Squeeky Squeek...

Some might be asking what the title means and I am just so inclined to explain this haha! When I came to visit my in laws in the Spring/Summer of 2009 they introduced me to this type of cheese known as Tillamook cheese. Whoever knew that cheese could make such a difference in a persons life haha. Well it did! When we moved up here Matt's sister Kaylee and Bryce invited us to go to Tiallmook with them and see for ourselves how this said cheese was made. The best part about all of this was they hand out free samples along the way and they make some of the best ice cream known to man! They have 36 flavors but only sale a select few at stores around the area. It was a treat none the less. So as we entered the factory I was automatically amazed by the amount of people who actually had the same idea. I guess it wasn't such a great idea to go when some school somewhere was on Spring Break but enjoyed the scenery just as much. So back to the explanation about the title....there were the free cheese samples and they name their cheese curds as "Squeeky Squeek" because they literally squeek on your teeth! It was the greatest cheese I have EVER EVER EVER eaten! Then I took a sample of all the rest. WOW!!! It was a dairy lovers heaven in that factory. After munching on all the goodies we proceeded upstairs to see how exactly this yumminess is packaged for sale to cheese lovers like myself. This was a very fun process to watch. There were a lot of blades cutting the cheese into the precise blocks that get sent to the stores and let me tell you the people performing these jobs did not act happy about it at all! So I stood in the window to where they could see me and let me tell you they looked up more than anything so I just smiled AWAY!!!! Overall it was a great experience. We ended the day with some of the yummy ice cream that this factory is known for

Crossing Country

This past month has consisted of a lot of fun events which all lead up to the "Crossing" of the country! As a small child I loved playing the game the Oregon Trail but never thought as an adult I would actually get to travel part of it. By now I am sure many are asking questions as to what I mean by this. Well....on March 17,2010 (St. Patrick's Day and no I was not wearing any green) we set out for our adventure of crossing the United States. We went through many states throughout this journey, Florida (where we lived), Alabama, Mississippi, Lousiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and then finally OREGON! It took us a long four days to make it the distance we needed to travel which totaled to be 2,230 some odd miles. We began our journey at 5:30 am our time on March 17th and arrived at Matt's parents house by 6:00 pm their time, 8:00 pm Central time on March 20th. The days consisted of driving 12-16 hours at a time but nevertheless worth every minute. The first night we stopped in Denton, TX then continued on to drive to Grand Junction, CO! There is a funny story behind this drive as we were trying to out run a snow storm that was due to hit Denver an hour after we were scheduled to pass through so we had to hightail through there. We were going through the Rocky Mountains during nighttime with a trailer hauling my Ranger and not able to see what curves, etc that were up ahead. We used the GPS to navigate our next move through the caynons and so on! It was a very stressful night to say the least. We ended up in Grand Junction, CO after a grueling 16 hour drive. The next morning we decided to sleep in a little bit and drove to Bosie, ID where we stayed with Matt's Aunt Penny and Uncle Richard. We were so happy to finally sleep somewhere other than a hotel and see some friendly faces. The later in the trip the later we were getting up to drive! The last day which was the day we arrived here in Oregon (March 20,2010) was a long but progressive day! I got to see my fair share of snow on the roads starting in Colorado and ending in Oregon. Let's just say a long roadtrip brings out the best in people and it was a great experience I am glad I got to share with my husband! I am also really glad we made it here!