Friday, October 18, 2013

Tillamook

Most of my readers probably have heard of Tillamook cheese.  It's the best.  But did you know that it's a city over here?  A city with a factory?  And tours?  And samples?  And did you know that their ice cream is even better than their cheese?

Not long after our Lynden trip, Nick and I took the kids on a drive down to Florence, Oregon, a little beach town six hours or so from home where we would meet up with a roommate from college and her family.  We stopped first in Portland to see some friends and then again chose the scenic route the rest of the way.  Our first scenic stop was the Tillamook factory.


We posed as cows.
 We watched the workers make and package the cheese.
 And we sampled the different flavors.  I really liked the garlic white cheddar, but the squeaky cheese was the most fun.  Have you ever had fresh cheese?  It squeaks in your mouth like sneakers on a gym floor.

You know that the restaurant inside the Tillamook factory has to be good.  We each ordered cheese-dominated items to fill up on before buying ice cream.
 Half way though the meal, Curie got hold of the camera.  It's a risky little game, but I have realized that I have to raise at least one photographer so that there will be occasional pictures of me.

 Nice effect, Curie.
I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of our ice cream!  I'll leave that to your imaginations.
Nearly the rest of the drive was along the ocean.  Sometimes there were trees in the way of the beach view, so we got in the habit of yelling, "Beautiful!  Beautiful!  Beautiful!" in the car when we saw views that we wanted the others to see.

 You know me, I loved the flag-lined bridge.
 And cute little downtowns with their facades.

 What a beautiful world.  And yet most of us live where we can see mostly man-made structures.  What a shame.  The Oregon coast is so beautiful.

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