Change of Plans

So woke up early this morning and of course it was raining, not just a drizzle but full force wind and sheets of rain. Thought the trailer was going to fly away. So since we are not on any real timeline we decided to stay another day in Pacific City rather than than get soaked trying to get the trailer ready for the road.  The rain finally stopped around 2 pm and we went out and drained all the tanks, got the truck hooked up and in the morning all we have to do is unhook the electrical and the water, pack everything into the cupboards and we are ready to go.  

We finished up some leftovers for lunch and this evening the sun actually came up so we walked over to Pelican Brewing again to have a light supper. 

Here is a picture of the breweries tasting flight. The Pelican is so cute

We split a Caesar salad and a tri tip flatbread pizza. We finished with a root beer float out on the deck enjoying the ocean and the sunset.  In all I would definitely recommend checking out the Pacific City area.  Lots to do and the setting can’t be beat.

Instead of going to camp in the Columbia River Gorge we are going to head to Warden Wa, to visit our friends Dave and Anna Marie. They have a farm that we can park the trailer so we don’t need a bed and it will be nice to see them as the last time was before Covid. Great chance to catch up.

Here is the sunset of Cape Kawanda tonight

Last Day in Pacific City

So today we thought we were up early but then realized that the time change had happened and it was an hour later. Living in Creston I definitely do not miss daylight savings time. The only good thing about this is we are on the same time when we get home.  I really wish that the US would get together with us and just do away with it, but maybe it is just too Woke for them.

We did go to Oceanside for one more day of rock hunting, the weather wasn’t the greatest and we didn’t find as many agates as we have the past few days but we didn’t come back empty handed.  We are back to the rain again, it was more of a drizzle and the wind is raging again.  We don’t have much to pack up before we leave tomorrow as we didn’t unpack as much because we were only here for a week.

Tonight for dinner I made a crab pasta with the rest of the crab I got during the week. At Safeway I found some ready made braille pasta. All you do is put the package in the microwave or directly into your sauce and you just warm it up.  It comes in a little bag and is two servings. I sautéed some garlic and butter, added some pesto sauce, Parmesan cheese and a little half and half, put in the pasta, and then added the crab and a little fresh lemon juice right before I served it. We had it with a chopped salad and it was very delicious. The pasta isn’t cheap, but for travelling like this it was fast and easy and I didn’t have to boil water.  Will definitely try it again. 

Didn’t really take any pictures today but I have a couple from yesterday. This little strip on the highway is by the south bar jetty right before Bay City. These three rock towers are interesting as they have trees and plant life blooming on them.

Tunnel Beach and Pronto Pups

 So we started off the day getting up early today. Low tides were early and we wanted to check out Tunnel Beach. Tunnel beach is a tunnel that has been made into the rock at Oceanside that takes you to the other side of the mountain.

The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining but there was still a breeze so I still wore my touque but was able to actually open my jacket as the sun was actually giving off some heat. It actually got up to 54 F, almost swim suit weather. There was actually some girls from Minnesota visiting the coast and they went for a polar dip.

The three capes were basking in the sunlight and the beach was full of agates and green jasper. We actually got quite a few.

There were quite a few people on the beach with the weekend, but there are plenty of rocks to go around. My little treasure bag that I purchased has come in handy, I can put all my agates in the bag and use my pail to collect the rest of the rocks. Saves time sorting them back at the truck.

So Tunnel beach is on the other side of the mountain at Oceanside. Someone has built a tunnel through the rock to a beach on the other side. The tunnel is about 200 feet with wide openings at both side so there is an enough light to to get it through. The Rosenberg Family which created the original resort in Oceanside had the tunnel drilled to the other side and they built a massive walkway at the end of this cove to allow access to the other side.

As you can see it is actually a fairly elaborate entrance to go in.

But just a big hole to come out.

The rock formations on the Oregon coast are amazing. It never ceases to amaze me of the rugged beauty.  I have never had a chance to really explore the west side of Vancouver Island. Mainly just the inside passage. So I am not sure if we have the same kind of coastline.  The Washington Coast does not seem to be a rugged as Oregon. It probably has something to do with tectonic plates and earthquakes, however it is fun to explore and take pictures.

This is another view of the three arches and we lucked out and saw 4 military helicopters doing maneuvers and managed to get a picture when the went through the middle of the rocks.

