World famous tulip festival in Wash. getting underway

Even on this, the day before the official start of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, pictures are being taken just about everywhere. And there were daffodils, as far as the eye could see.

That's just fine with the women who drove from Issaquah for their first-ever visit to the festival.

"What made you come?" Kay Hanson was asked.

"The daffodils," Hanson said. "I absolutely love daffodils."

"More than tulips?" she was asked.

"A little bit," she said, surveying a field of yellow blooms. "I'm not going to lie. So, this is just a dream come true, right here."

Another couple came for their second visit to the festival. Urvashi Oswal lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

"Is it worth coming all the way from Madison, Wisconsin, to see, however?" she was asked.

"It is," said Oswal. "I mean, in two more weeks, it's going to be even prettier.  And that's totally worth it."

Indeed, the tulips are conspicuous by their absence. But that is actually the way it should be, said Brent Roozen, grandson of the man who started the tulip festival 33 years ago.

"It's looking like we might have a normal year, for once," said Roozen.

That is right.

This is normal in tulip country. And the cool, wet weather is the reason why.

"The tulips, you know, we're just starting to see a little tiny bit of color in some of the fields, a little bit in the display garden," said Roozen. "But it looks like we're probably a week away before we start seeing solid color. And then for the rest of the month we'll have real nice color, for once."

That also means there will be lots of crowds the entire month of April so expect traffic to be a nightmare.

Roozen says to avoid crowds, come during the week or early in the morning on the weekends.

And remember that this is a farm.

Make sure to wear shoes that work well in the mud.

Cox Media Group