Why? Because it’s so tasty, that’s why!

Yesterday, we visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory in rural Oregon. And by “rural Oregon,” I mean oh dear Lord I had no idea that 70 miles north of Portland meant meandering for hours up and down mountains and through dense forests at 45 MPH behind a huge camper.

Still, it was worth every minute and mile. The only downside was that by the time we reached our hotel in Government Camp (near the entrance to Mt. Hood National Forest), we were pretty much fagged out, and unwilling to make the 100+ mile trip to Columbia River Gorge. So we’re doing that today. We’re going to try and squeeze in Mt. Hood and Columbia both, since we’re California-bound tomorrow morning.

Huge vats hold the milk for processing.

So, Tillamook — best cheese in the world. They have a great tourist thing happening up there, too. They don’t give tours inside the actual plant; instead, the sunken factory floor is completely encased in glass, and you can just walk around the periphery and watch the workers. Brilliant, because not only do they not have to pay tour guides and charge admission, they don’t have to deal with safety regulations attached to bringing the general public onto a food processing floor. Yesterday, they were packaging their famous Cheddar Baby Loaf.

Talk about an assembly line. The aged cheese is first cut into huge blocks that travel down a conveyor. They’re shaved, cut into loaves, wrapped, labeled and boxed for transport, all on that one floor. It was quite the sight to behold.

Afterwards, the best part: tasting! The samples are put out buffet-style, with toothpicks at every trough, enabling the tourist cattle to graze at their leisure on the flavor of their choice. My fave — the garlic cheddar. The Thriller dug the colby.

And of course, the reason the tours are free is the presence of the ice cream parlor and huge store, where everything under the sun is for sale. And judging by the hundreds of people who were there yesterday with us, waiting in line to be called up to the next of six cashier registers, the free tours are worth it for them.

Of course, we absconded with a few treats for ourselves.

And after the drive to Government Camp, it was close to dinnertime, so we holed up in our awesome room — complete with full kitchen, bonus — and made our own meal.

With cheese and crackers for dessert, natch.

Our last day in Washington was nice and relaxing. We didn’t see anything super-special; rather, we ate breakfast, got showered, took off for Chehalis, and got stuff done.

We made a stop at Wally for cooler supplies, spent 90 minutes at the laundromat, had a nice lunch at Taco Del Mar, then caught a matinee of World War Z at the local movie theater. It was a totally stress-free day.

On the 70-mile return drive, we stopped and took photos of a herd of elk, grazing in a meadow after a hard rain.

Nope. No elken presence here.

We have yet to see the elk that are supposed to walk about every day outside our room window. We’ve seen, um, evidence that they’ve been there, but other than that, no go.

Still, we watch. Still, they laugh.

OK, today, we’re off to the Portland area. The plan is to see the Tillamook Dairy (yummy — I shall purchase cheese) and the Columbia River Gorge before heading for our hotel in Government Camp, just outside Mt. Hood National Park. More beauty coming our (and your) way. How fun!

Unfortunately, we’re looking at rain, rain and more rain over the next few days. But hey, it’s the Pacific Northwest, right? Something else I find amusing:

I wonder how long the local TV weather guys have included the town of Forks on their daily forecast maps. Haha to them if it’s just been over the last few years. Seriously?? (If that means nothing to you, you’ve obviously not read any of the Twilight books, or seen any of the movies. It’s OK — not a big deal. )

So off we go! It’s been real, Washington. Loved it. And of course, I heart all my fiends for coming to read about our silly little Odysseys. Hugs to you all.

Waterfront

Glad we decided to change plans and go to Seattle yesterday. Rain was forecast, and it rained for quite awhile on the drive up. But as we got to the city, the clouds quieted down and the sun actually appeared for a few minutes!

We really enjoyed the Pike Place Market. Of course, we watched (but couldn’t catch on film, dangit) the guys throw the fish around at the Fish Market. Funny stuff; the

The fish toss guys

mongers really interact with the crowd — both the guys posted on the floor (who actually throw the fish) to the guys behind the counter, who catch, weigh and wrap them for customers.

(We sure wished there had been a way to take some of those fantastic salmon fillets with us; I’m afraid the shipping cost makes me a bit ooky. )

We LOVED the small, out of the way (in the basement of PPM) Market Diner. Wish I’d snapped a photo, but I was too busy snarfing my salmon wrap and Caesar salad — wow it was fantastic. The Thriller had the same, but with chicken, and we were both delighted.

Then we shopped, and ended up buying two squares of fantastic Belgian chocolate (gone already), and these little gems: rice cakes covered in bittersweet chocolate. Gluten-free, vegan, only 80 calories for two pieces…what’s not to love? Psh.

On the way back to the lodge, we crossed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. We all remember seeing footage of the collapse of this bridge in November of 1940 (video here, complete with awesome dramatic music and narration — love it). Fortunately, our crossing was not nearly as eventful.