After Oceanside the day was so nice we decided to head North and check out the thrift stores in Rockaway Beach.  Rockaway is a resort town that really comes alive on the weekends right now. I am sure in the summer is hoping all week.  Rockaway is famous for the twin rocks. The best place to take a picture of them is right beside this little motel. There is only enough parking for about 4 vehicles and we lucked out that there was only one other car there.  I would love to see these rocks during a storm. I have seen pictures and the waves crashing up on them are spectacular.

After taking pictures of the rocks and letting Lukie run around on the beach we headed to downtown and we were lucky that Pronto Pup was open. We have been to Rockaway at least a dozen times and have never got a chance to eat here. Well today was the day.  Pronto Pup is the home of the first corn dog, invented in the late 1930’s by George and Versa Boyington.  The Boyintons had a hotdog stand on the beach, one day the rain came and ruined all the buns. George came off up with the idea of making the bun when needed. He and Versa created a pancake batter base that they still use today.  Right from the start the Pronto pup was a hit and soon store fronts all over the country.  Now a few other places have claimed to be the birthplace of the corn dog but none date back as far as Rockaway Beach. 

They also hold the record for the largest corn dog and World’s first righting mechanical  Corndog. Len and Lukie enjoyed the ride.

We each had a corn dog for lunch. Len had the special cheese sausage and I had a pepper jack cheese dog, no meat. You can also get a zucchini dog and pickle.  We also had tater tots. Lukie also got his own little hot dog on a stick, no coating.  So two dogs and tots was only $10 and we took half the tots home for later. 

Everything was very good and as you can see it was warm enough to eat outside at a picnic table.  We did get the the thrifts stores but nothing really caught our eye. Checked out a couple of tourist stores and did manage to find a concrete pelican to decorate with at the lake.  We got home last night early enough to have a fire with the neighbours using up the last of our wood because we can’t take it home with us.

Low tide at Oceanside and Jacobsen Sea Salt

 So today we got up by 7am and were on the road at 7:34.  We headed directly to Oceanside because low tide was at 9 am.  We arrived to a wonderfully gravelled beach with not too many people around.  It was definitely an agate day. This beach is awesome and it was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining and the wind was low.

 

After spending about 3 hours scouring the beaches we headed up the road to Jacobson Sea Salt Factory.  I first discovered Jacobsen Salt on the Food Network and since we were going to be in the area we searched it out.  They make excellent salt.  They searched up and down the west coast from the tip of Washington State all the way to Southern Oregon and decided that Neatarts Bay was the perfect location.  The water in this bay replenishes it self almost every day with the tides so it makes for very fresh water. There are also a number of oyster farms in the water which also help with the filtering of the water.  It is not a very big place but they are currently expanding to meet the demands of the business.  

The process is actually very simple, they pump water through a sand a gravel filter into big settling ponds and then they cook the excess water, calcium and magnesium out leaving the salt crystals. They then take the crystals and dry them further and then either package them straight or mix them with various spices and herbs.  They make everything from garlic, black garlic, chilies, rosemary, lemon zest and basil to name just a few of their varieties.  I find this salt excellent to cook with. They had different samples and because they cook out the minerals the salt is very fresh tasting, no bitter undertones.  We picked up some of their flaked salt that you can add to cooked food just before you serve it.  I also picked up one of their new salts, black garlic and ginger, can’t wait to try it.

This is the gift shop

This is the current building that they currently boil the salt in, they are building a larger one and it will be completely inside.  The white stuff at the exit is the excess calcium and magnesium. 

This is a video that the lady from the gift shop took for us.

This is a video from YouTube that gives you a more in depth view of how they make the salt.

So after we bought our salt, it was still before lunch so we decided to drive to Lincoln City and visit the outlet malls.  Len wanted a couple of sweatshirts without hoods. He found two nice ones at Old Navy and we had an excellent lunch at a little Asian restaurant, ended up bringing back half of it to have later.

Tomorrow we are going to head back to Oceanside and then maybe head north towards Rockaway Beach. There are a couple of thrift stores up there that we like, always fun to check them out.  We are still looking for a Pyrex measuring cup. Len needs one to melt his butter in for popcorn and a dry measuring cup doesn’t quite cut it for measuring liquids.

