February 13, 2007
The Land Of Trees, Cheese, & Ocean Breeze
On Saturday Timber wanted to drive out to Tillamook and take a tour of the cheese factory. So we got up early, grabbed a small snack at Haven Cafe, and drove roughly 70 miles west to Tillamook, Oregon take the tour. The drive out was surprisingly dry and we drove through forests and farmlands. Once we got there we went inside and had breakfast at the Farmhouse Cafe. You can find their menu here. We got food that had Tillamook cheese in it, and it was pretty good. After breakfast we started the self guided tour. We read lots of information about the local area and how they make the cheese and other products (butter, yogurt, ice cream, etc...) and then watched the cheese making process. In the end 40 lb blocks of cheese came down the conveyor belts where guys would put them in plastic bags and vacuum sealed them. Then they were boxed and off to their wharehouse, where they can store 50 Million pounds of cheese for aging. After our tour we sampled the different cheeses, bought some goodies, got some Tillamook ice cream, and went on our way. Before heading back to Portland we did a quick drive to the coast and checked out a light house while the rain came down in buckets. This was the Oregon that I'm used to. After we got back to Portland we had dinner at McMenamin's Kennedy School, a unique or bizzare (depending on your preference) establishment. It was a elementary school that was closed and bought by McMenamin's who then turned it into a hotel, restaraunt, brewery, bar, movie theater, etc... We tried 6 different beers here. Some were pretty good while others were not, but it is definitely a place I recommend checking out. After dinner we went to the Alphabet District and quenched any chocolate cravings at Moonstruck Chocolate. I got a Mayan chocolate drink while Timber got a chai chocolate shake and we shared a chocolate mousse dish. I definitely overdosed on the chocolate. :-)