My last post was getting so long that I decided to spare my readers and do a part two (but doesn't deux sound so, so much cooler?) later in the week. Guess what? It's Thursday and I work tomorrow, so I guess later in the week is now!
Really, I just have a few pictures taken last Tuesday when we made a trip down 101 to Tillamook, Oregon. What a nice little town! And home to the Tillamook Cheese Factory! If you live in the west, Tillamook cheese is the premier cheese. They have a lovely facility with large viewing windows and we watched the big blocks of cheese move down conveyor belts as they were cut and wrapped.
We didn't get any samples because the place was packed with people and the lines were long, and well, we had a two-year-old in a stroller with us, but we did all enjoy ice cream cones filled with delicious Tillamook ice cream! In a word, yum!
While at the cheese factory, we took a few minutes to check out their gift shop and I scored! I've been wanting to find some decorative pieces for summer to go with my patriotic decorating theme and I found this perfect Williraye figurine (click to enlarge so you can see how cute he is):
Our other stop that day was the Tillamook Air Museum, housed in a huge old blimp hanger from World War II. There weren't very many visitors so we enjoyed roaming around inside the gigantic space seeing the planes on display. Dan had read that they had a Skyraider and he was thrilled when he found it. (Whenever we're watching a movie on a DVD or DVR that features one, he always rewinds so he can hear the engines over and over. He says he loves that sound!)
They also had a Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune. When Dan was stationed at Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam, his day job (as averse to his night job in a guard tower) was to work on engines for P2's. Who knows? He may have actually worked on the engine attached to the propeller he's touching in the picture below!
They also had "trainers" for various aircraft. Here's Cam and Keat in one for a helicopter. (I think they were into it!)
They also had displays featuring items from WWII when the hangar was part of one of eleven or twelve Navy blimp bases in the US. Here's Daniel giving one display a close look:
Amazingly, the only money I spent on the whole trip was for that figurine. There was a quilt shop in Cannon Beach, but I've been in it before and it wasn't my style. There were several in Tillamook, but with the whole family in the van, I wasn't about to make them wait while I checked one out. Truthfully, shopping on this vacation wasn't even in the picture. It was good to just relax, walk the beach, and spend time with the gang. It was a perfect, relaxing week. And I even survived Portland traffic, for which I am truly thankful. ♥
Oooh, this is a fun post! I'm so sad that you didn't get samples of "squeaky cheese" at the Tillamook factory. Mmmm, cheese curds! What a neat museum! Nick and I went to the museum of flight in McMinville, but we didn't know about this one in Tillamook. Very cool!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun day! I've never had squeaky cheese, so I guess I don't know what I missed. :-) It was a cool museum, and I recommend it if you get down there. The building itself was amazing!
DeleteYour "Uncle Sam" is a perfect vacation souvenir, bringing a touch of patriotic whimsy to your home. He looks great with your summer quilt piece there.
ReplyDeleteGuys and their sounds. Aren't they funny? Mike will say, "Did you hear me when I drove in? I just love the sound my motorcycle makes." I'm sure that Dan worked on that very engine. It just has to be.
Things have to be right before I shop successfully for clothes or fabric. You just can't say to me, "Okay. Ready! Shop!" I have to want/need something and I have to have the space (alone time) to find it. And when it comes to projects, I suspect we both know what we want and can find it when the time is right.
I like finding things that that Uncle Sam on vacations--it's something I want and it will always remind me of this trip. Double win!
DeleteAnd you are absolutely right about shopping. And I'm not much of a shopper anyway.