We drove through Portland, but didn't stop until reaching the town of Tillamook which is a farm town that seemed fairly mixed with locals and tourists. It is a quaint town nestled in the Oregon mountains that seems unchanged since the early 1900's.
After visiting Tillamook's Pioneer Museum we headed to a local farmer's market that was on one closed off street. There were approx 20 booths of fresh grown fruits and vegetables and homemade soaps and handmade trinkets. I spent some time sitting on the county office building steps just watching patrons and the vendors noticing a very natural look and style to many of them. Grunge is still alive in Oregon. It is cool to be a hippie here.
Signs allowed leashed dogs into the farmer's market excited me for the potential to pet some of my favorite furry friends. I found a part Labrador, part Newfoundland at one of the booths and he was happy for some extra ear scratching and sweet talking from me. I miss my Pili girl. Tabitha and Timber are taking care of her tomorrow. I texted Tab to ask her to give Pili some extra loves. She assures me they will go visit Pili earlier than planned now.
The road to the Tillamook cheese plant was lined with trees. The two lane highways that exists en route to the plant as well as through much of the country we've seen doesn't seem to scare me. Both sides being full of such beauty seem to erase any of my fears of cars driving off cliffs or drivers deviating into oncoming traffic. I don't seem to tire of seeing all the trees and streams. This view is not getting tiresome at all.
We visited the Tillamook Cheese plant and enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches made with fresh from the factory cheese of course. The plant also has an ice cream section in their cafe and our group of 7 enjoyed a 38 flavor sampling of Tillamook ice cream.
On the road from Tillamook we mainly stayed on Coastal Highway 101. The roads took us along the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. I couldn't get enough of the Ocean and think my dad was close to his breaking point with my MANY requests to stop at different overlooks for yet another picture. I love the smell and sight of the Ocean. I miss it. I've got to get to see it more often.
Along the 101 we stopped at Yaquina Head to walk along the shores of the beach and to visit a lighthouse on the edge of the small cove. Thanks to the "Twilight" tour going on this evening no visitors were being allowed to climb the lighthouse stairs. I don't care a bit about the "Twilight" books or movies, but my sister Rebekah does and she informed me that area had quite a bit of filming for the next movie of the trilogy. It would have been nice to climb the lighthouse. I found myself wishing "Twilight" didn't exist when I couldn't explore the lighthouse more.
We drove more along the 101 enjoying the Ocean views until changing to Interstate 5 that brought us to our evening's stop in Eugene. Tomorrow we're visiting Crater Lake followed by Klamath Falls. My paternal grandmother and aunt and uncle are in Klamath.
One more small note (mostly a venting moment for me) - and keep in mind I'm tired. I'm not sleeping well because Rebekah kicks me all night and tosses and turns. I'm stressed from the meeting in Washington, and I've been in the car for LONG hours with other people. Just to blog tonight, I skipped dinner so I could have an hour to myself. I can't get a minute to myself and I'm used to having an unlimited amount of them. Carson wants to play DS when I want to read and my dad can't seem to stop talking in the car. Then there's Joel who is my step mom's 4 year old nephew who is enamored with me and gets Carson or Rebekah to call me (one car away) so he can ask me what I'm doing without him. Family is great. I love my family. I'm loving my trip. However, the two vacation days waiting for me to enjoy upon my return to Salt Lake are unplanned and have no timetable. I'm looking forward to those days - to recover.
Here's some photos:
A self taken shot of Rebekah, Carson, and me before hitting the road for the day
Rebekah with me outside the Tillamook plant
Joel the cow
Carson the cow and Rebekah the farmer
38 flavors of Tillamook ice cream
Joel, me, and Rebekah eating ice cream
My buddies Joel and Carson
Keeping Joel busy at the Cafe
My buddies Joel and Carson
Keeping Joel busy at the Cafe
A moment at the ocean
Rebekah, Joel, me and Carson at the Yaquina lighthouse
The lighthouse
2 comments:
Do you get to see the workers making the cheese? I was there on a Saturday so there were only one or two people messing with the equipment.
We did! It was fun to watch. I wished there was more of an official tour like the Hershey chocolate factory in Modesto. It was very cool to watch the cheese travelling around and all the giant machines molding it and packing it and vacuum sealing it. The kids all enjoyed moving from window to window to see what process was happening at the many windows.
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