the painted hills
this past weekend, we drove out to the painted hills with tj's dad. his name is gerry. they pronounce it "gary". he's a pretty good guy.
i was very excited to be there
i found flowers in the desert
tj found a jackrabbit. can you find it?
we also found a digital camera memory card. we found it when we first got there, and after touring the painted hills, we tracked down the ranger, to took it and said that it probably belonged to these two women from the netherlands. he said they were going to mitchell for gas, and then on to clarno. we were heading that way, anyway, so we figured we'd let them know, and the ranger said he would contact the ranger in clarno, and let him know, too.
we went to mitchell, population 45, not including henry the bear. we had a quite nice lunch and then we went to visit the bear. yes, they really have a bear. an american black bear (my favorite), born on a "bear farm" (wtf??), declawed, and kept in an enclosure just above the river, where he can hear the water, but never swim in it. tj was a bit afraid i would do something and get us shot, but i behaved myself.
anyway, after that, we headed to clarno. with the head start the dutch girls had, and our stopping for lunch, tj doubted we would find them. i had no doubt that we would. when we got out of the truck at clarno and started walking towards the trail - there they were. i smiled and waved and ran over. they probably think americans are fucking insane, now. turns out, it was not there memory card, after all. but there are some dutch girls out there that think they have international stalkers. ok, back to the pics.
it was very pretty there. the hills looked liked draped fabric.
some of them looked like a butt.
you're not suprised i headed toward the butt, are you?
we were enjoying the site, and i was basking in the shade
and we did some reading (scandalous! my tattoo is peeking out!)
even got a rare photo of me and my honey. notice my attractive stance. no, i did not have to pee.
see, i don't look as spastic here.
apparently, we spent a lot of time running away from tj
fleeing, even
and hiding
and breaking the law. we were very gentle, but we just had to see what it really felt like.
a close up. apparently, after a rain, the rock fills up and seals itself with a smooth surface. i'd love to see that.
apparently, 100 degrees was not hot enough for this little guy.
some hills were yellow, some red, some almost lavender. i really liked these green hills though. i really like them, sam i am.
i took a lot of pics of this walkway. i love the contrast to the landscape.
tj took a picture of this cactus, but i like the shadow.
then we found some cairns. gerry thought they were trail markers.
was it the smiley trail?
honey even struck a pose for me
unlike me, who kept gallivanting about. when scolded, i stepped into line and saluted appropriately.
then we headed to clarno. i snapped this from the moving truck.
clarno was a much different environment. still hot and dry, but with massive rock formations.
we saw a bird nesting on the far left of this formation. gerry thought it was an eagle. i called it correctly after hearing it - it was a pigeon :)
by the end of the clarno trail, i was hot and tired. just melty, i tell you! oh, and why did i have my purse? the sun must have got to me by then.
this was tj taking pictures in the car, secretly.
we headed back to madras, stopping in antelope. i thought there was a population sign (from one of
fullerton's road trips), but i couldn't find it, so we went to the post office, instead.
if anybody can explain the bleeding blue on a digital photo, please do.
and that, my friends, was our exciting day at the painted hills.