There is little doubt that Mia and I are always looking for those little gems on our road trips/vacations. While I definitely have a penchant for mom-and-pop donut shops we also are on the lookout for bakeries, sandwich shops or just something “different”. We have our favorites like Sisters Bakery, Sisters Coffee, Joe’s Donuts, The Works, Sleepy Monk (I could keep going)……

I decided earlier this month to make a quick overnight trip to Waldport, OR and visit Pacific Sourdough on a Saturday morning. The idea was twofold. First, I am attempting to camp at least one night a month in the van for twelve consecutive months. Second, it has been crazy busy at work, and I just needed to get away for a wee bit and not think about budgets, spreadsheets or payroll.

I took Friday off from work as kind of a last-minute thing. There were no meetings scheduled, and I had finished what I needed to get done on Thursday afternoon. I spent the morning chilling out at home, watching bike racing on Peacock and MAX and restocking our waffle supply in the freezer.

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I hit the road just past noon. It’s a pleasant drive down to McMinnville and then a straight shot west to Lincoln City. Traffic to the coast wasn’t horrible. Considering this was school vacation week I assumed most people would be at the coast already or headed over Friday evening.

It had been raining fairly steadily all morning back home and most of the drive over to the coast. By the time I got to Newport, about 20 minutes north of Waldport, the sun was attempting to peak out from behind the clouds. It was also wicked windy, like 20-30mph winds on the beach. The rain had tamped down the sand so there was no risk of getting majorly exfoliated.

I choose Beachside State Park to stay at for this quickie. This is the same one Codi and I hit up at the start and end of our Oregon Coast trip in the summer. Just like I mentioned then, the sites along highway 101 suck (to be blunt). Sites 31 & 32 are the only two on the first part of the loop I would even consider staying at. All the other sites are closer to the beach, but when I was attempting to book earlier in March the really sweet sites, with views of the ocean and beach, were all reserved. A little further north of Newport is Beverly Beach State Park, it was a bit too far north for the purpose of this trip, but one of these times we will check it out.

Since Mia isn’t a fan of seafood, and I was flying solo for this single overnighter, I hunted down some fish & chips at The Salty Dog in Waldport before arriving at the campground. Food was okay, not great, not horrible. I had those fish & chips from Bandon Fish Market from the August trip stuck in my head. Probably not totally fair since those are in the top three of best I had ever had.

I took a quick stroll along the beach before plopping my butt down in front of a fire for a couple hours of zoning out. It drizzled off and on until just before sunset. Nothing too bad though. The campground was relatively quiet. Most people appeared to be holed up in the RV’s, trailers or tents. Only one other #vanlife van was spotted.

As the fire waned and the sun set, I opted for the comfort of the van. I had downloaded Kraven the Hunter to the laptop for some mindless viewing. The super short review by this former comic book collector…..entertaining, nothing special, light on the details but glad to see them introduce a few lesser known characters from the Marvel Universe.

After a good night sleep and some oatmeal for breakfast, I read for a while before heading up the road to park in front of Pacific Sourdough. They open at 10am and I was there a smidge before 9am. I learned my lesson from August though. As a father/daughter started the official line 9:25 to get in I joined them at 9:30. Just as the doors were opening there were easily 25+ people standing in line behind us. So, if you decide to go, keep this in mind. They are only open Wednesday thru Saturday, 10-3 (or until sold out…which happens often enough well before 3pm).

I grabbed a plethora of goodies to bring home to share with Mia. Before I hit the road however, I enjoyed a nice view of the bay and ate an excellent prosciutto and cheese croissant.

Thanks for reading, if you’re in the PNW, I recommend hitting up Pacific Sourdough if you can. I am always open for suggestions of other places to visit too. Got any good recommendations?

Thanks,
-Pete