The Real Oregon

The best driving map for planning and taking an Oregon vacation is the one by Bill Sullivan and David Imus of Eugene. The map is hand drawn, easy to read and even rather beautiful in a functional way. It contains the entire state on one single side of a large sheet. Sullivan, who has made a career of writing about hiking in Oregon, added a list of interesting landmarks you won’t find on ordinary maps.

While the Imus/Sullivan map is great, it doesn’t have quite the level of detail you find in larger scale topographic maps. If you’re thinking of spending much time in the outback, be sure and have a copy of Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer from Delorme Mapping Company; it includes 72 quadrangle maps covering the state.

Buy your maps at Amazon.com and help support The Real Oregon.

Without a doubt, the maker of the best notebooks in the world is Moleskine.

It’s pronounced “mo-leh-SKEE-na” and has more snob appeal than we like to admit to, but the company makes a good product; the book has an interesting literary and artistic history — think names like Vincent Van Gogh — some of which could even be true.

Their notebooks come in a nice variety of sizes and with a range of page designs. But all share some characteristics — tough, black, water-resistant covers and acid-free paper being among our favorites.

We also keep a bigger one in the luggage, but we like the little 3.5-by-5.5-inch size for shirt pocket use.

Buy it here: Moleskine Small Plain Notebook Writing Journals Book