Alright, You Got Me!

I like to watch the news while I'm exercising at the gym. I've found that it's a great way to kill two birds with one stone. I'm working out, so I'm taking care of my body. And, if I watch the news while I'm sweating my way through the half hour weight loss setting on that silly elliptical machine, then I'm also catching up on current events. Which makes me feel much better about myself. Honestly, I wouldn't have known Sept. 11th occurred if I hadn't have accidentally stumbled past the news on my way to Nickelodeon that morning. It's pathetic how little I know about things happening outside of my home. But, if I watch the news while I work out, then at least I know the current weather and the biggest news stories everyday (yes, I do exercise 6 out of 7 days. I'm there so much, I'm starting to make “friends” with the other regulars. But, have I lost any weight? No. That's another story for another day though).

Anyways, so I was watching the news while I worked out earlier this week when I saw a story on the Tulip Festival out in Mt. Vernon. It showed fields of tulips blooming in all their colorful, spring heralding glory. I didn't have my earphones plugged into the tv (I was listening to some aggressive rock 'n roll to get me through the last agonizing ten minutes of my cardio), but the little text box at the bottom of the tv assured me that it was, indeed, the Tulip Festival. So, I told Chad that it was time to pile into the car and make our annual pilgrimage to Mt. Vernon. We charged the camera battery, cleared off our memory card and piled into the car to make the 90 minute drive. We hit a little traffic and nearly ran out of gas, but eventually made it. We stopped at the Pickle Barn to use the “loo” (as Mikey would say) and pick up a map. A few more minutes of driving, a small detour through a very rural neighborhood after getting slightly lost and we finally arrived at our destination. We spilled out of the car to see fields and fields of...green. Green, blossom-free stalks. As far as the eye could see. The tulips hadn't bloomed yet.

Ha, ha, ha. Alright Kong 5 news. You got me good. I totally fell for your trick. Playing footage from last year's Tulip Festival, huh? Very clever. I wasn't the only one you fooled either. We ran into another poor soul dragging his camera and tripod through the field of tulip stems, completely perplexed by the lack of flowers.

In the end, it wasn't a completely wasted afternoon. I had a great time with my family. And we did see several gorgeous fields of daffodils. All the same, I'm switching to Channel 4...