Local thrift store and fresh crab for dinner

So today, surprise surprise it was raining again. So we started off with a lazy morning but decided to take a drive. We stopped at the local thrift store here in Pacific City first. It is run by the local library society.  The county pays for the librarians and the books and the thrift store pays for everything else.  We found a small soap dish that I can put my dishwashing wand in and it won’t leak all over the counter. I also found a small personal air conditioner for my dad, that will hopefully keep him cooler in the summer. Also found a little furelimnator for the dog. I was thinking that it would help us trim up Lukie’s  feet and his backside as those are the spots that grow unruly first and should help keep him a little cleaner.  One of the ladies that worked at the thrift store knew where Yahk was because her father lived there when he was younger.  

We then headed up the coast and went as far north as Wheeler. This is a small town on Tillamook Bay. We stopped at one of the little marinas that will rent you boats and crab traps. You can either go out into the bay or even catch them right off the dock. Or you can just buy a crab, they weigh it, cook it, clean it and bag it up for you to take home. The whole process takes about 1/2 hour.  Kelly’s marina has excellent crab, would definitely recommend them.

This is the crab cooking area. They do have picnic tables set up if you want to eat it right away. There was also a large number of cats who seem to enjoy washing the tables after people have eaten their crab.

The girl pulled one out of the water, weighs it in the large pot. Has to put the crab in upside down otherwise its claws get in the way.

She then put the crab into a large plastic bag, tags it and right everything down on this metal slab so you can go inside and pay for it.

Then into the large pot of boiling water it goes.

After it is cooked, they bring it out, put it in some cold running water to cool it down a bit. They crack off the top shell, pull all the guts out of it, rinse it off with a spray washer and put it into a plastic bag to take home.  They didn’t put it on ice because we didn’t have a long way to travel.

So I got it home, cracked it all down, got rid of the shells and then made dinner.  I cooked our rib eyes in the air fryer. It actually works really well, three minutes on each side and they come out medium rare. No fuss, no muss and Len doesn’t have to stand outside in the rain barbecuing.  I warmed the crab in a little garlic butter and had it with my twice backed potato. Len had mushrooms instead of the crab, he prefers lobster.  Oh well to each his own.  I have enough left to make some crab spaghetti, maybe tomorrow.

Tillamook Cheese Factory

 So got early this morning and went and had a shower. The facilities here are not very big but the showers were clean, the water pressure was good and the water was hot.  We don’t like showering in the trailer because it adds to the humidity and we also store a bunch of stuff in the shower and moving it every time is a pain. So far we have had good luck with the shower facilities.  We don’t have cable here so Len is a little bit lost because he can’t watch the news.

So we started off the day travelling North along the cape scenic route and stopped at McPhillips Beach. You get a great view of the back side of Cape Kiwanda and the haystack rock. 

We didn’t find any rocks at this beach so we decided to head into Tillamook to tour the cheese factory.  I have been to this cheese factory at least 7 times and I never get tired of it.  I love watching how the process the cheese from beginning to end. I could probably spend an entire day there watching everyone work.  I don’t know what it is about factories and watching the manufacturing process. 

This is the new entrance to the Creamery , they redid the front of the building in 2021. 

Here is a close up of one of the happy cows that greets you as you go in.

The concept for the creamery began in 1854. Tillamook farmers have butter and milk to sell but they can’t take it over the rough mountain passes to Portland. The fastest way is by boat, so they build the first official ship in Oregon, The Morning Sea to carry the dairy goods to market. This is the same boat that is on all of their labels. 

In 1894 renowned Canadian cheese maker Peter McIntosh brings his cheddar making expertise to Tillamook county where he becomes know as the “Cheese King of the Coast” , so there is a Canadian connection, maybe that is why it tastes so good.   In 1904 Tillamook county wins it’s first cheese award at the St Louis Worlds Fair.  This is the first of hundred awards. In 1947 they started making and selling ice cream locally, later expanding into other states. 

When they first started making the cheese, it was mainly done by hand. The cheese makers start with 1.6 million pounds of milk for the day. They make cultured milk, that ripens to produce lactic acid, then they add a small amount of rennet, an enzyme to make the milk coagulate, kick starting the curds. Then they add Anna to, a natural colouring from the seeds of the Achilles tree that gives the cheddars it consistent yellow colour.  They also add salt that provides flavour and aids in drain the whey and regulates the lactic acid. The milk gets pumped into large vats where the cheese makers used to use wire knives to cut the curds and release the whey, then the curds were separated from the whey and poured into rings moles pressed and then taken to the ripening room to rest until ready to be packaged. 

