FTJ, Entry 103: Coasting North for Cheese

I should have written this months ago -- to our followers and friends, there will be no hard feelings AT ALL if any of you would like to opt out of these emails/blog entries. Totally understandable. I am getting bored myself with these never-ending travelogues! Please let me know if you would like to come off the list and just check our blog online when YOU feel like it.

For the remaining victims, here is another overly long update.

So we bopped north up the coast from Newport, OR, visiting Depoe Bay, Cape Kiwanda, Lincoln City, and Tillamook, among other places. I really wanted to get to Tillamook to see the famous cheese factory. 

The sights along the way were, as usual, beautiful. 

Depoe Bay, the world's smallest harbor.

Outside the Depoe Bay Whale Center -- many people sight whales off the shore here, but we didn't get lucky.

 

Haystack Rock, Cape Kiwanda.

 

Those little dots on the giant dune at Cape Kiwanda are people sliding down the side, with sand boards and without. It looks like fun -- except for the climb UP. That blue bird flying above the grass is a kite.

 

Cape Foulweather was a must for Beau. It is aptly named.
As the sign says, it can indeed get foul here, with wind speeds as high as 100 mph at times. This is the replacement sign -- the old one blew away!!

 

The sea was calm this day, lucky for us. What a view!

The Cape Foulweather Gift Shop. They have moose here...

...as you can see. Bullwinkle looks so darned cute.

Cheese Ho!

After I wrote this subhead, I thought, "Gee, I meant to create a play on words with the saying, 'land ho,' but now I see that this could be read an entirely different way."  Had to chuckle myself. I do love cheese, but I am not sure I would do THAT for it.

We did get to some cheese shops -- among them, the Blue Heron French Cheese Company, which is a misnomer, in that it is really a country store with some cheese, among other gourmet items.

At the Blue Heron we saw a very good looking ass.

Hee Hawwww! A true Republican.

Entertainment while you shop.

Finally, the Tillamook Cheese factory.

They had cheese sampling, but unfortunately the factory does not run on Saturday.

I had no idea that Tillamook's cheddar is the 2nd most popular chunk cheddar in the country. Here is where they process it.

Oddity Sightings

You know I love the oddities. Here are just two (besides the previously shown moose and jackass).

Li'l Sambo's Restaurant, Lincoln City. I thought the book Little Black Sambo was now considered racist...apparently not here. They did leave out the "Black," though, which was probably a good decision. 

A weird wood carving store. The wooden cowboy, far left, looks like he has to pee, doesn't he?

Farewell, Newport

Two of our last Newport sunsets...

...over the vast Pacific.

Of course I am behind again. We are just finishing up our three-night stay in White Salmon, Washington. We "camped" in the middle of the Columbia River Gorge area, right along the river itself. What an incredibly gorgeous place. More on that next time, including photos of Stonehenge.

For now, check out the grandeur of Mount Hood. You go around the corner from our RV campground and boom! There it is in the distance across the river. WOW.

Tanks, Panky