Thursday and today is Jelly Belly day!!!! We grab a quick breakfast and head over to the factory. It's Thursday and April so we figure it will be quiet at the Jelly Belly Factory… WRONG! We wait about 40 mins in line for the tour and end up be the first couple in one of the groups. They give you a cute little paper hats to wear (safety and cleanliness reasons I am sure but probably also to see people wear silly hats.)
As we are waiting for our turn, we talk to the employee at the front of the line and find out he is an executive for the company and today being the Thursday before EASTER it is the second busiest day of the year. LOL Only Bill and I can pick a random day on our roadtrip and have it be the second busiest day of the year… duh… So we take the tour through the factory and its very neat. They really have a brilliant set up with viewing area for almost every step of the way with video from the Modern Marvels episode about Jelly Beans. Did you know Jelly Belly makes Candy corn? Gummi Bears? Sunkist fruit gems? Well I didn't. They also have a whole line of chocolates called JBZs… basically M&Ms with flavored shells (Bill's coments - actually much better than plain old M&M's). Apparently their owner was one of the first to ever make candy corn. I am shocked! I never knew!What is a Belly Flop? This was something I learned about as well. When Jelly Bellies are made they have this totally cool machine that sorts all the beans out. First if tumbles through and pulls out all the beans too small. Than it tumbles out all the perfect beans, once this has been completed the machine filters out all the too big beans. The imperfect beans are then mixed and bagged and sold as Belly Flops. At Christmas we got a box of Jelly Beans in the office and everyone seemed to enjoy them so when I saw the Belly Flops I bought a case (24 pounds) to bring back. Bill and I are going to split it up and make sure everyone that wants any Belly Flops can have some. So just drop by my desk next week and I will make sure I have a flavor menu so you won't grab a roasted garlic or jalapeno unless you really want one. Although… roasted garlic is quite surprisingly yummy.
Once you leave the tour they give you free samples of the Jelly Bellys and JBZs to take (this tour is free… and they still give you goodies!) there is also a sample "bar" basically you get to go up to the bar and taste any of the flavors they have available. I grabbed a roasted garlic and, while skeptical, I popped it in my mouth… I am utterly shocked that I like it. I also grab up a "Unconventionally" HOT Cinnamon gummi bear. YUMMO! Oh yes and then there was pomegranate. Ohhh yummo!
So Bill and I head over to the wall of Beans. We know we are bringing back the Belly Flops for friends but we must have beans to munch on the way home! We buy too many and then head out. Oh and for those Jelly Belly fanatics out there, they have a little diner in the visitors center that sells Jelly Belly shaped pizza, hamburgers etc.
On the way in we noticed signs for an Olive Oil tasting place. When I realized (months ago) that we would be driving through Northern CA I had hoped we could find some places that make Olive Oil. So when we saw the sign we made sure and stopped by. We tasted several types of oils and vinegar. There was a video on how they press the olives to make the oil that was fascinating. They have infused vinegars and oils that are fabulous and made locally by monks. The best ones there were the tangerine and pomegranate balsamic so we grab up 2 bottles and a bottle of a nice Tuscan Olive Oil to mix for salads.
We now have quite the collection of food stuffs. A jar of green chili made in Santa Fe, Olive oil and vinegars made in CA and marinated garlic and garlic spread also from CA. Not to mention about 27 pounds of Jelly Bellies straight from the factory. LOL
This morning we researched and discovered there are only a couple more Sonic Drive Ins left on our path home (although now we know there is one near Portland which I can get to more often then once every 3 years.) so we drive a little off our intended route for lunch. Bill is now thoroughly addicted and is a bit bummed that there are no Sonics in Seattle. Hey anyone out there want to start a restaurant? I hear Sonics do good business. Hehe
After lunch we hit the road and are headed up to the Redwoods. We will be stopping before we hit there this evening and then spend most of tomorrow among the giants. The weather said cloudy and 60s but its only a little cloudy and it is definitely above 70. So we are happy with our weather today. I hear there is a major cold front headed through much of the country and we are just glad it is not raining. Although the 10 day forcast says we will see rain all week once we are back home… Ahh Seattle, I have missed my kitties but I really have not missed the rain… when will it end? Ah well at least I got a break from it. Summer is just around the corner.
Streets and Trips has sent us off on another questionable but beautiful path. State Road 36 across the Klamath Mountains from Sacramento to Eureka, CA. I have a feeling in hunting season the road is chalk full of people but this time of year it is silent. We drive up and down mountains the road curving with the earth and dipping frequently. The view is incredible and so are my nerves… I seem to do well with the cliff sides for several hours each time but then I become concerned with whether we will ever find out way out of the forests. Going from highways with a 75 mile an hour speed limit to areas where it is not safe to drive more then 25-30 tends to make time slow to a crawl. Dozen of times along the road we stop to watch the deer as they meander across the road and graze on the hill side. Animals in this area seem to respect cars and steer clear of them but do not seem afraid of humans but are wary.
We now have quite the collection of food stuffs. A jar of green chili made in Santa Fe, Olive oil and vinegars made in CA and marinated garlic and garlic spread also from CA. Not to mention about 27 pounds of Jelly Bellies straight from the factory. LOL
This morning we researched and discovered there are only a couple more Sonic Drive Ins left on our path home (although now we know there is one near Portland which I can get to more often then once every 3 years.) so we drive a little off our intended route for lunch. Bill is now thoroughly addicted and is a bit bummed that there are no Sonics in Seattle. Hey anyone out there want to start a restaurant? I hear Sonics do good business. Hehe
After lunch we hit the road and are headed up to the Redwoods. We will be stopping before we hit there this evening and then spend most of tomorrow among the giants. The weather said cloudy and 60s but its only a little cloudy and it is definitely above 70. So we are happy with our weather today. I hear there is a major cold front headed through much of the country and we are just glad it is not raining. Although the 10 day forcast says we will see rain all week once we are back home… Ahh Seattle, I have missed my kitties but I really have not missed the rain… when will it end? Ah well at least I got a break from it. Summer is just around the corner.
Streets and Trips has sent us off on another questionable but beautiful path. State Road 36 across the Klamath Mountains from Sacramento to Eureka, CA. I have a feeling in hunting season the road is chalk full of people but this time of year it is silent. We drive up and down mountains the road curving with the earth and dipping frequently. The view is incredible and so are my nerves… I seem to do well with the cliff sides for several hours each time but then I become concerned with whether we will ever find out way out of the forests. Going from highways with a 75 mile an hour speed limit to areas where it is not safe to drive more then 25-30 tends to make time slow to a crawl. Dozen of times along the road we stop to watch the deer as they meander across the road and graze on the hill side. Animals in this area seem to respect cars and steer clear of them but do not seem afraid of humans but are wary.
When we saw the sign that said "9% Grade next 2 miles" Bill and I agreed that neither of us had ever seen a 9% grade. So when we saw this:
we became a little concerned. We have driven more then 5000 miles on our trip and we have never seen a grade like this for this extended length of road not to mention it is overwhelmed with hairpin turns:
we became a little concerned. We have driven more then 5000 miles on our trip and we have never seen a grade like this for this extended length of road not to mention it is overwhelmed with hairpin turns:I was fine until I could smell the brakes burning. We pulled over and gave them a chance to cool down. Then made the rest of the way down the hill. After we got to 101 we decided to stop at a little Brew Pub for dinner. The food was excellent and the locals were cute. Lots of cowboys in jeans and hats. hehe
Well we decided to crash here at the local generic chain motel. Tomorrow I walk among the giants... Night.
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