Field notes from a Portland local
Your local guide to Oregon travel
Every photo is mine, every trail walked, every recommendation one I’d actually give a friend.
Right now · June
What’s worth the drive this month
The Coast
Go before the summer crowds
June is the sweet spot. Wildflowers on the headlands, and beaches you can still actually park at.
Bend
Float season just opened
The Deschutes is finally warm enough. Go on a weekday if you possibly can.
The Gorge
Waterfalls at full volume
The snowmelt is still running hard, which is the Gorge at its absolute best.
Oregon DunesMeet your local guide
I fell for Oregon all over again, and started writing it down.
I was raised in Portland and figured I’d seen it all. Then my husband and I started really traveling this state together, two kids in tow and a camera always in hand, and I fell for the whole place all over again.
177 guides later, every photo on this site is still one I took myself, on the ground, usually at an hour when no one else is around. I’d rather show you Oregon than tell you about it.
Antonina
Start exploring
Oregon, by region
Spotlight · Bend
The weekend in Bend I give everyone who asks
Where I actually eat, the trail I send first-timers on, and the brewery I’d quietly skip. Two days, no fluff, from someone who’s done the drive more times than I can count.
Read the guideFresh from the field
Latest field notes
Oregon Coast
The Coast towns worth a stop, and the two I’d skip
I drove all 363 miles so you can pick the right three.
Antonina · 5 days agoBend
Where to eat in Bend, ranked by how often I go back
The breakfast spot locals actually line up for.
Antonina · 1 week ago
Columbia Gorge
The waterfall hike I take everyone on their first visit
Get there by 7am. I’ll tell you exactly why.
Antonina · 2 weeks agoThe field notes letter
One short email a month
Where I’ve been, what’s worth the drive right now, and the occasional secret beach. No spam, just Oregon.