Day 2 - Tillamook, OR

Today at 8:30 a.m. we began to line up our cars for our first official ride-share of the trip. 

Our first stop was at the Tillamook Air Museum. 

In the entrance, Ada Beavers posed with the other military women, as she is a former WAF and they were not represented here.   We learned that Larry and Ada met while they were in the Air Force.

The Air Museum is housed in the largest wooden structure in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records.  This structure was completed in 1943 to house the United States growing fleet of blimps after our entry into World War II.  It measures 1,072’ long (1/5 of a mile long), 296 wide (a football field in width) and 170’ high (or 20 stories high).   There were two of these structures on this site, the second one having burned to the ground in 1992.

On display here is the Mini Guppy, which was used to transport Polaris Missiles.

Additionally, there was a reconstructed Kamikaze plane, the “Oscar” used by the Japanese during WWII.  The only one of its kind in the world that is still airworthy.

Next, we were on to the Pioneer Museum.  This former Courthouse, built in 1905 became a museum in 1935.  There are three floors of displays. 

There were many, many photographs of local families from this area.  One I found interesting was a hand-tinted photograph of seven sisters entitled, “The Hathaway Sisters Sewing.”  Kind of gives a glimpse into the family life in the early 1900’s.  

Spence spent a lot more time in the “gun” room, but he did not have a camera with him.  There were many interesting specimens he had not seen anywhere else.  

Hal, Carol and Gerald admire a fishing basket that washed up on the shores here.  It is 

believed to be of Japanese origin.

It was about 12:30 by now.  Everyone’s thoughts turned to food.  It just so happened our next venue was the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  

We watched the production line from the platform above.  We learned that it takes 10 pounds (1.16 gallons) of milk to make just one pound of Tillamook cheese.  More than 1.7 million pounds of milk are delivered here to the Tillamook factory daily, producing about 167,000 pounds of cheese each day.  That’s a lot of cheese!

There were opportunities to taste all the varieties of cheese, but Susanne and David (and Spence, and several others) opted to taste the wonderful Tillamook Ice Cream. 

We then decided to take a ride to the coast.  As we were leaving, we saw John and Pat taking off on their Honda.  Looks like a fun way to travel. 

We headed south toward Oceanside and took the scenic drive.  On the way we saw road signs that we will probably become familiar with on this trip.  We thought the fog was rolling in, but when we got there, the sun was shining and the views were spectacular.  

After a short stroll on the beach, we headed back to the campground to get ready for our “leftovers” meal.  In the meantime during the day, the park owner Laura had offered us huge pieces of silver salmon for our meal tonight.  They even gave us the exact instructions on how best to cook them.  They were delicious!

Along with what was left over from last night’s meal, there was plenty of food for everyone once again.

Hex and Sandy held our first travel briefing of the trip, followed by another of Sandy’s wonderful pineapple angel food cakes. 

Another great day in the Northwest.

Submitted by:

Spence and Madi Schaaf #2