Boredom Buster–Hilmar Cheese Factory

 

Not long into our Summer and the kids were already crying they were bored.  We had been cooped up in the house for a few days and we all needed to just go someplace.  So, the question was where do we go on a spur of the moment in the middle of the afternoon for some fun.  The only thing I could think of at the moment was the cheese factory so that’s where we headed. 

Hilmar Cheese Company located in Hilmar California is the world’s largest single-site  cheese manufacturer.   It produces over 1 million pounds cheese each day in Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Colby varieties.  It is less than 30 minutes from where we live and because Steve’s Sister has worked there for years is one of our favorite places to go and visit. 

The Visitor Center has a nice gift shop and deli where you can sit down for a bite to eat either in their indoor dinning room or outside on the covered patio.  You can purchase many different kinds of cheese from all over the world and tasting many of them including the ones they make on site. 

Many of the local schools bring their classes here through out the year for one of the guided tours where the kids can touch and explore the exhibits while learning about the cheese making process.  My kids both went there with their second grade classes.  The highlight of the the trip is where they all make their own individual servings of ice cream. 

Even without the guided tour my kids enjoyed looking through the exhibits.  One of the things that I find most fascinating in the factory is the water recycling process they use.  More than 60% of the water they use is recycled and put back into the facility to wash the equipment, maintain the landscaping including their many waterfalls, and even to support the boilers and the cooling towers. What’s left after that goes back to the local farmers for use in irrigation.   For the kids this is a great lesson in sustainability and how that works and looks in the everyday.

 

We finished up visit with a dish of ice cream and a walk around the grounds.  It was a nice way to kick out the boredom creeping into the our Summer fun.