B Family Road Trip

On Sunday, we decided that we needed a family road trip. So, we woke the kids up bright and early,  got everyone dressed and packed with day trip necessities, and were on our way. We thought it would be best not to get to carried away with putting the pavement behind us (being a Sunday), so we headed to Tillamook Cheese Factory. Colin is very interested in the different ways that animals give us food (minus the meat aspect - I will not be surprised if he takes after me and becomes a vegetarian at some point). Will provided a hint to see if the kids could guess where we were going. Meli kept saying "chocolate bunnies store" (she is obsessed), but Colin guessed that it was a dairy of some sort.

Surprisingly, I had never been to Tillamook. Will went years ago during his first Oregon stint.  I think it is one of his favorite places from his minimal exploration efforts of Oregon (we are working on that).

I was not sure how much Meli would enjoy the place, but she loved it! She really liked watching the cheese blocks on the conveyor belt. They both (well all of us) really enjoyed the tasting area. I think we all agreed that we really liked the squeaky cheese the best. I also loved the smoked black pepper and habanero. I should have bought more of the black pepper.

We enjoyed a light lunch of pepperoni, cheese and crackers. Then we had to have some Tillamook ice cream. Meli stuck with her vanilla (of course), but she really liked Will's Espresso Mocha.  Colin had Orange Sherbet. He is the most adventurous of us when it comes to ice cream. I am a picky ice cream eater. I sampled white chocolate raspberry, which was delicious but a little rich. I could tell I would not be able to eat more than a few bites. So, I went with one of my go to flavors, Rocky Road.

After we were done with the factory, we thought it would be nice to visit the coast and let the kids play in the sand. We headed to Lincoln City, since the kids and Will had not been there before (and I have always enjoyed it). I really wanted to go to the Wizard Hat rock formation, but I thought it would be better when Meli was a little better at walking on big rocks and cave areas. So we will save it for another adventure.

The beach access we used was on 34th street. I think it is referred to as Grace Hammond Access. It was a little tricky to find but it was a great spot. The kids had a blast! Will was a little cold (as usual), he has not quite adapted to the Oregon Coast weather or appeal. It was actually fairly warm. I think it was in the high 60's to low 70's, but it was pretty windy (which I love). I really enjoyed our beach time!!  I love running in the water with the kids. We were pretending we were birds and letting the wind take us away. 

Such a beautiful and peaceful day.

                                                        ~   Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                    The B Family