Northwest Junk

A recent post has me thinking about this:and this:
Aside from my family, these are probably the two things I miss most about Seattle - Thomas Kemper sodas and Tim's Cascade chips. When I moved to Utah for college, you couldn't get either of these locally. In fact, my Mom used to ship me Tim's, which I would treat like fine wine. Typically, I'd get two or three bags. One was strictly mine, the others were shared generously with other Seattleites and those found worthy of the experience. Ha! I was a bit of a nut. But with flavors like Coney Island (hot dogs and mustard) and steak and onions, so were they. Most of their weird flavors are gone, but I'm still convinced that some of these Seattle-based food companies (Jones Soda is another notable example) make their flavor choices during cannabis-induced cases of the munchies.
Luckily, product planners over at Thomas Kemper have generally avoided that trend, sticking to the classics: Ginger Ale, Cream Soda, Orange Cream Soda, Grape, Black Cherry, and of course, Root Beer. Mmm... their root beer. I wish I could buy you all a glass so you could try it. I've been drinking the stuff since the late 90's and my Mother makes a point of having a cold one in the fridge whenever I visit. Their ginger ale is more of a ginger beer, and really burns going down. It's taken me awhile, but I really like the stuff. Also, their black cherry is the best I've ever tried.
Thankfully, after I returned from Mexico, both of these were available at the Orem Costco (another great Seattle-based company), which makes me wonder if they can be had at one of the local Costcos. Either would certainly be worth the trip.