Some Like It Hot

Not me!

Not the weather...

Not mustard!

We stopped in Pendleton, OR for the night. When we pulled into the campground it was over 100 degrees. The campground had a lot of concrete and only a few, small trees. I was not a happy camper! The next morning we went by Barhyte Specialty Foods. They don't advertise it, but if you ask, they will give you a tour of the plant. Here Mike, with his beard net, since he hadn't shaved all weekend, tells us about the mustard that they use as a base. (Am I the only one who sees him as a big, blue Smurf?!) He is leaning against a container of 'white' mustard that will be used in a variety of recipes.

This is an overview of almost the entire operation. Unfortunately, when we were touring the facility everyone was  on lunch break. 

The mustard is mixed in vats you can barely  see through the large window at the back of the picture. This day they were processing Aioli Garlic Mustard. The mixers are about 5 feet in height. Once all of the ingredients are mixed they are pumped into the bottling room in the foreground. Bottles are cleaned, then filled and capped. They receive a plastic sleeve that is shrink-wrapped around the cap. Next they get a label and they are boxed for shipment. We were both surprised that there is no heating involved in making the mustard, but since it has a lot of vinegar that acts as a preservative. We stopped by the factory store and bought a variety of mustards, then we headed across town to tour the Pendleton Wool Mill. 

This particular mill spins the yarn and then weaves their signature blankets. Here the roving (slim batts of wool) is being spun into a thread. Later it will be put on another spool that will then be used with the looms. 

This loom is weaving a fairly simple blanket. Other looms in the plant weave more elaborate 'Jacquard' patterns. 

The blankets are inspected and piled into a huge stack, still attached to each other, and sent to another Pendleton factory in Washington for washing and finishing.

Following our tours we happily returned to the campground, hooked up the camper and headed west. We stopped for the evening in Cascade Locks, OR. Thankfully, this campground has shade! We hooked our camper up and I took the dogs for a walk. I returned to find our camper spewing water! We had our own cascade! A connection under the kitchen cabinets had broken and water was running across the kitchen floor. Gee, what a great opportunity to wash the floor! Hubby got a cap to repair the connection and we are now high and dry! Luckily this didn't happen when we were gone from the camper for a few hours. That would have been a terrible mess!
We'll be staying here for a few days visiting family and friends. Are any of my west coast blog friends nearby? We could swing by to say, "Hi!"