Vacation Day #3

Today we were off to Tillamook in a mini-family caravan. The drive was long, windy and full of great scenery. Thankfully, our drivers are patient and kind. First we stopped along scenic Highway 101 for a view to the south.
Then we stopped for a view to the north.
Our first stop of the day was the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was a great tour! We watched as 45 pound blocks of medium cheddar and pepper jack cheese being cut into "loaves" and packaged for retail sale. Tatum and Rikard had a million questions about how the factory and production line worked. Keeli napped through the entire tour.

After learning how cheese is made, it was off to the line for FREE SAMPLES. The extended Lyons clan (my parents, Bailey and Rikard) positioned themselves well. Just as they arrived at the front of the line, the hostess dumped new bags of cheese samples on the trays. Apparently, there were no bad samples.
Then, we had a free hour or two to squeeze one more vacation memory into. It was off to the next scenic wonder.


We drove from Tillamook toward the coast and visited the Cape Meares Lighthouse. The walk down to the lighthouse offered several places to view waves crashing against the rocks, ocean going birds and some great rocky landscape.

Then we hiked to the Octopus Tree. This is a very interesting site, the tree is larger than you can imagine and the Native American folklore surrounding it is very interesting.