We were up and on our way by nine this morning. Everyone feeling well and rested. So grateful that Aly is feeling better. We drove across town and up through Washington Park and on to the West. After a quick breakfast stop at McDonald’s we were on our way to Tillamook. We have stopped there often and hardly recognized this place this time. They’d undergone a complete remodel. The new factory is modern and accommodating. They still offer a self guided tour and it is pretty great to see how the cheese is made and packaged for shipment to Vernal and so many other places. There is no tour of their butter or ice cream facilities, but it is easy to see why they’re prospering. Excellent quality and enormous production. Just in storage alone they have have something like 38 million pounds, just aging away unti it’s time to package and ship. Quite an amazing process. The whole thing is owned by the dairy farmers themselves. Pretty cool!
After enjoying some samples of cheese and some ice cream, we headed out to the coast and Meares Head Light House. On the way we drove up Maxwell road to the top of a knob that offers a tremendous view of Oceanside and of course, the sea. At Meares Head we left Sweetie to read in the car and walked down to the lighthouse. It is quite a hike down to the light, but Aly and I enjoyed it very much.
From Meares Head we drove to Otis Junction. It is a little tiny cafe out in the middle of Podunkville. There are four booths, a table and a few bar stools and that’s about it. Aly and I had salad and delicious Clam Chowder. Sweetie had an omelet and German potatoes that were divine. We bought some pie for the road and a couple of loaves of bread. They are famous for their Molasses bread and we got that and a loaf of their pumpkin bread. That will be nice on the road. Fun, famous little place!
Next we drove on down to Lincoln City and then on toward Newport. At Depoe Bay we found a whale feeding in a cove just North of town. We found a great little park where we could stand above the shore and watch and try to get photos. He was busy feeding and while we could see him blow as he surfaced, he didn’t show us much. Occasionally he swam on his side with a flipper and the tip of a fluke were exposed, but that was about it. Pretty cool all the same! As we travelled on we stopped near Whale Cove and in other places also called “Thar she blows!” as whales were spouting all over the place! Great day to see them!
We finished the day with a visit to the Yaquina Lighthouse. Aly took this wonderful photo of it! The ranger at the gate was a corker and gave us fits about having a pumpkin and a gourd on our dashboard. Nice to see a Federal worker that has a sense of humor!
We turned in at the Agate Beach Best Western after a quick stop at Walmart for supplies!
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