Camping Diaries, Driving Down Oregon Coast

Pulling over to see the sea is always worth it

With well rested hearts, lavender smelling clothes and Evelyne and Frank freshly out of the camping resort spa, it was time for more exciting beaches we'd find along our way.

Driving down Oregon coast was not always next to the ocean, and the change in landscape because of this is dramatic. The maritime climate pours mist onto the winding roads, and while it is dry, and very warm as soon as we left the sea, we were happy when the sun was peaking through the fog and we had a view into the wild ocean.

Here, we just got our iced coffee!

We stopped in Tillamook for an iced coffee with oat milk at Dutch Bros, it was really good. But stopping at an outdoor sporting store made us realize how it was not quite our vibe, so we found a nicely cheap grocery store instead, where we got more of our usual supplies for the road, and South Korean seasoned BBQ nori.

That night we tried to find a cute restaurant by the sea, but figured they weren't too much of our vibe either. It was a much better idea to chase the wild setting sun - on a sandy beach with calm rocks embraced by the soft sand, surrounded by blackberry bushes and delicate magenta flowers. We put our bags on the sand and just ran towards the sun that was now one with the horizon, and the water, and the sand. Like we were the fire.

What a fiery sunset! When the horizon is just water and air

We found a spontaneous place to camp in a forest by the shore called Alder Dune and made a little fire in the morning to make special porridge with fresh blackberries from around the campground and pasta for along the way. It didn't take long for us to get distracted by a cute farmers market that took place in Coos Bay. Our yield was solid and diverse: cinnamon raisin sourdough bread, fresh veggies, hummus and most importantly, salted caramel fudge. Evelyne and I just love salted caramel!

As we were getting closer to the Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor, the coast turned more misty and the clouds from the sea swallowed the clear blue sky. We stopped near a beach parking facing a monolith rock sticking out on the beach, decorated our trunk space a little and this was the first time I truly felt like living in a van and how we are going to travel the world. We made music on our cozy Masai blanket under dimmed sparks of our fairy lights. The scenic corridor wasn't far from here.

Home is wherever I'm with you

With 🐝 by Frank.

Useful Information

This blog post is part of our one month USA West Coast road trip blog series.