Tulip Pedal WITHOUT the Ped/tals

Difficult to make this post succinct let alone the title as I learned a lot o' life lessons yesterday while on this adventure with my good friend Candice. She didn't want to be pictured, but was an all-star traveling companion and should be noted, logged 22 mi. on her bike for first ride o' 2010!! On the other hand, I was not so prepared...Should've known wasn't the brightest idea when I haven't ridden my bike since college and even then, it was just to/from campus-certainly nothing hard-core. But this sounded fun & scenic (note: would've been had we gone mo earlier?!) & change o' pace from the half marathons I've attempted. I knew Candice enjoyed cycling & tried to tempt a couple of my sisters to join me...I had my dad pull my bike down from its rack in the garage & my neighbor "tuned it up", but wasn't his fault he missed potential tire troubles 'cuz my dad had warned me it was all in sad shape. He did offer me a couple of other bikes as opt, but I politely declined 'cuz I didn't want the responsibility nor did I think my bike was that ancient?! Needless to say, I knew I was down to one bearing & hoped there weren't many hills to challenge the gears...Should've realized when I put my bike out the previous night for my friend to load for our early start that a flat tire was NOT a good sign to begin what ended up being just 20 mi. course. I wanted to try 40 initially but we decided we could drive toward bay for view later:) Turned out that was the only way I saw tulips too despite the valiant efforts of Joe @ the equipment station,
'Cuz the tube within my rear tire was DONE on the first road aptly named Chilberg:)
I didn't want my friend to miss out on full course 'cuz she felt badly for my ignorance, so I sent her ahead & decided I would just get a good run in along with plenty o' photo oppor. Too bad I couldn't @ least make it full distance of half marathon as I hoped, but my knee reminded me that I had not even run for a couple weeks let alone trained for any races in the near future with current circumstances. Guess this became sub for Snoqualmie Half (5/1)?! The other insane part of our am was fact that we thought we had to leave Puyallup @ 4:30A to get up to La Conner on time, but found out there was no official start meaning we could've literally rolled in whenever & been fine with exception of weather, which also left a lot to be desired:/ That is not good news for 2 working women who are clearly not a fan of early mornings esp on Sat?! Oh well!!

Prob don't care, but here are some visuals for what I learned as great time for self-reflection running 9 mi. afterward solo...Get ready for me to be all philosophical on ya-'Bout as deep as my blog gets:)

Very apparent that we are all @ different stages in life!

Just what I was thinking...

Until I spotted Bald Eagle overseeing the tilling o' fields, latter of which I saw way more than beautiful flowers on post cards from the area:)
Flying outta my frame like another balding head I know:/

3 blooms to remind me of sons still planted in my life and needing constant care...
no rush to uproot them!

These kind were definitely on their way out too!

Only field on my course that was in full bloom:)

Ventured over to Tulip Town, but wasn't even open yet as you can see
& if it were, wouldn't have spent $5 to go inside?!

Best didn't get any better as road was appropriately named...word itself was part o' inside joke that prob would've "had to be there" in jr high to fully appreciate but just goes to show I can't escape the sentimental nostalgia (redundant?) of my past no matter how hard I try-ugh!
T'is certainly cyclical like the sign!!

This guy was just marinating in a marsh @ the corner...

Oh, there's main attraction finally?! Only problem was I think it would've been more appealing had they placed purple next to yellow:) I'm not the brightest tool in the shed, so took me a while & reminder from my mother that they aren't going to waste when in full bloom since big business comes from harvesting bulbs:)

For the record, right after we drove by these fields we picked up another lady who'd experienced 2 flat tires as well JUST after having her bike serviced (didn't know that was regular deal for avid cyclers), so @ least I wasn't only one?!

I have to say if you are ever up in that area, our lunch was awesome in Anacortes & we'd highly recomm Adrift (also symbolic @ this point in my life) restaurant incl 2, count 'em, 2 cookies, that I fully enjoyed after my hearty lunch jam-packed with flavor!! Prob cancelled out our workout, but hey! We felt like we'd deserved 'em for the exertion of the am?!
Thanks Candice for letting me be along for the ride literally! If you ever decide to switch from banking, you would be an excellent therapist:) Don't worry...I won't give up my day job for writing OR photography?! But certainly welcome release from life if only for a day--Thanks Grandpa Gar & Grandma Neecy for taking care of Cole, Dane & Luke so Mom could escape even if not clearest route. We couldn't get into shower/baths fast enough by time we got home from going straight to Cole's practice in downpour...even prior to late dinner! Loved ending it by falling asleep while watching a movie curled up with my boys!