Off the beaten path to home base

You know how there are certain things that just bring you back to home base? Maybe it’s a song or a particular band or a piece of literature or work of art or a certain friend or a place. The instant you begin experiencing that person, place or thing, you feel connected to your inner voice and everything seems clear and as it should be. The Oregon coast does that for me. I was invited to go with some friends and stay in Rockaway Beach Saturday and Sunday. The picture above was actually taken in Oceanside, which is probably 30-40 minutes south of Rockaway, but it gives you a good idea. The weather on Sunday was perfect. Cool enough in the morning that it was chilly, with a light but visible mist in the air that gives the scene a little more texture. It warmed up into the low 70’s and after attending an hour of church, we made lunch and ate on the beach and laid and talked and soaked up the sun through the light chilly breeze. Perfection.

I was reminded on this trip that often the best experiences are off the beaten path. On the way to Rockaway we passed through Tillamook, home of the Tillamook cheese factory, a popular tourist attraction, especially on beautifully sunny weekends. We stopped there because a couple of people in the group had never been. You can look through windows at the machines that make the cheese and they have videos to watch and various cheddar cheeses to sample. They also have an eatery where you can buy ice cream and burgers and stuff. It’s definitely set up for tourists.

Being at the Tillamook cheese factory also reminded me of an embarrassing experience I had there about a year ago. I went crabbing out at the coast with my department at work for a team building activity and we stopped at the cheese factory for a lunch of burgers. Long story short, I tripped over a railing while carrying those little condiment cups full of ketchup and mustard. I threw my hands out in an effort to steady myself and in the process hurled my condiments against the wall, creating something reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock painting. I wasn’t successful and fell backwards onto the table we were eating at and sat on someone’s burger. Fortunately, someone grabbed the table and kept it from tipping; otherwise, I probably would have sent the table tipping, spilling all its burgers and fries on top of me. It was seriously like a bad slapstick scene in a bad Disney movie.

Fast forward back to this past weekend. Afterwards, someone suggested we go up the road to the lesser known Blue Heron French Cheese Company and check that out. There was no paved parking lot and there were only a handful of cars out front. Their headquarters was an adorable barn with donkeys and emus and llamas to pet. Emus kind of creep me out. We went inside and there was a man behind a counter handing out samples of cheese on crackers. He gave us a sample of smoked brie that blew. my. mind. We also sampled the white licorice ice cream that also blew our minds.

I grew up a conformist, but have developed an attraction to people who like to stray from the well beaten path. It’s served me well.