Tillamook Cheese Headquarters

There is forest fire smoke everywhere so we woke up to a hazy Portland morning.

We made a pilgrimage to Tillamook Creamery coincidentally located in Tillamook, Oregon.

We were here for the ice cream tour.

One part of the experience was a little experiment to see if we were super tasters and could detect faint tastes. I was the highest level of super duper taster man. Lydia was jealous.

We got a lot of ice cream during this experience. I had never tried Tillamook's ice cream sandwiches but I think I may be hooked.

Lydia enjoyed the sweetness of the treats but they couldn't cover the intense bitterness of knowing that I have scientifically proven better taste than her. I didn't realize they would be serving such hard truths along with the ice cream here today.

We did more ice cream tasting and attempting to identify its key attributes. I like that it's a pacific northwest company because they have a lot of fun regional flavors.

I have become the sweet treat.

Our guide started just chopping the pints into chunks with a machete-looking implement.

Afterwards we headed to the gift shop and explored their dairy wares.

I bought some of this intensely aged maker's reserve cheddar cheese. We didn't have a knife in the car though so we ate it like animals gnawing on the package. Not what the makers had envisioned at all.

Gearhart Golf Links was founded in 1892 as three holes strewn across sand dunes – making it the oldest course in Oregon and west of the Mississippi.

As often is the case at McMenamins properties there was a photo scavenger hunt in order to earn one of our passport stamps.

Fort Clatsop in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park is the site where the Lewis and Clark Expedition built a camp after finally finding passage to the Pacific Ocean. "They did this not just for shelter and protection, but also to officially establish the American presence there, with the American flag flying over the fort."

We did our own exploratory expedition in the coastal town of Astoria, Oregon.

Hazy

The area apparently used to be a canning town because all the city's trash cans were painted like canned fish.

A little somethin' we picked up back in Tillamook.

McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge was very cool and Hawaiian themed.

Lydia was determined to find some prenatal vitamins for the troll.