Mia is back in New Hampshire helping her mom after knee surgery. I couldn’t bear the thought of Codi sitting at home all day while I was gone from 7am to 6pm during the work week. So, what did I do? Took the week off so Codi and I could travel the Oregon Coast and see a bunch of stuff we have not seen before.

Mia and I have lived in Oregon for just over 11 years now and we had never been south of Florence, OR on the coast. We’d crossed over Grants Pass into California to see the redwoods way back in 2015. I also chose the coast over typical haunts like Deschutes NF or Gifford Pinchot for a van trip because I could pretty much be assured of weather in the 60’s, maybe low 70’s and with a geriatric dog I didn’t want him to have to deal with too hot of weather.
While doing research for places to camp I must add that it is almost ridiculously easy to find Oregon State Park campsites Sunday thru Thursday without resorting to having to think ahead six months in advance (the rolling reservation window). The only goals we had where I did not wish to spend hours upon hours driving between each campground. Oregon State parks is super consistent with check-in/out too. Every park I chose had a check in of 4pm and checkout of 1pm. I arrived at every one of them except the first between 2:30-3:30pm and the rangers had no issue with me setting up early.

Monday – August 19

I started the day off back at home with a nice bike ride in the late morning after watching the live Vuelta Espana coverage in the morning. I had already packed 90% of the van on Sunday so just needed to grab a few things and Codi and hit the road.
We booked at Beachside between Waldport and Yachats. I had site 31 which was pretty decent. Short walk to the beach and far enough from highway 101 to not constantly hear traffic (more on that later). The foliage was tall enough that Codi couldn’t really see the adjacent campsite, therefore wasn’t constantly barking at the couple camping there.

Seriously, the Oregon Coast has a bit of a reputation for being wet and cold, even in the summer. The weather for this trip was pretty fantastic though. Cool overnights (50’s) and the warmest we saw during the days was 72F.

Codi has one pace now while out for walks, slow. You could say he meanders or lingers. He sure has slowed down a lot in the last few years. We are unsure of his age but peg it to be at least 13 and potentially just shy of 14. Definitely on the “old guy” side of things now.

While most of the state and fed campgrounds all have fire bans here in Oregon right now, the coastal campgrounds are still allowing campfires in designated fire rings. Codi and I took full advantage of that for some s’mores action.

The following morning, we had the pleasure of seeing whales spouting just a few hundred yards off the beach. I even saw one breach its back for just a moment. That was for sure a neat surprise.

Tuesday – August 20

We only had to make it sixty miles south to our next campsite at Tugman State Park. There was absolutely zero rush to get moving in the morning as Codi and I walked along the beach again and enjoyed a lazy breakfast and perused the map to see what we could hit up along the way.

We drove a wee bit further south than our next campground and hit up Shore Acres State Park. I totally spaced the sign that said dogs must remain in vehicles and being in the van, the woman at the entrance booth didn’t see that I had a dog with me…….whoops.
Codi got to explore a short trail down to Simpson Beach. Nobody said a word to me and I saw the sign as we headed back to the van, literally posted just outside the gift shop.

I ended up reserving a Yurt for Tuesday night. This would give Codi the chance to sprawl out and since when I planned this whole trip, I was rolling the dice for weather it was kind of a failsafe option if we got there early, and the weather had been crap. I was hoping for nice but prepared for not-so-nice weather.

I was just recently introduced to the term d.i.n.k.w.a.d. as an add-on to d.i.n.k (double income no kids)….it is double income no kids with a dog, and it fits Mia and me, and a few of our friends to a tee.

Tugman really packs the campers into the campground. Having a yurt meant I never felt we had people right on top of us. As Codi and I walked around the campground we really saw how packed in some of the sites were. Also had to be at least two to three million dollars in travel trailers and “vanlife” vans. (no exception here either).

We had arrived at Tugman around 3:15pm and besides strolling around a bit we just chilled out, read my book and then made dinner before sitting down in front of another campfire for the evening. I was even able to squeeze in a shower around 9pm after Codi fell asleep in the yurt.

Today was also the first day of getting in to “new territory”. We passed through Florence and squeaked into Coos Bay for the early afternoon. With the old dog tagging along I didn’t stop at any of the sand dunes or other hiking opportunities along the way. I will say that the cities/towns we passed through in the section were a bit underwhelming. Having grown up on the east coast and so used to every square inch of coastline being developed in some fashion it is remarkable to me how rundown and downtrodden much of the Oregon coastal cities are. I think Coos Bay had more pot shops than just about anything else. That is my most negative thought about this whole trip.

Wednesday – August 21

Today we would head towards Harris Beach State Park and would be only about 10ish miles to the California border. Along the way we would swing by Bandon, OR for a nice walk along the beach, some cheese at Face Rock Creamery and a cinnamon croissant from Bandon Baking Co.
If there is one thing that I do, it is my research for food places when headed on road trips. I want to find those little gems and seek out mom and pop donut shops and bakeries.

