This post is quite a few years late, considering this October will be our third wedding anniversary, haha. For our Honeymoon we decided to take a roadtrip to Oregon for 10 days and bring all three of our dogs - this was a little tricky since most places only allow two dogs, or have a max weight limit. However, it was really important to us to spend this time with them as they’re all getting older, and Jake really wanted to take Joker to the ocean before he passed away.

We started out by looking at AirBnB’s in areas we were interested in and branched out from there. When selecting AirBnB’s, we reviewed all their fine print (some say “pet friendly” but then list an extra fee in the description that’s not actually an AirBnB fee) as well as cleaning fees - a few places were more cost-friendly to stay at longer to save on the “cleaning fees” each host charges.

We knew we wanted to make it to the coast, but not spend 10+ hours straight driving. Instead, we chose to stay at various places along the way from Utah to the coast, spend a few days there, and then break up our trip driving back. It was perfect! Some places were familiar to me and some were new adventures and I loved it. One of my favorite things was staying in extremely small towns and living like locals (Dayville, Oregon, has a population of 147) as well as taking advice from all the locals regarding places to visit, eat, etc. I’ll be honest, I’m normally too introverted of a traveler to do that but this time we decided to go for it! I was amazed at all the delicious food and beautiful places. Below is a list of our itinerary, as well as AirBnB’s links and then photographs of the trip! Feel free to comment or message me with any questions.

All images are shot on Portra 400 and my handy dandy Olympus Stylus Epic!

Wild Heart Ranch - Klamath Falls, Oregon -

Our first AirBnB stay was here. We LOVED this place! The location was on a large working ranch and we stayed in an old converted horse trailer. There were outdoor soaking baths, a fire pit, and beautiful scenery. Our hosts were amazing and gave us a honeymoon celebration with cake, wine, and a card!

This location was fairly off the grid, which the hosts let you know about beforehand, so we stopped in town prior to heading over there and grabbed some food to cook while staying there. We only stayed one night and I regret it! It was so relaxing and beautiful, I wish we would have stayed longer.

Crater Lake - Oregon

Our next stop was to visit Crater Lake to breakup one of our longer drives. We have a National Parks Pass, which always saves us so much money! Crater Lake is fairly dog-friendly at the main viewpoints, but it was soooooo windy and cold! It would be fun to go back without the dogs and get to hike around more, but it was still worth a stop and was cool to see and learn about.

Depoe Bay - Oregon

Our next AirBnB was in Depoe Bay, Oregon. We stayed here for three nights. This was our least “cute” rental, however, it was one of the most cost-effective and best location home base. We knew we wanted to travel the coast a little, but rentals near Haystack Rock, etc, were insanely more expensive and had all sorts of higher fees. We priced out saving gas/travel time vs staying at this place and driving a little more each day, and it was a way better price point for us to rent this place for three days and travel back and forth. When staying in Depoe Bay, this rental was a very walkable location and we didn’t drive at all when we stayed in town which was nice. There was also a neighborhood nearby that we were able to give the dogs a few nice walks in.

Surprising thing about Depoe Bay - it’s the world’s smallest harbor! also, you can whale watch from the sidewalk. Some locals told us that and I didn’t believe them initially - but guess what? The next morning we saw several whales from the sidewalk! So cool.

Highly recommended place to eat — while here we ate at the restaurant Tidal Raves. The online reviews were great but wasn’t sure if it was a tourist-grab. We did a wine tasting earlier in the day and the owner of that place only had incredible things to say about it, so we decided to make a very early reservation (also recommended!) and were able to get a beautiful view of the ocean while eating. The food was amazing, we still talk about it and crave it.

Other noteworthy food places we went to here:

Depoe Bay Winery - Not the “wine tasting” experience you would expect, but it was so small and fun!

Bay Views Thai Kitchen - I think we ate here twice while there, haha, it was so yummy!

The Horn Pub - quaint local bar! It was fun and chill.

Overall, I was terrible at taking film photos of this location - mostly were on my iPhone. But really, I recommend it! We did go in October, post-COVID, so be sure to check hours for many places because a lot were only open Thursday-Sunday since it was outside of tourist season.

While staying at this AirBnB, we traveled to Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach and spent the day out there exploring. Joker loved the ocean but was so confused why his sticks were floating away! We ate at Pelican Brewing and were able to comfortably sit outside with the dogs and eat. A great thing about traveling to Oregon is that it is SO pet friendly, we were pretty much able to take our dogs everywhere. While eating there, our waitress recommend visiting Short Sand Beach. This place was AMAZING! There’s a short hike through the forest to the beach and the views were insane. I would love to go back!

We spent three days out at the coast and we felt like it was the perfect amount of time for traveling in mid-October. The weather was just right that the days weren’t too hot, but definitely not warm enough to swim or lay out in the sun haha.

Willamina, Oregon -

After visiting the coast we slowly main our way inland and stayed at an old telephone switchboard AirBnB in Willamina, Oregon for two nights! This building was SO cool and had a cute little patio. The town was very quiet, and had some cute neighborhoods and parks to walk around in. While there, we ate at a small pizza place called Old Fellows Pizza Co… they don’t have a website, but the pizza was great! Almost everything here was within walking distance as it was very small.

The first full day here we went wine tasting at Coleman Vineyard in McMinnville, Oregon. Dog friendly, beautiful, and flavorful wines! Would definitely go back.

McMinnville, Oregon -

The following day we received a recommendation to visit “Third Street” in McMinnville, Oregon! This place was like out of a movie set in the fall. So many stunning colors, leaves, wine tasting, and people. It was worth a visit! I wish I would have taken more than one photo, haha. But we did a wine tasting at Willamette Valley Vineyards.

Pro tip - the area is pronounced “Will-ah-met” like damnit, the saying is “it’s Willamette, damnit!”

Painted Hills - John Day Fossil Beds National Park -

We made a pit stop here on the way to our final AirBnB! It was cool to see, but MUDDY. The dogs were covered in red mud, haha. I’d visit it if I’m nearby.

Days Gone By - Dayville, Oregon -

Our final AirBnB was in Dayville, Oregon and we weren't sure if it was actually going to exist because everyone in Oregon we asked about it had never heard of “Dayville”. Turns out, it’s extremely small! We loved it though. There’s one restaurant, a mercantile, a cafe, and a gas station. The only service we had was wifi at our rental. We stayed here two nights and it was the perfect final destination. Relaxing, quiet, local. Jake got a one day fishing pass and went fly-fishing one afternoon while I worked on homework, and for our final night we bought microwavable meals at the mercantile and streamed SNL haha. It was so “us”.

Our final drive home took us through some stunning forests with beautiful fog, rainy Idaho, and back home to Utah! We really loved this trip, and the way we planned it saved us a lot of $$$. We mixed up eating at local places and then cooking for ourselves many times or making sandwiches, etc. By choosing to visit touristy places but stay further out we were able to make our trip last longer and save money. Additionally, by planning it around a middle destination we visited so many places we had never heard of, and ended up making so many memories! I’m so glad we chose to do our honeymoon this way and am so grateful at our choice to take the dogs along - it made it that much better! Traveling roadtrip style with three dogs isn’t for everyone - but it definitely was worth it to us!

At the end of the day, I wish I would have taken more photos - always, right?! There are some more over on my Instagram! Thank you for following along.

Our Honeymoon to Oregon!