The Painted Hills of Oregon

After going to Steins Pillar we continued east heading toward the Painted Hills. I had heard they were pretty but I wasn't prepared for all the colors layered throughout the hills. I am sure in the summer the colors are even more intense. They say pictures can speak a thousand words, I will let the pictures do most of the talking in this post.

 

This picture of the girls and me is taken at the Painted Hills Overlook in the John Day Fossil Beds. The pictures don't do these hills justice. The reds and golds are so vibrant!

 

These pictures are from the Painted Cove Trail. There is a boardwalk all around this area with little signs that tell you all kinds of interesting facts about the area. The gist of it is that all these hills were made from volvanic ash fall over different periods of time millions of years ago. During different times the land had different climates ranging from tropical, jungle-like forest to deciduous seasonal climates to the desert like conditions it has now.

The warm red colors are from iron oxides. Yellows and oranges are a blend of iron and magnesium oxides. The lavenders are from rhyolitic lava. These colors are striking with the mix of blue lake and green plants.

The girls in front of Leaf Fossil Hill. It is covered in fossilized remnants of plants over 30 million years old.

My cute girls posing for the camera.

 

The roads we drove on were open range and there were lots of cattle milling about.

We all got a kick out of these cute calves with their mamas.

Jess told us to get gas before we left Prineville. We forgot, but luckily on our way to the paleontology museum we found gas in the VERY small town of Mitchell. The residents were very polite and helpful. We got gas and some cokes before heading out of town.

We saw this little store and were intrigued but unfortunately they were closed.

This house is for sale and right next to it was another ramshackle house being remodeled.

If you ever find yourself out this way, I recommend stopping in this town or at the very least, driving through it.

Noticed that the picture I took looks very similar to the one on this informational sign.

 

At the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center. It was gorgeous here. We learned all about this land from millions of years ago and got to see fossilized bones of animals that lived here. There were never any dinosaurs here but the animals that lived here are related to todays horses, rhinos, elephants, mice, and wolves just to name a few. We also got to see how a horse evolved over the millennia from a small three-toed animal to the horse we have today. K was totally in her happy place! She loves anything having to do with paleontology.

Saber Tooth Tiger skull.

Looking at fossils under a microscope.

K putting together pieces of a fossil.

We started our day at 9am and didn't get back to Prineville until 6pm. We headed to our friend Sue's house, near Redmond, to spend the night. She has an adorable vacation house not far from Prineville and she was a gracious hostess. She fed us a tasty dinner of soup with grilled cheese (I had a pulled pork sandwich) and made up the guest room for us to sleep in. I only got one picture while we were there and it was of the girls finished puzzle they worked on. And, really, who wouldn't want to give Johnny Depp a kiss, right?!!?

In the morning we got up, had a tasty breakfast and then headed on our next day of adventure and sightseeing.