The Jelly Belly Factory

Somehow a trip to the Jelly Belly factory became one of the destinations for our trip. Going in to today, my kids thought the day would be great. I thought the day would be a terrible disappointment. We ended up meeting somewhere in between, closer to the good side, actually.

The truly shocking thing about the trip (other than the revolting chocolate covered jelly beans) was the quantity of sugar in the building. Giant pallets with a ton of sugar, to be transferred into hoppers which pour into enourmous canisters to be made into substances which gradually overcome your insulin reception ability.

The coolest part of the trip was a giant robot arm which took trays of newly minted candy and arranged them neatly into pancreas killing stacks of sweetness. Not the same motion every time, it adjusted based on the stack to which the candy was delivered and the current height of the stack. Delightful to watch.

The one thing I cannot convey in this blog are the smells and the tastes of the trip. The piney and eggy smell of Yellowstone I won't forget. The smell of snow in July in Glacier is something so strange. The smell of a barf flavored jelly bean that my daughter spit out was enough to revolt me. Jelly Belly now makes a mix of jelly beans with horrible flavors (barf, mouldy cheese, etc) looking exactly the same as their good tasting counterparts. Count me out.