In those months since then I have made a trip to South Carolina and back home driving my new van all the way.
The trip was a planned event for me.
I've made several cross-country trips since we moved to Oregon in 1998. My family live in Minnesota and my wife's family in Minnesota, Michigan and North Carolina. So trips going east are not all that uncommon for us and for me.
Day 1
The first day was June 7th. My first planned stop was the Painted Hills in the John Day area of Oregon.
This photo was the first one of the trip
Farm Field on the road to the Painted Hills
The first time I saw the Painted Hills was in a photo that a coworker had on his desk. He was from Hawaii and thus I figured it must be a place in Hawaii as it didn't look like it could be from anywhere in the mainland US. He explained that it was located in central Oregon. I was dumbfounded. And then and there I decided that when I had the opportunity I would go there and photograph it.
And I have, many times and never been disappointed.
John Day Painted Hills
This photo of the Painted Hills is one you will typically find if you Google it. It's that first look amazing one as you are driving along the dirt road that leads up to the observation area.
This landscape view is amazing with the colors that have been deposited by volcanic activity thousands of years ago. Its ash fall. There are signs that warn us not to walk on it and I've yet to see any evidence that people have done that but there are tracks of animals like deer or antelope. In fact I have seen them on the other side of these hills. The ash fall looks like clumps of we clay were left to dry out. And the animal tracks would indicate that it is soft as well.
There are other interesting features of this place that I like to photograph and not often seen when you are looking for information of the hills.
This landscape view is amazing with the colors that have been deposited by volcanic activity thousands of years ago. Its ash fall. There are signs that warn us not to walk on it and I've yet to see any evidence that people have done that but there are tracks of animals like deer or antelope. In fact I have seen them on the other side of these hills. The ash fall looks like clumps of we clay were left to dry out. And the animal tracks would indicate that it is soft as well.
There are other interesting features of this place that I like to photograph and not often seen when you are looking for information of the hills.
I like to call these the chocolate hills for obvious reasons
The first day however was not yet over.
Heading east on highway 26 I passed that often photographed "shoe tree" that you find in many places around our country. I've seen several in Oregon alone and in other places in my travels.
The Shoe Tree
My goal on the first day was also to find a place to camp so I could save money by sleeping in the van rather than booking rooms in hotels along the way.
Since the days are very long in June I had plenty of daylight to travel without rushing.
I should mention that while the hills have the name John Day Painted Hills, they are quite a distance away from the town of John Day.
My next photography stop was in Dayville where you will find this wonderful hay barn at these Google Map coordinates. You can see its roof just above highway 20 in the middle.
Dayville Hay Barn
Traveling farther down highway 26 I took a north turn on highway 7 going to Sumpter to see some of the many historical sites there. I had been there once before and knew it as a good place for photographs. You can find it on Google Maps at these coordinates.
I wanted to photograph the Sumpter Valley Dredge that is a museum now.
I wanted to photograph the Sumpter Valley Dredge that is a museum now.
Sumpter Valley Dredge
Minam State Park was my campground for the first night. It's a very small but very quiet park that was perfect for my needs.
Minam State Park Campground
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