Today is somewhat of a housecleaning day. We’re going through suitcases and consolidating some stuff, doing laundry, cleaning out the car, and spending the day in Chehalis, where we’ll see World War Z after taking care of errands. That should take us through to dinnertime, at which time we’ll drive back here to the lodge, drive into Packwood and find somewhere fun to eat and close out our stay here.

The Crest Trail Lodge has been a great base of operations; pretty much centrally located from all the places we’ve been (Rainier, St. Helens, Seattle). We caught our first elk sighting, along the side of the road near the lodge. They are supposed to haunt the lawn and grounds every day, but we have been here three days and have yet to see one. We’re convinced they know they’re being stalked, so they’re hiding, laughing at us.

OK, time to get moving. Hope your week got off to a good start!

Hey, Fink here, coming to you from the lovely Crest Trail Lodge in Packwood, Washington — while the shaky wifi connection lasts.

To say that we have been on forestry and mountain overload would be an understatement. We have seen more gorgeousness in the last 48 hours than in the last 2 years, I think. To tell you about it all would take me the rest of the night, so I will try my best to hit the best and brightest parts without leaving out too much.

The summit of Mt. Rainier: the first of two incredible volcanoes we saw in as many days.

You just have to see this stuff in person to believe it, no kidding. The power of wind and water — and the restorative miracle of trees after a horrifying tragedy (the largest landslide in recorded history) — has knocked us out time and again over the last two days. It’s just a mind-blower, plain and simple.

Again, this is the shortened version. The many side-stops and trail treks we enjoyed made the experience even more amazing and special. Total “wow!” excursion, from the valleys near the entrance to the park, to the lakes that appeared out of nowhere at thousands of feet in elevation.

But hey, on to Mt. St. Helens.

Mt. St. Helens — shrouded in fog today, but still alive inside.

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on 18 May, 1980? I don’t, probably because I was sick and pregnant, but I do remember watching in horror as reports of the climbing death toll from the MSH eruption took over the nightly news.

Look at the photo; see that green color? Those are huge Noble firs, standing at least 50 feet high. See the little silver thread in the middle of the picture? That’s a river. This is how enormous these areas are. It’s impossible to relay the size of them through photography. But back to the volcano.

To give you a comparison, here is a photo of how Mt. St. Helens looked before and after the 1980 eruption. Forest-farming corporation Weyerhaeuser lost tens of  thousands of trees on 63,000 acres in a matter of minutes.

The excited words of David Johnston, a young scientist stationed alone at the observatory six miles from the volcano — “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it” — were heard over the radio, just before he was incinerated by the 300 MPH lateral blast.

Seeing films in the education center about the aftermath was hard to stomach. You don’t really think about those things, but there was an enormous human tragedy attached to the environmental one. Fortunately, huge leaps in detection technology (computer powered “spiders” now take over many of the data-gathering expeditions that used to put scientists in great danger on the mountain) have improved safety and the dependability of predicting eruptions.

Then there was the whole Harry Truman story. I was amazed all over again, remembering it.

So, after two days of hiking, driving, hiking, driving, shopping, photography and eating really well, we’re taking the night off and watching the season finale of Mad Men in our room. Lazy bums.

Hopefully, if tomorrow’s excursion to Seattle can be written about (I’m amazed I’m still typing this post), I’ll have more tales to tell, but this time it’ll be the big city instead of mountains and trees. Fine by me!

Hope you’ve had a great weekend. Check back here on Tuesday morning — I hope I’ll have more to show you. Petitioning the connectivity gods…

Yep. Northern Idaho, to be exact.

There is plenty of beauty on this trip, for sure. I’ve posted some photos to Facebook along the way (this being one of my favorites — Hot Springs, Montana), and they all carry the theme of “Great Wide Open.” Sky and mountains and water, as far as one can see across the endless vistas. You can grow accustomed to it.

Yesterday, we crossed into northern Idaho, and beheld one of the prettiest, cleanest, and from what I could tell from the road, most happening cities I’ve ever seen: Coeur d’Alene. I was too busy gawking to take photos, so I didn’t get any of the true gemstone of this city: Lake Coeur d’Alene. Wow, I want to be there. I want to live there someday.

Anyway. After the last two unfortunate nights of sleep (in a Microtel that gave new meaning to the adjective “micro,” and the very interesting Lake McDonald “cabin”), we drove through the gorgeous Flathead Valley to scenic ski mecca Kalispell (pictured), and through Idaho to Washington.

Northwest Montana and northern Idaho? Nothing beats it, in my opinion.

We got into Spokane late afternoon, and spent the evening vegging. After the miserable night’s sleep on Thursday, it was much needed!

Today, I think we’re going to Mt. Rainier. Or is it Mt. St. Helens? I dunno, and the Thriller is still sleeping. But I do know it’s Saturday. Are you impressed?? OK, I looked at the calendar. Have a good weekend, fiends — check ya later with some fotos.

Fink out