my swanky new job (in a box factory) I decided to take a relaxing trip to the states with a friend of mine and pack in as many things as you can do in a day. First up was the tulip festival somewhere in Washington state, USA. You all know how I love my tulip festivals.

The first thing you learn about the states is that its a little different to Canada. Yeah the people still talk funny, still tell you to have a nice day (well, as opposed to a good day), they all probably say awesome ten times a day too, but somethings different, the people are a little crazy. The border crossing guy for example, Chuck i think he was called (or Hank or something like that). The banter with him was worth the $5 entry fee alone. He couldnt believe that they let Brits work at such fine establishments as Starbucks and thought the idea of two of us having a day off on a Friday to be highly implausible. After some debate though he let us though and wished us well, his gun, CS spray and tatoos of skulls and unicorns meant we treated him with the greatest respect.

First port of call was Denny's. Ok you can get it in Canada too but theres something quintessentially American about it. Our lovely waitress "Kandi" (I kid you not) provided us with excellent service, topping up my coffee after just one sip, I obviously looked like i needed to wake up. (That big ice cream looking thing is actually butter, there was another scoop of butter which left that gaping hole in my pancakes, mmm)

The 3 hour drive to somewhere in Washington was certainly worth it, I even got to drive my first manual car on the wrong side of the road (thank you!). I have to admit that I dont blame Meredith for being a little cautious as I first tried to enter the car on the wrong side, then couldnt work out how to start it (its different to back home beleive it or not!), but my composed driving style soon reassuringly took over. Now, are you ready for some tulip pictures? Yes, yes you are...

(Who'd have thought it. The statue of liberty in a tulip field, priceless)

(The windmill was said to be one of the most impressive monuments in "Tulip Town")

(Myself surrounded by tulips)

(Would you beleive it, more tulups) (A stunning artistic shot there, what a memory)
(This had to be the best tulip festival ever)
(Sunderland coloured tulips)
(you guessed it)
(It was 24 degrees, in April! So im freckled up) (Angelic (if not a little disturbing))

Well after all that excitement it was time to go home, and on to the next project. Im getting tired of typing and uploading pictures now but bascially we decided to get chris a new look for $10. Did we succeed, did we ever, we even gave him a new hair cut. Ive obviously got hair dressers genes in me eh mam? (Thanks Han) We also went for a swim in a private pool that belongs to a friend of ours and some gentlemen referred to our informal style of dress. But thats a whole other story...

(Back home to Canada)

(Rocky road, not as tasty as you'd imagine)

(Stylish new chris, to a certain extent)

Well all I know is that no tulip festival will ever live up to that one. Would I go back again? Certainly not