The drive was about 4 hours not including lunch in Prineville. We did not stop at the BLM or Forest Service offices (they are next door to each other) because I had spoken to both during the previous week. The people I spoke with in both offices were really pleasant and provided some great information.
It was immediately apparent that the drive was well worth the time. There are awesome pictures of this area but, like the Grand Canyon and similar places, it is hard to really capture the size and staggering beauty of them when taking your own photos. Below are a few attempts from the first overlook.
We then went to an area called the Painted Cove where you can get much closer to the formations. Their texture and color is amazing.
We knew we would be coming back the next day so opted to go find a spot for the night. The ladies at the BLM office had given me directions to a dispersed area about 10 miles away. It was a beautiful drive and it ended in a really nice area by the John Day river. It took awhile to find a spot as there were a lot of people there - we had forgotten that this was a spring break weekend. We finally found a little used spot due to difficult access that had great views in every direction..
Joanie and Taz enjoyed the late afternoon sun.
Taz went exploring and brought home her dinner (or so she thought). We looked around but found no other remnants of this deer which we thought was a little strange.
Unfortunately, the afternoon ended too quickly. Those puffy white clouds in the earlier pictures rapidly turned serious and it started raining about 6pm. We retreated to the camper and spent the evening watching and listening to waves of lightning, thunder and rain. Around 1am, we thought the worst had passed. Wrong - a really serious wind started howling about 1:30am. We could hear the gusts coming down the valley and when they hit, the truck and camper would shake - hard. It was the first big wind we had been in with the Fleet so had no idea what it could handle. My guess is that these gusts were around 30 mph and may have been higher. After the first few blasts we knew the Fleet would be okay if the gusts did not get stronger. Finally, after another wave of rain, it was over at about 3am. We woke to clear skies and no damage to the camper.
After a leisurely breakfast (it had been a long night), we went back to the Painted Hills unit. We went further up the overlook. The light and clouds had changed so it was a new perspective.
The rest of the day was a Voyage of Exploration. As mentioned earlier, this was a spring break weekend so there were a lot of people in the area. We decided we should head for the Sheep Rock unit and the Paleontology Center but wanted to find a camp spot first (because there were so many people around). We visited all the campgrounds within about a 30 mile radius and they were either too cold because of their altitude (40 degrees at 4300 ft with dense forest), not open yet for the season or depressing. We had a grand tour of the area and learned much about it. Joanie even commented, 'Wow, we really are Wandering the West'. After a very late lunch we decided to just head back to where we were the previous night and come back another time to visit the other units. We found a back road way to get there so that is what we did.
The spot from the previous night was still open so we moved in. We had new neighbors so put up the privacy tent we bought for the Cleanwaste system we use instead of a port-a-potty. Since this was its maiden voyage, we spent some time considering names like 'The Lunar Waste Disposal Module' or 'Der Poopenhausen' but, in the end settled on simply 'The Room with a View'.
The sunset had great potential but ended up being pretty but not sensational.
Same story for sunrise the next day.
After breakfast it was time to head home. Based on a recommendation from our kid, we stopped for a late lunch at Rio's Mexican Restaurant in Madras. The food was unique and really delicious - highly recommended if you find yourself in Madras and are hungry. A leisurely drive from Madras and we were home.
The Painted Hills is an excellent destination and we are already thinking about when we will go back to visit the other units in the John Day monument.
Thanks for reading.
