Marley Makes 3: 6.26.26 Salem, Oregon and Bay City-Tillamook, Oregon

6.23.26

Travel Day! On our way to Premier RV of Salem---We drove past more homeless people than I’ve ever seen. All over the parks, under the bridges, on the street corners even one at the rest stop and she was holding a sign that said “Don’t Judge me.” Hmmm…I will stop right there.

The RV park is pretty nice but not as nice as the one in Caldwell, ID. Believe it or not, I forgot to take a photo of the campsite!

6.24.26

We decide to venture out to find the Costco and Max needed some diesel. Found the Costco…crazy busy!!! There had to be thousands of people in there, cart to cart. And the store was backwards like the Sun Prairie store is.

Found a diesel station at Fred Meyer and when we pulled up, five attendants came toward Al. We thought it was like at Costco where they say hello and ask if you need help. I was thinking “What is going on??? Why are they watching Al?” Al got his diesel pumping gloves on and here we didn’t see the sign but it is a full-service station and Al just continued to pump his own. We had no idea there wee still full-service stations anywhere. The last ones I saw were in Sauk City in the early eighties…the 76 Station and the on the corner of Water and Phillips Blvd, next to Langes and across the street from the Penguin. Can’t remember the name of that one.

Anyway, we got everything back to Mona and Al went and jumped in the hot tub for a bit.

6.25.26

We had a few repairs to make and went in search of a new bathroom faucet and a new CO detector. The RV parts store employee was so very helpful! He sold us what we needed and told us to go to Home Depot for the faucet and told us which one to buy. Al got it all installed.

We didn't do much else here...too much city, so we caught up on laundry, Al used the gym and we met the neighbors!

6.26.26

We met Marcie and her boyfriend (both getting ready for retirement and working on the road) and visited a while. They were parked right next to us and they were talkers! We got going and ended up on a very curvy road with NO shoulders. The TPMS went off and we had to stop at a small pull over to check things out. There was an old mattress and lots of garbage laying around. Not impressed. We moved on… Got to Bay City RV Park and again not impressed. Many long timers. We are parked and all is fine but it’s so damp and rainy here! ICK!!! I haven’t found anything in Oregon that I like yet! We stopped at an RV place and bought a new Valterra valve for Mona so she won’t leak poop.

Bay City RV

6.27.26

We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Creamery. A fun little tour, an underwhelming cheeseburger, tough cheese curds and very pricey gift shop. We had a flight of ice cream…Marionberry pie, strawberry, and Tillamook mudslide. Bought some vanilla and marionberry for later too.

The whole upper level was glass so you could look down into the factory.

Large dining area inside and out.

A Little Tillamook History

Tillamook Cheese was born out of rugged necessity in the 1850s. To solve the challenge of getting surplus dairy over the coastal mountains to Portland, isolated Tillamook farmers built their own schooner, the Morning Star.

1851: European settlers arrived in the Tillamook Valley and discovered the lush coastal climate was perfect for dairy cows.

1894: Renowned cheesemaker Peter McIntosh helped the community introduce proper cheddar-making methods, leading to over three dozen independent factories in the area.

1904: A local cheese won national recognition and took first prize at the World's Fair in St. Louis.

1909: Ten independent creameries banded together to establish a strict, uniform recipe and founded the Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA).

1949: The TCDA built a large, state-of-the-art cheesemaking plant and visitor center, which that is now a Highway 101 attraction.

My Oregon hair. I give up.

Rainy day so we watched movies all afternoon and had BBQ ribs and potato salad from Costco for supper. I will definitely buy those ribs again!!!

Going on a scenic drive tomorrow.

Al found another gravel road.

The Oregon Coast

We went for a drive up HWY 101 up to Garibaldi and took some side roads to the Arch Rocks Beach, a Cape Meares Lighthouse and an Octopus Tree!

The Pacific Ocean

Cape Meares Lighthouse (Oceanside): At just 38 feet tall, this is the shortest lighthouse in Oregon. Decommissioned in 1963, it still houses its original first-order Fresnel lens. It is surrounded by trails where you can spot nesting seabirds and migrating whales.