Anacortes - Tulip Festival - Skagit Valley

Tulips

The end of March saw us heading north to Anacortes, WA, where we were looking forward to enjoying the variety and beauty of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival (tulipfestival.org).  Our home for the stay would be site #13 at Fidalgo Bay RV Resort (www.fidalgobay.com).

Overlooking Fidalgo Bay,  with the peck of Cap Sante two miles north.

Laura and I have a long affinity with boats of all types, sailing, power, rowing, and paddling.  We've cruised the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gulf Islands several times, so it isn't a big surprise that Anacortes is a favorite destination of ours since it is known as the "Gateway to the San Juan Islands".  For those times we don't come by boat, Fidalgo Bay RV Resort serves as a great home base from which to explore the San Juan Islands by ferry.

The park is divided into two (east and west) gravel parking lot style areas with the paved bike/walking path between them. We've stayed in both areas, and we've visited in both a tent trailer and a motorhome. The sites are well-maintained level gravel. Grass separates each site, and a picnic table is provided. The park is big-rig friendly, including slide outs. For those accustom to spreading out, they're likely to describe the sites as narrow.

We were in site #13 in the East Park

The facility is very well maintained and has continuously improved during all the years we have been coming back. The park is also pet and children friendly. The sound coming from Hwy 20 is mostly dim white-noise.  Although we haven't had a need for the park's restrooms and showers since our tent trailer days, I always check them out, and they are clean and in excellent condition.

Cap Sante to the north.

For those willing to pay a little more per night, the waterfront sites are awesome.  At high tide, the water feels like it is just off the front bumper.

Tide going out on the gravel beach.  The Tommy Thompson Trail follows the shoreline into town.

The clubhouse in the background has a fitness center, game room, lots of indoor sitting, and an excellent patio.

As done on past trips, I work from the road, so an Internet connection is critical.  Unlike most places we visit in the motorhome, Fidalgo Bay RV Resort has actually improved the quality and reliability of their "free Internet".  For most of our three week stay, the quality and reliability was good to very good.  What that means is:

• I was online in nearly non-stop conferences for 8-12 hours (I get up at 4 am)
• Email was working
• Microsoft Skype phone conferences were working, including the sharing and viewing of presentations
•  Zoom Video conferencing was working

Friday afternoon through Sunday morning the system struggled as the park filled up.  Most of my work on this trip was actually conducted on the park's Wi-Fi.  For those times when the Wi-Fi wasn't reliable, I turned my phone into an Internet access point using my Verizon 4G-LTE service.  The Verizon signal in park is strong, even without my weBoost RV Cellular Signal Booster (www.weboost.com).

The office.  WeBoost cellular signal booster antenna visible between the two AC units.

Looking South

One of the nice features of Cap Sante is that there is a road to the summit.  From there you have a great view of Fidalgo Bay, Anacortes, and the peaks of the San Juan Islands.

Atop Cap Sante looking south.

Anacortes with the San Juan Island in the background.

Proof I was on top of Cap Sante.  Sorry for the hair, it was a windy day.

So began our trip to the Tulip Festival.  The next three weeks brought us wind, rain, sunshine, and some delightful exploring.  Such is April in the Pacific Northwest.

Live well, Laugh often, Love much