An afternoon in the painted hills

Monday, August 15, 2011

Sunday morning we woke up to partially cloudy skies and decided to drive farther east in search of the sun. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at Memaloose Park, packed up and were on the road by 9 a.m.

We decided to visit the Painted Hills District of the John Day National Monument – a very unique but relatively quiet area of Oregon. We’ve visited this are a few times before, but the drive is beautiful and I never tire of the scenery.  We drove the better part of the morning through wheat fields and wind farms.

Lunch along the way.

We stopped for lunch along a little park on the John Day River. We hadn’t planned on this trip, so lunch consisted of leftovers from the night before. It was nice to be able to pull the Bambi over to a pretty site and have lunch in the middle of nowhere!

Painted Hills at John Day

Painted Hills

John Day National Monument

We finally made it to the Fossil Beds around three in the afternoon. The sun was directly overhead and it was HOT – especially to these Portlanders who are used to a cool 65 degree climate.  We spent a short time there before heading home…we still had a long drive ahead of us!

Mile after mile of windmill farms along the way.

At the park enterance

Little coffee shop in Fossil, Oregon