Oregon

Daily Pic (Oregon’s Painted Hills)

Floris van Breugel/Minden Pictures

There’s treasure in them thar hills

This wintry view comes from Oregon’s Painted Hills, part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and home to one of the most complete fossil records on the planet. Paleontologists have uncovered fossils here that date as far back as 44 million years ago, when this region had a hot, wet, subtropical climate, home to crocodiles and rhino-like plant eaters. And what’s above ground here is equally impressive. This is only a glimpse of the portion of the monument called the Painted Hills, named for its vivid colors that are a result of layers of sediment from various geologic periods.

Daily Pic 12/09/17

© Michele Castellani/Alamy

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy



Daily Pic (Lewis and Clark Expedition)

Morey Milbradt/Alamy

‘Ocian in view! O! The joy.’ – William Clark

At Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks, you can walk in the steps of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who arrived at the Pacific near the mouth of the Columbia River on this day in 1805. It was 1 year, 6 months, and a day after the Corps of Discovery left St. Louis, Missouri, on its mission to explore the Pacific Northwest. Upon seeing the ocean, Clark wrote in his journal: ‘Ocian in view! O! The joy.’ (Clark’s journal was full of misspellings.)

Shortly after arriving on the West Coast, the expedition voted to spend the winter near present-day Astoria, where they constructed Fort Clatsop. Today, the areas where Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific and constructed Fort Clatsop are preserved in the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks, which include Ecola State Park, seen here. It’s a popular destination for visitors hoping to learn more about this pivotal chapter in American history while also enjoying the scenic Oregon coast.

Daily Pic 11/15/17

© Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Getty Images

Newly planted olive groves, Zaghouan, Tunisia