An Oregon Tillamook Ice Cream Taste Test

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Tillamook Ice Cream! We are in Washington visiting my family here. Earlier we all took a visit to see the Tillamook Creamery where they make all sorts of tasty treats! One of those treats is Ice Cream! 

Tillamook makes over 20 different kinds of ice cream, so in order to limit that a little bit, I thought it might be fun to focus on the ice cream flavors that are Oregon specific. That's why today we have 5 flavors to sample. 

Oregon Strawberry - Sweet strawberry ice cream with ripe Oregon strawberry pieces.

Oregon Hazelnut and Salted Caramel - Smooth hazelnut ice cream with a ripple of rich, salted caramel and bits of Oregon hazelnuts.

Marionberry Pie - Rich vanilla ice cream with pie crust pieces and ripe Oregon marionberries.

Mountain Huckleberry - Creamy vanilla ice cream with a tart huckleberry swirl.

Oregon Dark Cherry - Rich, dark cherry ice cream with ripe pieces of sweet Oregon dark cherry pieces. 

Visiting Fort Clatsop - Lewis and Clark's Winter Home during their 1805-1806 Expedition

Earlier today we were in Tillamook Oregon visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Dad, who is a big US history buff, suggested it would be fun to head up the coast a little to Fort Clatsop. What's at Fort Clatsop? You might remember in your US history books that way back when, Lewis and Clark made their way across Northern America. Once they reached the Pacific Coast, it was winter and they needed a place to stay. Their party built Fort Clatsop! Let's explore!

Visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory - 2022/07/15

Today we get to go on another fun factory tour! Last year we were on the East Coast and got to try out all the different cheeses from the major cheese producer Cabot. This year we're on the West Coast at the other major cheese manufacturer Tillamook! 

Best of all, they have a factory tour, store, and cafe, so we're going to be overwhelmed with cheese today!

Pizza at Home - Smoked Meat Pizza

We're in Washington visiting my brother and his whole family! Not only that but all the rest of my family is here too! One of the things my brother has been taunting us with before the visit were his smoked meats from his wood smoker grill! Let's put that on a pizza!

Visiting Battle Ground Washington with family - 2022/07/11-20

We're in Washington visiting my brother, his wife, and their four kids, but it could be more... Earlier in the year we already knew when we'd be up here and we suggested that everyone in the Flowers family should come visit. Jon and Jess were more than willing to let everyone stay with them and so just a couple days after we arrived, Megan, Patrick, and Avery hopped on a plane. 

Along with Mickey and Sheila! 

Chuck E Cheese Cotton Candy Taste Test

Chuck E Cheese is where a kid can be a kid! There's so many prizes to choose from, but the best way we've found to spend our tickets is for cotton candy! While you can get a large Tootsie Roll for 60 tickets, or a sucker for 80, a whole bag of cotton candy is only 300 tickets!  

Charles Entertainment Cheese and his friends make lots of cotton candy fresh in the store every day!

Portland Fairview RV and a visit with the Flowers family - 2022/07/11-20

It's another travel day and this time we're heading to a place we're really looking forward to!

We've had a fun time with the Alpacas at Lone Ranch, but it's time to be moving on. Today we've got about 6 hours ahead of us as we drive from the south side of Oregon to the very north side of Oregon. 

Here's where we're staying. The Portland Fairview RV park. It was easy enough to get to our pull-through and park the RV, and even though we're here for 10 days, we're not actually going to be spending much time here.

Taco Bell Cheddar Crisps Taste Test Comparison

I know everyone likes Taco Bell, but what about Taco Bell Cheddar Crisps? Megan bought these for me a long time ago, and now that we're in Colorado, we get a chance to taste them together! 

There are 3 different flavors available. Mild Sauce flavor, Fire Sauce flavor, and Nacho flavor. 

The Flowers Explore - Alpacas at Lone Ranch in Oregon

It's time to get on the road again and today we're going someplace really special! The RV resorts we go to are nice and all, but they're all somewhat the same. The really unique experiences come when we visit a Harvest Host location (a host that opens their land for 1 night stays in return for a ~$20 purchase of whatever they sell. 

Knowing how much the kids love animals, we were very excited to be going to an Alpaca farm! Let's go!

Today we'll be going on a bit of a longer drive. About 6 hours including all the stops. 

Pizza at Home - Curry Pizza with Jacob

It's Sunday and that means it's pizza day! And we have Jacob over! Jacob is a big fan of curry, and so it wasn't too difficult to figure out the inspiration for today's pizza. You guessed it! Curry!

Jelly Belly Jelly Beans Museum and Sales Floor - 2022/07/08

After spending the first half of the day exploring the actual Jelly Belly Factory, now it's time to explore the museum and sales floor!

We don't have to walk to the museum either! Our paid factory tour also gets us a ride on the "train"! The train engineering made sure we had our hats (which doubled as our tickets) and we loaded onto the cars!

Jelly Belly Jelly Beans Factory Tour - 2022/07/08

Today we're headed to see a factory tour that everyone should love. The Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Factory! They make some of the best jelly beans in the world! It's been a really long time since we've been here. Our last visit was way back in 2018!

