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Sunday, April 30, 2006

Joe and I each drove a car to the projected end-point for today. We left one there, parked near a barn with the permission of the owner, and drove the other car back to Joe’s house. Our walk began at the bottom of the hill below his house where we had finished the previous day’s walk.

After a few hundred yards we again joined Highway 20 and followed it northeast toward Albany. On our right we looked across a field to a line of trees demarking the edge of the Willamette. At Takena Park we stopped for a closer look at the river, then climbed up to the highway bridge to cross over to the town of Albany. At the same time, we crossed from Benton County into Linn County. Upon reaching the east end of the bridge we turned right and doubled back underneath the bridge to follow a paved pathway along the river heading north. At the end, we turned right and continued through the residential streets of Albany until we reached East Salem Avenue and turned left, curving eastward. We walked underneath Interstate 5 and continued east on Knox Butte Road. Leaving town we entered farm country. We had noticed some women in Costco who were dressed in plain Mennonite attire, and we now speculated that some of the well-kept farms we passed might belong to some Mennonite families. This conversation inspired a title for this particular trip: “Many Days and Mennonites.”

We followed this road past Knox Butte to just beyond Lickskillet Road where the car awaited us.

Weather: Sunny but chilly, only warming to about 55 during the walk

Route: Northeast on Highway 20 from Joe’s place, along Highway 20 across the Willamette River, along the river and through neighborhoods in Albany, east on Knox Butte Road to just past Lickskillet Road

Trip rating: 9.2

Money found: Day: $.08 Trip: $2.49 Project: $2.49

Distance: Day: 9.3 miles Trip: 70.6 miles Project: 70.6 miles

Elapsed time: Day: 3:42 Trip: 28:18 Project: 28:18

Significance: crossed the Willamette River; left Benton County and entered Linn County; crossed Interstate 5