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Borrego Springs, CA

Friday, July 15, 2011

A very sweet day!

On my way to Robyn’s this morning, I stopped off at one of those hand wash car places to get the poor Focus cleaned up.  It was more than worth it to me to have it cleaned inside and out for $20.  I’m not one to keep the car in sparkling clean condition, and the dust that coated the inside has been there since last summer.  I got all that dust on the back roads around Yellowstone.  Shameful, really, but it’s just not high on my priority list.  Maybe, if I were a guy, I’d feel differently about it.  At any rate, the car looks better now than it has since I drove it off of the dealer’s lot over two years ago.  They even got most of Emma’s hair off of the back seats. Smile  Sweet!!

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Once I got that taken care of, we were soon off to the Albanese Candy Factory in Merrillville, IN.  Turns out it was only about a 15 minute drive from Robyn’s house.  I had found out about this place on a website I have about factory tours across the United States.  I like factory tours, and that’s how I found out about the cows at Fair Oaks Farms.  Compared to Fair Oaks Farms, this was a real disappointment. 

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The tour, if you could call it that, consists of walking on a boardwalk above the sales floor and listening to three short videos as you walk along.  We did see thousands of red gummy bears coming off of the belt through three windows, but that was about it.  The windows where you view their chocolate making operation were shuttered, so three windows with no one doing anything was about it.  I was not impressed.

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Once you get back down on the sales floor, the selection was amazing.  You can have free samples of anything you would like to try, and I took advantage of that in the chocolate section.  What did I end up with?  Some chocolate covered raisins, dark chocolate toffee bars, and dark chocolate covered pretzel balls.  I’ve got enough chocolate to satisfy me for months.  I’m not big on sweets, but a nice piece of chocolate is nice now and then.

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I’m more of a salty crunchy type of person, and I just may have to go back before I head south for some flavored sesame sticks, or something like that.

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They did have a large selection of sugar-free candies for folks with that dietary need.  I never did make it into the gummy bear section.  The girls were getting a little antsy by then.  Luckily, they are young enough to not realize we were in a candy store.  I’m just sorry I didn’t get any shots of them while they ate their Oscar the Grouch rice crispy bars.  The green frosting that covered the round Oscar on a stick, was all over their hands and faces.  What a mess, but it sure kept them busy on the drive back to the house.  Smile

 

So, if you’re ever in need of a candy fix, this is the place to go.  But I sure wouldn’t recommend going here  expecting a ‘must see’ factory tour.  It was a sweet day, for sure!

 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

19 comments:

  1. All that candy and chocolate would have me dizzy! The gummies and the crunchies are too much for my teeth to handle but the melt in your mouth chocolate would be heaven! Cheers! ~M

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  2. I like factory tours too, but alas there are few that are really good!

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  3. totally a sweet and tasty day!!..

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  4. So were the babes in your clean car with their green frosting-covered hands? You may have to go back to that car wash ;)

    At least you got some good chocolate...that's always a good thing.

    Sweet dreams.

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  5. Bummer about the tour. I'm glad you got some good dark chocolate out of the deal.

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  6. Hey, you got chocolate and some free at that!! So what if the tour wasn't all that great! It looks good by your pictures!!

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  7. I like to go on factory tours, too, but some are definitely better than others, and sometimes we time it at the wrong time of the year when nothing much is being produced. I enjoyed reading about your "sweet" day!

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  8. yes it looks like you made a sweet deal... I too am not a big sweets person but do like an occasional piece of dark chocolate...

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  9. "I’m not one to keep the car in sparkling clean condition, Maybe, if I were a guy, I’d feel differently about it." Hey, I'm a guy & I feel exactly the same way about that 'sparkling clean' stuff as you do. I kind of lost that sparkly clean idea somewhere this side of the teen age years. Nice close up header pic & of course a very 'Sweet' post:))

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  10. I really don't like factory tours at all, but went to the Gummy Bear factory in California. It was interesting, but sounds about like your tour only it covered a huge amount of space. I guess I'm just not a tour person.

    I've heard it said that guys keep their cars clean and their apartments/houses trashy, whereas women keep a clean house and a trashy car. That applies to my daughter and one of my sisters, for sure. I don't fit anywhere because I don't usually worry about housekeeping, nor do I obsess over a sparkly clean car.

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  11. That sure is a lot of candy. I would have a hard time getting Angela out of there.

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  12. Believe it or not, I am not a candy person..I would, however, be all over a tour of the Cinnabon factory!! Sounds like you all had a great day for sure!

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  13. I want to on the record and say that not all guys are crazy about cleaning vehicles. I know one for sure-me.

    I count every rain shower as a car and motorhome wash. Since it has not rained in several weeks, the equipment is starting to look real bad. If it fails to rain soon, I may be forced to look for the wash hose and associated gear-maybe:)

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  14. If we don't vacuum inside our car soon one of us is going to sprain an ankle on all those little rocks rolling around on the floor in there! Apparently, neither of us got the cleaning gene. :)

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  15. I had to brush my teeth after looking at all that candy!!!

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  16. I got a sugar high just looking at the pictures!

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  17. Very nice header shot. I bet he wins the challenge of getting to the food. Kids in a candy shop...what a combination.
    Take care and going to a candy shop via blog is the best way to stay out of trouble around sweets.

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  18. I really like the Challenger's picture too. If you don't mind, I'd like to download the picture to paint later.
    Have you been to the Jelly Belly Factory in CA? It is kind of interesting when they are actually working during the week.

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  19. I'm with you on the car wash thing....I did finally break down yesterday and washed my truck..I was ashamed of myself...didn't get the inside done though. I can't believe they let you take lots sample with..YUM...

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