Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Oregon Camping Trip - Day 4

Sunday morning was the day we were traveling just a bit south to Tillamook. The Cheese Factory Visitor Center had just reopened earlier in the summer so we thought it would be a great time to check it out. We hadn't been to the Cheese Factory since 2003. 



Welcome to Tillamook! 



Giant blocks of fake cheese! 

There was a timeline area right when you walked in that us adults took the time to read. Michael gets tired of those things so he took the kids upstairs to see the action. 



Right at the top of the stairs is the cheese tasting area. It wasn't busy at all so we decided to jump in the line. We were super glad we did because later the line was atrocious! 




Don't mind if I do! 




Yummy! 



There was this one kind of cheese that I'd never had before....Cape Meares. It was delicious. 



From the cheese tasting area you can see down to the gift shop. I tried to find the Cape Meares cheese, but they were all sold out. An employee said I could buy it online. I was able to find it, but it would cost $16 for ground shipping or $26 for air shipping. I love cheese, but I'm not that crazy! 



It was so fun walking through the factory and reading about what's going on. 



There was this fun area where you got to time yourself to see how fast you could hook up a milking machine to a cows utters. There was also this wall that had all sorts of different cows on it. When you picked up the cow it talked about the breed and their temperaments.



Getting to feed a baby cow! 



Having so much with our family!!! 




Of course you cannot go to the Cheese Factory without having ice cream. The funniest thing happened while we were waiting for our ice cream. There was a guy working in the back behind the counter and the song Hello by Adele came on and he was lip-singing it. It was so much fun! I even asked if they had a tip jar because he totally deserved a tip! 




You scream, I scream...everyone screams for ice cream! 




Once we all got our ice cream we went outside to eat since it was really crowded inside. The kids were a bit chilly so we didn't stay out there long. 




I guess Ga-Ga "owed" Ella a present for some reason so Ella picked this cute pink pig at the gift shop. 



Dad thought this sign was quite appropriate concerning Mom and him. :) 

Right after this we said goodbye to Ga-Ga & Pa. My mom's dad had recently fell and broke his kneecap so they wanted to go out to Wyoming to help in anyway they could. They were out there for 2 weeks. During that time my grandpa was moved from Cody, WY to Casper WY and he got all settled into his new care facility. Unfortunately on the night of September 15th he had a major heart attack and passed away. I'm so thankful that my mom and dad had recently gotten to see him as did my Uncle and Aunt from Minnesota. My parents will be heading out there next month to bury my grandma and grandpa next to each other in their plots in Gillette. 



We had actually eaten ice cream before we even had lunch and I knew I just had to have a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Michael got two orders of sandwiches and soup and then a pizza for the kids. Oh my this was SO yummy. The best part was they put cheese curds in the tomato soup. Speaking of soup this was the best tomato soup ever....perfect amount of sweetness. My mouth is watering! 

After lunch we went over to this other building that had a sign on it saying 'Farm Experience'. I think this was the building they used while the visitor center was being redone. It doesn't really need to be there since it doesn't add much to the experience. After that we got in the van and headed back to the campsite. 

Bill and Christina hadn't had lunch so they wanted to roast hot dogs for their kids. This campground didn't have fire pits, but there was a specified area with a pit and they even provided the wood. Nice right! We all hung out there for a bit until it started to sprinkle.  



I wanted to play 5 Crowns, but it was just too wet outside so we hung on in the trailer playing. 



The next morning we packed up camp and headed home. Michael wanted to drive to Hwy 30 and go home that way so that's what we did. About 6 highways later we were finally at Hwy 30. It was hilarious. We saw interior parts of Oregon that I didn't know existed. We were on these bouncy, curvy roads that just seemed ridiculous. We did get home by 2pm so that was good. 

I'm so thankful that we have a trailer! It was such a blessing to have a place to go to when it got rainy and to have heat in the night to keep us warm. Plus the beds are super comfy. Plus it was SO much fun to go on vacation with the Kuch's!! I can't wait to head out and make more memories next year. 

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