Just Say Cheese

Of course after all that fun and hiking, what do you really want to do?  Eat cheese!  Just down the road from the Tillamook State Forest is the town of Tillamook, well known for it’s cheese.  The factory has been making cheese since the late 1800’s.  It is a cooperative with local member dairy producers to ensure great quality.  They even owned a ship, The Morning Star, that took the cheese up the Pacific to cities along the coast and eventually to Portland.  (I never knew why there was a sailing ship on the Tillamook cheese packages.)

But with roads and improved transportation there is no need for the Morning Star now.  She sits in front of the factory posing for photos.  There are self-guided tours of the factory to view the cheese-making process with cheese samples served at the end. A gift shop and restaurant (famous for the grilled cheese sandwiches) and ice cream in waffle cones ensures that all leave well contented and with sacks of cheese for the road.  Maya very happily ate her samples that we had saved for her.