Fort Stevens, North Coast Oregon, 7/12/07

We pulled out relatively early (for us in vacation mode) and once again headed North on 101. Our plan was to hit the Tillamook cheese factory at noonish. (Considering we were only about 70 miles away one would think this wouldn’t be too difficult). We veered off 101 to do the Scenic Three Cape Loop, but other than that stay focused on our quest for Cheddar Heaven. When mere mortals take the self-tour of the factory they see only packaging lines and hear obscure data about cheese. I knew I was in for a treat being with a manufacturing plant/food science expert – not to mention son of a dairyman. As expected, the tour was so-so (kinda cheesy – pun intended) but Ned made it so much more entertaining and interesting. It was also fun comparing it to the cheese factory we toured last October near Ferndale. We sampled cheese and also felt obliged to taste the Tillamook ice cream too;-) Marionberry for me and Wild Mountain Blackberry for Ned. We continued to meander through various villages and I really enjoyed seeing Cannon Beach. It’s the closest thing to Carmel on the Oregon Coast. Everything else has been working fishing villages or industrial towns. We also noticed that the closer to Portland we came, the harder it was getting a campground. We were shooting for a mid afternoon arrival at Ft. Stevens Campground located at the farthest Northwestern tip of Oregon. Fortunately, we got one of only 6 left. (Not bad considering this campground has close to 500 campsites!). We weren’t too sure of what to expect, but imagined camping in a grassy field within 2 ft. of 500 RV’s! Once again we were very pleasantly surprised. Our campsite isn’t as snug and cozy as the others, but we are very impressed with the history and incredible biking trails. (We biked through lush mixed conifer and broad leaf forest, over bridges & creeks.) We spent the afternoon visiting the Ft. Stevens Museum, viewing the battlegrounds and various batteries (including Russell Battery), touring the sunken Peter Iredale ship and biking for miles and miles in the woods between all the places. One of the most fascinating things I learned was that during WW II Japan launched 6000 Fugo balloons (paper balloons carrying incendiary bombs) towards the U.S. 1000 balloons actually made it to the States, but only about 100 have been located (in Michigan, Texas, California, Montana, Iowa, etc.) or known to have exploded. The only casualties were a minister’s wife and her 6 children on a Sunday outing. (They think one of the kids kicked the downed balloon). The U.S. Govt. forbade the press to publish any information about the balloons for fear of causing panic among the citizens. Makes you wonder where those other 900 or so balloons are?! (Note to self –google Fugo balloons when I get back home and do a little further research on this bizarre piece of history). We have no idea what tomorrow will bring now that we’ve reached the Northern Coast. We are thinking of exploring the Columbian Gorge and then maybe heading down thru the Willamette Valley (I hear they have some good wines) – but who knows what will catch our eye along the way.