Lake Minden RV Park - 2022/07/07-09

Welcome to our next stop! Lake Minden!

Lake Minden RV Park, just a little bit north of Sacramento California and only a 3 hour drive from our last campground. 

Morgan Hill RV Park Pt 2 - 2022/06/26-07/06

We are in Central California at Morgan Hill RV. I have loved all the activities they have had to offer for the busy July 4th week that we're here! The kids want to do them all!

M&M Munchums and M&M Crunchy Cookie Taste Test Comparison

There's quite a variety of M&M flavors out there to try. We tried 17 different kinds all at one time back in 2017, which was pretty crazy. Now M&M has decided to try something completely different! 

M&M Munchums has decided that instead of a crunchy candy shell, it should have a crunchy baked shell instead. Sounds interesting. Will it be good? Let's find out. 

There's two different flavors of M&M Munchums that I found. A Milk Chocolate flavor and a Salted Caramel flavor. Which one will win? Let's taste them and see!

Because these have a Crisp Center, I thought we should compare it to M&M Crispy. 

Popcornopolis Strawberries and Cream popcorn taste test

Who loves popcorn? We love popcorn! And if it's flavored it has the potential to be even better than regular buttered popcorn. 

Popcornopolis makes some of our favorite coated popcorn, like Zebra corn, so when Theresa saw this at Costco she suggested we get it to try for a taste test. 

Pizza at Home - Gilroy Garlic and smoked Tri-tip Pizza - California

We're in California! California is such a big state I think we can make a bunch of different pizzas with a California theme, don't you think? 

Right now we're in Central California, near Gilroy. Gilroy is the Garlic Capital of the World, so we can definitely theme a pizza to that! 

Gilroy Garlic Taste Test

Welcome to Gilroy! Gilroy California is the Garlic Capital of the World! And you can totally tell it! When we hopped out of the truck, the air had the perfume of garlic! 

Will Rogers once stated that "Gilroy is the only town I know where you can marinade a steak by hanging it on the clothesline."

We're visiting around the time of year of the famed Gilroy Garlic Festival, but sadly, it is still on hiatus this year. We'll have to figure out what we can do instead. 

Morgan Hill RV Park Pt 1 - 2022/06/26-07/06

It was a fun time seeing the giant sequoia trees and visiting Fresno to see the fruit trail. Now it's time to move on!

Our travels today will take us about 4 hours over towards San Jose California, just north of the town of Gilroy! 

Yosemite National Park - Day 3 - 2022/06/30

It's been a fun couple days in Yosemite! Today is our last day exploring the beautiful valley of Yosemite!

Yosemite National Park - Day 2 - 2022/06/29

It's Day 2 for us here in the Yosemite Valley! Let's see what all the day brings!

Yosemite National Park - Day 1 - 2022/06/28

We love visiting National Parks, and this is one that's always been high up on our list. Yosemite!

Friesen Family Farms Peach and Nectarine Taste Test

It's time for the latest round of fruity taste tests! I love it when we visit different farms and can get lots of different varieties of fruits. It's only when you taste them all together that you can really appreciate the differences between them and get the best idea of what you really like. We've tried dozens of different kinds of apples from New York, Colorado, and Napa, California Dates from Palm Springs, and Oranges from Florida. 

We're in Fresno and on the Fresno Fruit Trail! One of the places we visited, Friesen Family Farms, had 7 different varieties of peaches and nectarines that were ripe and ready! Let's try them all!

Today we're having both Nectarines and Peaches. In the Nectarine camp, we'll have Summer Flame #27, Summer Flame #24, and Grand Bright. In the Peach camp, there's Sierra Rich, Zee Rich, Bright Princess, and July Flame!

Pizza at Home - Fresno Fruit Trail Pizza with Naylor Organics Peaches and The Berry Lady Blueberries

Happy Sunday! We're near Fresno and one of the things we love about this city is the Fresno Fruit Trail! Continuing our theming of California based pizzas, this week I am making a pizza based on the tasty fruits we pick up!

Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches

We love trying all sorts of new Oreo treats. This one though might be one of the best! An Oreo frozen dessert! 

Our RV freezer doesn't get the temperature low enough for these to be frozen solid, so we knew we'd have to eat them as soon as we got to the truck for them to taste the best. 

I guess technically they are just Oreo Sandwiches, not Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches, because it doesn't have enough dairy fat in it to be called ice cream. 

The Flowers Explore - The Fresno Fruit Trail - The Berry Lady, Friesen Farms, Naylor Organics, and more! - 2022/06/25

We're in the middle of California and happen to be near Fresno! It's June which is the perfect time to take a trip down the Fresno Fruit Trail! We had a lot of fun going to a lot of different places back in 2008 with Theresa's parents, and I hope we can go back to a few of the places we loved before! Let's check it out!

Ian loses his 9th tooth - 2022/08/19

Another tooth? Already? 
Actually this one is coming out a little prematurely. 

The Flowers Explore - Sequoia National Park Pt 2 - 2022/06/23

Having spent the first half of our day looking at all the giant Sequoias in Grant's Grove, our next hike took us over to the Big Stump Picnic Area. Logging in the area took out many of the old grove trees here, but we can still go an appreciate the size of them.