Cape Meares Lighthouse and Tillamook Cheese Factory

The mark of a successful man is one who has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it.

Grandkids -- Justin and Jordan

After launching the boat on Thursday afternoon, we headed out to visit the the Tillamook Cheese Factory and to get our Oregon shellfish license (3-day license for out of state folks is $11.50).  The weather was supposed to be nicer on Friday so that was the day we were going to start our crabbing adventure.

I’m amazed that we piled so much into just one afternoon.  The Tillamook Cheese Factory wasn’t our first stop.  We stopped at Rockaway Beach first.  We love this beach but I think I’ve said that several times in the past.  It’s a gorgeous sandy beach with easy access and rarely packed.

Next . we moved right down the road a few miles to Garibaldi.  We drove through the marina area.  Harbor Inn is an RV park right on the bay.  This is another RV park with a fabulous location. We've driven through it several times in the past and just drooled over the sites and their view.  We’ve often thought that if we ever wanted a summer place at the coast for a month or two, this would be the spot. It's not fancy but the price is pretty reasonable for a full hookup site right on the bay. There are also several little cafes on the wharf that boast about their clam chowder being the best on the coast.  We’d like to try them out to see if we agree.

Two rows of cheese are set out for the public to sample.  This is just one row.

We have stopped at the Tillamook Cheese factory numerous times.  Everyone loves it.  Maybe that’s why the parking lot is always full. This time we just headed towards the free sample line of cheese, the free sample line of fudge and the ice cream line.  Terry didn’t leave empty handed either.  He walked out with his purchase of a block of their Colby cheese.

We always have to taste the samples and the ice cream too!

No one else would pose in the Love Loaf so I had to!

The afternoon wasn’t over yet.  Cape Meares Lighthouse was only about 8 miles from where we were.  It would be a shame to miss that.  At least that’s what I thought and since  I was driving that’s where we went. 



The coastal area at Cape Meares is not the same as the sandy beach at Rockaway.  They are both beautiful but in different ways.



Does everyone put as much in a day as we sometimes do?  It had already been quite a day and it was definitely time to start heading back.  We still needed to get those shellfish licenses for the next day.

First, I needed to make one more stop at the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center.  This is an amazing place.  However, the stop was to replace a small piece of fabric I had bought a couple weeks ago.  I made the mistake of telling Tammi about it.  She wanted it so I mailed the 1/2 yard I had to her in New Jersey.   I have no clue what I’ll do with the fabric but where else would I find any again with an Oregon and Washington theme?

Also, UpriverDavid reminded me about the "darn nice" state park in the area.  He is so right.  Nehalem Bay State Park is just across the bay from where we have been.  It is one of the nicest state parks we have been to.  It's in a great location and the sites are big.  Fort Stevens State Park is also another really nice one between Seaside and Astoria.   One thing you can say about Oregon is that they do have some great state parks and especially the ones on the coast..

Last stop was back at the Jetty Fishery for licenses.  This is the place we have done our crabbing over the last few years.  Sometimes we threw our nets off the dock and other times we rented a boat.  This is also where we bought our smaller 8 HP motor last year.  It’s definitely a fun place to stop.  They usually have lots of fresh crabs, clams and oysters.  If you catch them, they’ll even cook them for you.  Or, they will cook the ones for you they caught.  Now that's really fresh.

That was it!  Except Jordie decided to soak in the hot tub.  I couldn’t resist and joined her.  Then, it was back to the motorhome to fix dinner!

I'm posting on Sunday.  Today is Jordie's 16th birthday.  Lee and Sabrina are driving down for the day to help her celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Jordie!!