More Tulip photos here
More Oregon Garden photos

Yesterday we finally had a nice day, so we wanted to get out and see the area we are staying in. We first went to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, where they have a yearly tulip festival while the tulips are in bloom. We took a bunch of pictures and wandered around for awhile. There were quite a lot of people there, although the event is fairly small–really just one farm, although they do it well. There is plenty of parking, a snack shack, and a nice gift shop. They also have a fresh-cut tulip kiosk of course. They even have some kiddie activities and arts and crafts booths. We bought a postcard and some fresh cut tulips, then headed to Silverton, Oregon.

Our next stop was The Oregon Garden in Silverton. It has only been around since 2001, but it is a big garden, and they are expanding–even building a lodge and around 100 guest rooms. It cost $8 to get in, and that includes a tram tour. We took the tram all around the park which gives a great overview of the entire area in about a 30 minute ride. The driver was knowledgeable about the history of the garden and was fairly interesting to listen to. We then wandered around on out own for awhile, then decided we were done there. We went back into Silverton and stopped at the grocery store for some batteries for the camera(I forgot to bring extras, and of course we needed them). We went to McDonald’s for lunch, then we headed out of town towards Silver Falls State Park…(more to come)