RV7 Flight: Painted Hills, Oregon

Hubby and I decided to take a Saturday afternoon flight. We had been talking about flying over the Painted Hills in central Oregon since last spring. We finally did it today.

As the Painted Hills are over 200 miles from home, it took about 75 minutes to get there in the RV-7. It couldn't have been a prettier flight. The sky was clear and blue, and the air felt as smooth as glass.


Aren't they incredible? The color striations are other-worldly. The Painted Hills themselves cover a very small area--hubby said about 3000 acres. 


Same hills, but closer.  


Here's a different hill, with different colors.


We took a different route home. Hubby and I both needed a potty break, so we flew to Lexington, Oregon, and landed at the little airport there. Though little, it had a great pilot's lounge--it was warm and clean, and had tables and chairs and even a sofa.

But that's not the subject of my picture. I loved seeing the tractor patterns on the hillsides whenever the farmer turned corners. It's artwork on a large scale.


Our altered route home also took us over the mighty Columbia River for a while, and then we followed the Snake River. After that it was a hop, skip and jump over to Palouse Falls. As you can see, the falls is already icing over quite thickly.

With daylight being so short, we were glad we had left no later than when we did, right after lunch, at 12:30 pm. It was 3:30 pm when we touched down at home, and daylight was quickly fading.

The closest town/city of any size to the Painted Hills is Bend, Oregon. If you're near Bend, it would be worth your while to take the 86-mile trip to see the Painted Hills. It would also be worth your while to see Crater Lake, which is also not too far from Bend.  

 

Have you seen the Painted Hills? What did you think of them?


Comments

  1. Kenda TurnerNovember 25, 2013 at 7:55 PM

    Gorgeous pictures, Cathy! Such amazing beauty, wow. We were in Seaside, Oregon once but didn't go far enough to see the Painted Hills. Sure wish we had! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. CathyNovember 25, 2013 at 9:07 PM

    Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, too, Kenda.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sharon HimslNovember 25, 2013 at 10:09 PM

    I want to fly this someday. Scenery is gorgeous, and we are so close. Have seen area by car, but this is one time flying is really better.

    ReplyDelete
  4. CathyNovember 26, 2013 at 10:15 AM

    We'll have to fly down together, Sharon. It's a fun flight. Maybe extend it and fly into Bend and stay the night and go to the Deschutes Brewery. We stayed at a B&B once in Bend that said they would pick us up at the airport.

    ReplyDelete

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