Cutting & packaging blocks of cheddar
Separating curds & whey
There were a variety of cheeses to sample, including these squeaky cheese curds.
If we would've had the RV (with its refrigerator) we would have purchased some cheese. We did purchase ice cream; there were so many flavors to try but we chose hazelnut salted caramel, mint chip, strawberry, & chocolate peanut butter. We wanted [deep fried] cheese curds too, but they were only serving breakfast. This was the only place on the entire trip that A & I were asked about our veilings.
Next we drove 2 hours to Multnomah Falls near Portland. It was full so we had to circle the parking lot looking for a spot. The boys weren't interested so they stayed in the van; A & I are the waterfall enthusiasts in this family so we headed up to the falls.
Once R found a parking spot he came as far as the bridge, but by then A & I had set off hiking for the top. The sign said "Top of the Falls 1 mi." and we thought 'piece of cake'. But we didn't factor in being prepared, like with water bottles and bathroom breaks. The trail seemed to go on & on. The switchbacks were labeled and when we got past 5 of 11 we concluded we were only halfway, so we made the decision to head back down. However, after we turned around we came to a mile marker that said 3/4 mi. Ahhh, we were almost to the top!!! We gave up too quick. We had several switchbacks to go, but less than 1/4 mi.! In spite of it, I'm so glad we added this stop to our itinerary.
We headed for Seattle next. Can you believe Washington does not have a welcome sign on I-5?! There was a small green sign that said "Entering WA" but that was all. I was trying to get a picture of every state sign, but WA was not accommadating.
We managed to hit rush hour traffic in both Tacoma and Seattle. Lucky us.
We got up close to the famous Seattle landmark- the Space Needle.
Once again something that would not have been possible in the RV.
The original plan to get a rental car to navigate around in Seattle was already taken care of.
I really wanted to see Pike's Place Market too, but R declared he was DONE with city driving at rush hour so we found a parking lot and just waited till the appointed hour to meet my cousin & her husband. One compliment we have for Seattle is they are friendly folks and very nice about letting tourists merge. (We have a 'bone to pick' with Sarasota FL about that.)
The Bylers took us to a Japanese restaurant. This was not the Americanized Japanese cooking we are familiar with- this was the real deal. A tiny place with only about 1/2 dozen tables, and we never did catch the name of the place. The menu was like Greek to us, but J & D coached us through ordering. We got to try a seaweed salad with chopsticks (some of us liked it, some definitely did not); I wish I would've taken a picture of it. The waiter brought us bowls of some kind of broth with something green floating in it that J said was probably another variety of seaweed. My dish (on the left) was rice with fried chicken, which was fabulous. R's dish on the right was something similar.
We all left "stuffed", except JS who doesn't do rice. He had the misfortune of a double serving of teriyaki chicken that was blackened on the outside but undercooked on the inside, which was unfortunate because the rest of us would go back to this restaurant in a heartbeat. Thank you, D & J, for treating us to a great cultural experience!
We went to the Byler's house to see where they live. Very cute place. I was surprised to learn we are the first of the cousins to pay them a visit in Seattle.
Next they took us to Kerry Park for a good view of Seattle at sunset.
We were "wowed" by the huge shipping port
I was hoping for a ferry boat ride but that didn't work out.
Unfortunately we had to rush off and drive to Everett WA that night yet. We would've loved to spend more time exploring Seattle. Maybe some day we can go back.
to be continued...
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