Saturday, Sept 14 – Today's plans are to head south straight to Tillamook (cheese factory, you know) and then head back stopping along the way. All garbage in the campground must be delivered to a site near the main entrance (no bins in the individual loops). So we load up with a small bag and a dish pan with cans and bottles to drop off on our way out. I'm driving today, as Robin has to drive the motorhome and doesn't really get to see the scenery, so he's got the bin and bag between his feet on the front floor of the car. As he gets out at the recycle centre, his foot catches the bin and pulls it out of the car, with bottles smashing and cans rolling under the car. I think I heard a couple of words that would have got my mouth washed out with soap by my mom, even as an adult. Cleaned it up and away we went. By this time, the sun is shining and it's another glorious day.
The cheese factory at Tillamook was packed with people, but then it is a Saturday and we did arrive around lunch time. We did the obligatory window tour of the processing operation, because that's where you get the cheese samples, then checked out the store. We used to like to get the bags of mixed ends, but they don't sell those anymore - just nicely wrapped small blocks of cheese at (to us) ridiculously high prices. But they won't go broke because we didn't buy. I couldn't believe some people just loading up their little baskets with everything in sight. The line-up at the lunch counter was crazy long, so we went in search of somewhere else to dine. Came across the Pelican Brewing tasting room, with an interesting menu. Robin had a reuben burger (with corned beef and sauerkraut in addition to the beef patty) that looked and (he said) tasted delicious, with really good fries, and a beer of course. I opted for the crab & shrimp cakes (fabulous) on a bed of greens, accompanied by a delightfully clear and refreshing glass of water.
Started the trek back, stopping at the Tillamook Country Smoker and sampled their jerkies and pepperoni-style sticks. They make meat sticks that are 2 feet long, for $1.50 (or $12.50 for 10). This time we came away with a package of jerky and some pepperoni sticks. We had noticed on the way south a sign for a winery in a little town called Nehalem, so we kept our eyes peeled and drove inland a bit to Nehalem Bay Winery. The joint was hopping. When we walked in, another couple had walked in right ahead of us. There was already two other couples and a single guy in the small tasting room. The fellow in charge finished up with the one couple, filling an order and then turned his attention to the rest of us. At this point, a group of 6 or 7 people walked in, so he had his hands full. I ended up buying a bottle of Reisling – not something I normally drink, and not in my normal price range, but it was really good.
Back on the road, heading towards low clouds and no sunshine, but it's still quite warm. Stopped briefly at the outlet stores in Seaside, but nothing of interest. Back to the park and our motorhome, where a lovely batch of ribs were cooking away in the crock pot. Quiet evening in and tomorrow we'll pack up and move further south to Lincoln City. Can't believe how hard it was to find a spot for the next few nights. School is back in, so it's not families. Could be a lot of fisher people catching the end of the season or could be a bunch of seniors like ourselves taking advantage of the usually nice weather in September and the reduced family traffic. Anyway, we had to call 5 or 6 places before we found one with room for our rig. We'll travel out in the car from there to points north and south. Booked in for 4 nights and will decide then whether we're headed straight home or in a stop and go pattern.
The cheese factory at Tillamook was packed with people, but then it is a Saturday and we did arrive around lunch time. We did the obligatory window tour of the processing operation, because that's where you get the cheese samples, then checked out the store. We used to like to get the bags of mixed ends, but they don't sell those anymore - just nicely wrapped small blocks of cheese at (to us) ridiculously high prices. But they won't go broke because we didn't buy. I couldn't believe some people just loading up their little baskets with everything in sight. The line-up at the lunch counter was crazy long, so we went in search of somewhere else to dine. Came across the Pelican Brewing tasting room, with an interesting menu. Robin had a reuben burger (with corned beef and sauerkraut in addition to the beef patty) that looked and (he said) tasted delicious, with really good fries, and a beer of course. I opted for the crab & shrimp cakes (fabulous) on a bed of greens, accompanied by a delightfully clear and refreshing glass of water.
Started the trek back, stopping at the Tillamook Country Smoker and sampled their jerkies and pepperoni-style sticks. They make meat sticks that are 2 feet long, for $1.50 (or $12.50 for 10). This time we came away with a package of jerky and some pepperoni sticks. We had noticed on the way south a sign for a winery in a little town called Nehalem, so we kept our eyes peeled and drove inland a bit to Nehalem Bay Winery. The joint was hopping. When we walked in, another couple had walked in right ahead of us. There was already two other couples and a single guy in the small tasting room. The fellow in charge finished up with the one couple, filling an order and then turned his attention to the rest of us. At this point, a group of 6 or 7 people walked in, so he had his hands full. I ended up buying a bottle of Reisling – not something I normally drink, and not in my normal price range, but it was really good.
Back on the road, heading towards low clouds and no sunshine, but it's still quite warm. Stopped briefly at the outlet stores in Seaside, but nothing of interest. Back to the park and our motorhome, where a lovely batch of ribs were cooking away in the crock pot. Quiet evening in and tomorrow we'll pack up and move further south to Lincoln City. Can't believe how hard it was to find a spot for the next few nights. School is back in, so it's not families. Could be a lot of fisher people catching the end of the season or could be a bunch of seniors like ourselves taking advantage of the usually nice weather in September and the reduced family traffic. Anyway, we had to call 5 or 6 places before we found one with room for our rig. We'll travel out in the car from there to points north and south. Booked in for 4 nights and will decide then whether we're headed straight home or in a stop and go pattern.