To the beach!

Hiya Gang,

Little Fox, Cocoa and Navy Beanie here fortifying ourselves before our beach hike. It's still a little chilly and windy so some hot cocoa to start off makes sense. 

Navy and I here (along w/ Haystack Rock) in the background.  Where's Cocoa you ask? Cocoa ditched us to look for remnants of the sand castle contest a few days ago. 

I'm glad that Navy Beanie is able to enjoy the beach and not trigger any lingering trauma from the Mouse Island Tsunami. 

So many cool rock formations. 

Anyone  know what these growths on the rocks are? 

The seabirds are out in full force.  Has anyone seen Cocoa? Should we be scared?  Sneakerwaves?

Little Fox sat me down and told me that he got a text from Cocoa.  Cocoa went to the cheese factory (being that there were no remnants of the sand castle contest just a few days ago). Phooey.

Off to find Cocoa.

About 50 miles south of Cannon Beach Little Fox drove me to the Tillmaook Cheese factory.  I guess a good place to find a mouse is at a free cheese tasting event.   Today's cheeses:

1) Fresh Curds, 2) Aged Cheddar, 3) Colby Jack.

Back before the pandemic they used to sample the more unique cheeses made at Tillamook, sigh.

The cheese process is running strong today.  Looks like they are making cheddar cheese.

Those are 40lbs blocks of cheese.

How does a mouse get a job here? 

You would think that cheese directly from the factory would be cheaper than the grocery store.  Nope, not here. However, it's hard to pas up the unique flavors (curds, chili garlic cheddar, smoked salmon). 

This is the line for the ice cream shop.  It's long, but it goes fast. Little Fox recommends Moose Tracks or Strawberry Cheesecake flavors.

It's hard to miss the cheese factory (according to the internet 1.3 million visit the factory annually).  That's a lot but not as many as Spirit Mountain Casino (3 million) or 2 million at Multnomah Falls).    Of course with an obvious sign like this it's hard to miss.

Shh, don't tell anyone but some of the best fish on the coast is located across the street at the Old Oregon Smokehouse.  Yes, it's in a doublewide and you have to eat in the car or outside but the fish is the best around. 

Well we found Cocoa but where did Little Fox scamper off to?