Bandon had that vibe I was looking for. Quaint little city, nice little “Old Town” section to stroll around and most importantly, a stunning beach to walk along.

As you can see in the picture above there was some sand art going on. Mia and I had seen this guy’s work on an Oregon Field Guide episode. To stumbled upon this happening was just pure luck.

Face Rock is either cool or creepy, I cannot quite decide. It is like a goliath submerged in the ocean with just his (her?) head sticking out.

The next stop along our tour to Harris Beach was Arch Rock. The whole Samuel H. Boardman Corridor is quite stunning and has so many little nooks and crannies you can pull off and enjoy.

Our site at Harris Beach CG was D loop, 5-3. This is a small side road in loop D that has three very large campsites in it. There isn’t much separation between any of them, but they are each large enough that you are not close to the others either.

Codi and I walked down to South Harris Beach to explore. This beach is quite stunning. Tons of driftwood, cool rock features and almost nobody else! So totally not crowded at all.

Thursday – August 22

Today would be the most driving as we turned back north and headed 180 miles back to Beachside for one final night. There was zero rush to do it all in one push, so Codi and I aimed for Bandon once again with the intention of arriving around lunch time.

Mia doesn’t like seafood (yeah, I don’t get it either). I made sure that I was going to get some seafood on this trip. The timing on the previous few days was off and the lackluster cities and towns we passed through didn’t appeal to me searching something out. Instead, Codi and I parked in Old Town again and I had at least five options within spitting distance of the van. I ended up choosing Bandon Fish Market for some classic fish n’ chips.

I don’t do fried food often anymore. This was a great little afternoon treat. The fish was tender and the batter crispy. Their french fries were outstanding (just ask Codi). The cranberry coleslaw was a nice twist and lastly their tarter sauce had a nice zing to it.

Codi took a nap in the van while I did a little souvenir shopping and we eventually headed north once more. Today was the first day that the weather was a bit iffy. We had a few rain showers during breakfast and off and on drizzle the whole drive north. All in all, a good day to be driving I guess.

Our last stop of the day was at Heceta Head Lighthouse in order to let Codi stretch his legs. Mia, Codi and I have been here before, so I was aware of Cape Creek flowing into the ocean. A nice place to let Codi wade in the water a bit. He’s a bit timid when it comes to the ocean but show him a lake, stream or river and he is totally game.

From here to Beachside isn’t very far. I think we were pulling in around 2:30pm or so. Again, no problems with an early arrival.

So, earlier in this post I had mentioned that site 31 was decent at Beachside. Site 35, while nicely sized and well surrounded by tall flora for some privacy, totally sucks for its location.

The red circled sites are horrible for road noise from the highway. There are zero relaxing attributes to sitting in your campsite and hearing the sound of cars zooming down the road at 60+ mph. My site 35 was maybe fifty feet from the road. I would not recommend staying in any site lower than #40.

At this point in the trip Codi was definitely tired. Which means he was a bit grumpy and indecisive. He didn’t want to be in the van but he didn’t want to walk around either. Instead he just flopped on the ground (avoiding his blanket) and passed out for a little while.

I could have pushed on through and made it home on Thursday night. It was only about 2.5 more hours to home. There was a reason I wanted to wake up near Waldport on a Friday though. That reason is Pacific Sourdough. They’re only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10am – 3pm. Mia and I stumbled upon them several years ago and always make it a point to stop in when we are near Waldport.

Codi and I were awake before sunrise. This was by far the chilliest of the mornings so far. We had almost four hours to kill before the bakery opened. I eventually cleaned up, packed up after breakfast and we parked just outside the bakery around 8:45am.

By about 9:30 other people started showing up and the line to get in was almost 20 deep by the time I hopped out of the van at 9:50am.

I ended up buying a piece of apple fritter cake, a loaf of cranberry walnut sourdough, a croissant (I have a thing about croissants), and an almond cookie to share with Codi. I could have easily purchased another 10+ items but kept it sane/reasonable. Especially since Mia is out of town and I have nobody to share it with.

Then it was time for Codi and me to march homeward. I was ready, he was ready, and the weather was not encouraging us to stop anymore. It poured out a few times as we headed up the coast to Lincoln City and then drizzled on and off all the way east. Eventually we pulled into the driveway a little past 1pm and ended our bro-cation.

In summary it was a good little trip with just the two of us. Codi is old (no longer “getting”) and he doesn’t have quite the pep he used to. I was hoping maybe we could have done a short hike or something, but he seemed quite content to just stroll on the beaches, sleep on his blanket and incessantly ask for treats.

I’d like to spend more time around Humbug Mountain and south. Harris Beach was gorgeous, and Bandon was a neat little city. Coos Bay was gross, and Florence is forgettable. Not much else worth mentioning between those two cities.

I’ll get Mia to do this with me someday. Then we can do some hiking and other stuff I missed on this trip with Codi.

Thanks for reading,

-Pete