Tillamook, Oregon: The Tillamook Cheese Factory

Happy New Year, friends! 

I promise I did not forget about this blog. We took some time off from school to hang out and celebrate the holidays with our family and friends. 

Our original plan was to leave the Northwest shortly after the New Year, but as we were wrapping up the holidays we realized that we weren't quite ready to leave. John still has a few things to sort out with the Army and the VA before we get very far from Fort Lewis, which ends up working well because we were having such a good time hanging out with our family and friends we got exactly 1 item checked off of our Washington/Oregon road trip checklist.  So, we're taking an extra two-ish weeks in the Northwest before we start to head south. (California friends, expect us sometime in the last week of January/first week of February!). 

This week we checked the Tillamook Cheese Factory off the list! This was one of the top things on my PNW list because, really, who doesn't love Tillamook Cheese? 

The Tillamook County Creamery Association actually has a couple of factories and warehouses where they make and store their cheeses, sour cream, ice cream, and other products, but only their main factory (which mainly produces cheese) is open to the public.

Outside the building they have the refurbished Morning Star - the boat on the Tillamook logo -on display. The Morning Star was first launched by the people of Tillamook to promote trade with Portland and other coastal towns, which predictably had a significant effect on the residents of the area and earned the boat a spot on the logo.

There's also a cafe (I can't lie, the reviews on the food were mixed. John was not impressed with his Reuben, but I thought the grilled cheese was delicious, so you know, maybe the key is sticking to what you know they're good at), a fudge counter, a gift shop full of Tillamook goodness, and a pretty elaborate ice cream counter, for which the reviews were much more favorable - as evidenced here...

When we asked Rogue what flavor she wanted she replied "pink!

So, of course, we had to partake in some of the Tillamook goodness before heading off on the tour...

Gunnar is looking at samples of what dairy cows are fed.

The tour is self guided, but it is set up well. 

There was a short video at the beginning about the origins of the products that Tillamook uses to make their products (all of the milk they use is from Oregon farms) and the basics about how we get milk, the farms that the cows come from, and what it takes for farms to be successful. And, of course, you get to take your pictures in this awesome farmer and cow cut out. 

There are giant windows around the entire work area, so you get a good view of the factory floor. From here we were able to see the cutting and packaging of the Baby Loaf, which was a bit more complicated than one might think. The kids thought it was particularly interesting that the cheese bricks were trimmed and the trimmings were passed on to a person who was weighing the bricks a little further down the line. If a block was under weight, a piece of the trimmings was added to the brick to bring it to the desired weight. 

The big kids kept talking about how it was "just like How It's Made, but in real life" and Sayer just stood at the windows yelling "CHEESE!". 

While the tour is self guided, there were plenty of signs that provided relevant information. Several windows had big boards over the top that explained what was happening on the floor below and relevant facts about the process. There were also several signs that discussed the history of the Creamery and the community, old tools used to make cheese and butter, and a few computers available with short clips, pictures, and games all related to what they do at Tillamook. Just FYI, in case you ever make it to Tillamook, if I had known I would have come prepared with questions or a scavenger hunt. Because I didn't know, I just sat on a bench in the middle of the bay and asked the kids questions that they went and searched for. 

The best part of the whole tour is this...

That's right, free samples. 

The cheese factory is the only place where you can buy Tillamook cheese curds (which they call Squeaky Cheese) and they were the biggest hit at the sample table. We recently read Little House in the Big Woods, which I'm sure most of you know, has an elaborate description of cheese making. One of the things Laura says is that she loves to eat the cheese curds because they squeak in her mouth, so I'm pretty sure that Patton cleared out the squeaky cheese pan before insisting that we also bring some home. I can't complain, though, it really was delicious. 

So after the tour we took some silly pictures in the Baby Loaf bus with Aunt Melody...

Took pictures in several configurations in front of the Morning Star...

And then hopped in the car and drove to Astoria. 

This field trip was a fast favorite of the Fire Team. Science and ice cream always makes for a good day. 

Thanks for reading, friends! There's lots more to come!