 Today the vats are all automated and it is all done under cover.  

It takes 10 pounds of milt to make 1 pound of cheese. There are 8 vats that get filled from the bottom, it takes 70 minutes for the curds to set and then 40 minutes later the curds are on their way to the cheddar press. Each vat makes 3 to 4 batches a day.  The cheddar gets separated from the whey before being pushed into blocks, vacuumed sealed and sent to the aging area. 

The whey that is separated  is turned into whey powder which is used in baby formula, protein bars and whey powder. They process over 1,350,000 pounds of whey into 2000 pounds of powder. 

Once the cheese is pressed and sealed into 40 lb blocks, it is put in boxes and then taking to the cold storage warehouse where is can age anywhere from 60 days to 5 years depending on the kind of cheese.

Once it is aged, it comes back to the processing side of the factory, where a robot removes it from its box and it starts it journey to make smaller blocks. 

This is machine has a large sheet knives that cuts the big block sideways once into long blocks and then from end to end into smaller blocks.  All the edges get cut off and they go into these white bins. They get hauled away to a shredding room to make the shredded cheese.  Nothing goes to waste. Any blocks that also do not make the grade getting added to the shredding pile. 

They change the knives out depending on what size of block that they are doing. 

Once cut into blocks the cheese gets placed on a conveyor belt where it is weighed. You can see that the blocks will be kicked out if they are too heavy or too light. They actually cut cheese or add a slice to the block to make sure it is correct.

After the blocks make the right weight they are sent to the bagging and sealing area.  They are put in bags,  vacuumed sealed by the blue octopus and then steam seals down the edges.  They are inspected again to make sure they make weight and they are sealed properly.  

They have two processing lines that seem to run 24/7/.  This plant seems to supply to the western states.  Tillamook has a super dairy farm in Boardman Oregon and there is a large factory there as well that supply the rest of the country. I think that this factory does a bunch of their specialty cheeses, done in smaller batches.  The larger stuff that sells in the big grocery stores and Costco is done at the factory in Boardman.

Once you are done the tour they have individually wrapped samples and then it is downstairs to the gift shop and restaurant.  We found some new smoked cheese that we haven’t tried and of course we had to have some ice cream.  It was so good and creamy. They have a sampler tray that you can get. Three kinds to try in a little tray.  Much easier to eat than having it in a cone.  Much easier to share as well.

This is the longest post I have done, but I wanted to give everyone the full experience. If you are ever in this area, it is definitely on the must tour list.

 

 

Cape Kiwanda, Netarts Bay & Cape Meares

We got up and got going fairly early this morning. We were out the door by 9:39. First stop was the bakery on the corner and I picked up some fresh made bagels. Not exactly bagel shaped but very good.  I ate the jalapeño cheese for breakfast and Len had a plain one. We got two more to make sandwiches with tomorrow.  I said that I would take a better picture of the haystack rock and Cape Kiwanda. I also took a panoramic of the area.  You can see that there is quite a lot of sand and the the Cape seems to be one big sand dune.  The local market rents sand boards that are like snow boards for people to board down the sand. Last week when we had the snow storm, the cape was completely covered and someone actually walked up it and actually downhill skied on it. 

This is my panoramic view of the area, got to love the iPhone. 

As you can see the weather started out pretty nice this morning so we decided to head up the capes to Netarts Bay.  You can see from the next picture the bay is on the right and the ocean is on the left.

The bay has a few businesses on it, Jacobsen Sea Salt, which takes water from the bay and dries is down and sells it commercially. There is also an oyster farm and a fish hatchery.  There are also quite a few dairy farms in the area.  They also do quite a bit of crabbing in the area.  There are a number of places to rent boats and traps.  We made it to Oceanside again to explore the beach.  The tide was coming in so not as much beach but we did manage to get about 1/2 bucket each of some very interesting rocks and Lukie got to run around and wear off some energy.

Since the weather was still pretty good we decided to head up to the end of the road to the Cape Meares Lighthouse.  This lighthouse stands 217 ft above the ocean but the lighthouse itself is only 38 ft tall making it the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon coast. It was built in 1890 and decommissioned in 1963.  It was closed but it is open in the summer time for tours. 

There is also a backside view of the three arches that you can see from Oceanside.