The Most Delicious of Posts

Leaving Nehelem, we were excited to be getting close to Tillamook, home of the Tillamook cheese factory! We stopped for the night at an RV park just before the cheese factory.

Our route from Nehelem to Tillamook, 25 more miles for a total of 405 miles pedaled. 

On our way out of Nehelem, we stopped at a local dinner for breakfast. Well, it was breakfast for us, but as usual, we didn't leave camp until around 11:30 am so by the time we got to the diner it was actually lunch time.

Diner getting breakfast in Nehelem

Enjoying the scenery at Wanda’s café and bakery.

After a great lunch, we passed by a sign advertising wine tasting, so even though it was a mile off the route, I couldn't pass it up.

Couldn't pass up a wine tasting opportunity!

We turned off the 101 and passed by some farms when we finally saw the winery. The building itself was very pretty and I was super excited about the wines!

Corner view of the winery

Nehelem Bay Winery is a very small winery that doesn't have a vineyard; they import their grapes from the well-known Willamette Valley. They don’t sell to any distributors so the only way to get their wines is to stop at the winery. Their tasting room was very cute with lots of adorable wine-themed decorations. I was surprised they didn't charge us for the tasting, every winery I've been to in California charges at least $5.

Tasting the awesome wines at Nehelem Bay Winery.

Turns out, their wines were absolutely FANTASTIC. So good, in fact, I decided to ship home three bottles. My favorite was the Pinot Noir, although the Cabernet, Ethan’s favorite, was a close second. I had never heard of the Merechal Foch grape before staying at the Bike Inn, but it turns out that Nehelem Bay Winery also has a Merechal Foch wine. But what surprised me the most about this winery was their absolutely delicious fruit wines. I've tasted fruit wines before that were just so sweet they were syrupy. These wines perfectly balanced the sweetness with the fruit flavor and were undeniably delicious. I sent home two of these, the Cranperé (a cranberry reisling blend), and the Valley Peach (a peach reisling blend). Mom and dad – I shipped these to you but you better not open them before I get home!

Well, between leaving late, stopping for lunch, and wine tasting, we didn’t make it to Tillamook in time to go to the cheese factory that night. So we stopped just before at Bob’s RV park and pitched the tent.

Site at Bob’s RV Park

The nice thing about staying at RV parks is that unlike State Parks, they typically have laundry facilities and wifi access which is how posts like this one get to you!

The next morning, we got a bit of an earlier start because when the winds picked up, all the sudden we were assaulted with the very strong smell of horses from a nearby farm. Needless to say, we packed up camp faster than we’ve ever packed before.

Our first stop of the day was of course at the Tillamook Cheese Factory!

Entering the Tillamook Cheese Factory

Tillamook cheese is sold in grocery stores in L.A., so I've been a big fan of their sharp cheddar for quite some time. At the factory, you get to watch as giant blocks of cheese are cut to size and packaged.

SO MUCH CHEESE

They also make ice cream at the factory and it is quite delicious. My personal favorite flavor is the Tillamook Mudslide, a delicious chocolatey combination of fudge and ice cream.

Getting a taste of their ice cream.

Anyway, that’s it for the delicious post! Our next stop was at a Casino where I continued my Blackjack losing streak—more about that in my next post. Of course, if you want more up to date information about our current location, check out the “Track my Tour” link. It’s in the right sidebar if you’re viewing on a laptop or I’ve got the link for you here if you’re on mobile!