Yesterday we were rained out again. Today and tomorrow look dry, followed by another round of showers and worse. We decide to use these two days for rides a bit further from home, and save the local rides for days when we’re sitting around the apartment hoping for a window to open up for a few hours. Today we drive to Boston Mills, for a repeat of the ride we took six years ago on the last weekend before leaving for Girona and our first tour of the Pyrenees.
Back at Boston Mills again. Just fifteen miles from home, it makes a good base for rides a bit further from town.
Jen Rahn"None shall pass!", the killdeer did say.
"Go back home to your house in Beauvais!"
"Take a tour in Greece!"
"Get some quiet and peace!"
"Maybe play a quick game of croquet?"
Jeez .. that killdeer is full of advice, isn't he? Reply to this comment 3 years ago
It’s grey but comfortably warm when we start out. The first several miles follow the same route we took a few days back on the Sand Ridge ride, but after we cross the freeway we turn southeast for Brownsville. We’re following the Calapooia River upstream and toward the hills for the first fifteen miles. Gradually the terrain changes as we bike along, as the edges of the Coburg Hills crowd in on the river.
The road is wet when we start out, and it feels damp. It was misting on the short drive to Boston Mills, but stopped by the time we started biking. Conditions will gradually improve for the rest of the day.
We saw this spot last week - then, we turned north toward Sand Ridge about at the point where the road disappears - but today we’re curving right toward Brownsville.
Brownsville, population about 1,500, is to us anyway a surprisingly attractive small town. Maybe we don’t expect much from a place with such a bland name, but it’s got a lot of character, some well-kept Victorian homes, and a pleasing commercial district. It’s also got some history. It was originally named Calapooia, and then Kirks Ferry for the ferry that briefly crossed the river here; and finally Brownsville, for the settler who opened the first store here. Personally, I think Calapooia has more allure.
For a brief period it was the county seat for Linn County when it was formed in 1847, until it was relocated to Albany a decade later. You might recognize the town, because it was the filming site for Rob Reiner’s film Stand By Me.
Andrea BrownBrownsville has a cool historical museum, used to have a stuffed two-headed calf in the hardware store window, and there is a gigantic wisteria vine climbing up the tree outside the Moyer House. But best of all is the weird Living Rock Studio which I won't describe to you, you have to see it for yourself. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
East of Brownsville, we continue upriver to Crawfordsville on quiet Northern Drive, a pretty lane that parallels busy Sweet Home Highway. It’s lovely riding, but the town itself is much less interesting than Brownsville. It does feature a covered bridge though which merits a stop- one of I think eight covered bridges in Linn County. Not the most attractive or well placed one in my opinion, abandoned right beside the modern road and current bridge. I’ll remember it best today for the millions of tiny brown ants scurrying across the planks at one end of the bridge in an ant stream that completely spanned the roadbed. I stood on the edge Of this stream for a few minutes, and when we walked away I spent the next several knocking dozens of them off my legs.
Along the. Calapooia, east of Brownsville. Interesting barn, if that’s what this is. Looks a bit like a schoolhouse.
Andrea BrownA hop drying house, very cool. http://oastandhopkilnhistory.com/usa/hop-drying-america/ Reply to this comment 3 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Andrea BrownOh, of course. We saw one of these a couple of years ago and you identified it then for us too. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
Jacquie GaudetI made a mask specifically so I could get my hair cut. In BC, it's part of the requirements for hair salons when they were allowed to open at the end of May. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Jacquie GaudetI think it varies by country down here (and state too, of course), but it was required for the shop I went to also. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
I could have stayed longer and tried for a more focused shot, but I didn’t want ants in my pants. Bad enough that they’re on my shoes and crawling up my legs.
East of Crawfordsville the sweet riding continues as Northern Lane becomes Crawfordsville Drive. It briefly turns sour when we’re thrown back onto the narrow and busy Sweet Home Highway, but fortunately we’re only on it for about a mile before coming to Rowell Hill Road, which we turn onto and follow the rest of the way to Sweet Home. when we arrive, we head straight to Sankey Park, the home of the town’s main attraction: beautiful Weddle Bridge.
Weddle Bridge, built in 1937, originally crossed Thomas Creek until it was bypassed in 1980. Nine years later it was restored and relocated to Sankey Park, where it now spans Ames Creek instead.
The Weddle Bridge was relocated and restored using state funding, championed by Albany’s state senator Mae Yih. Senator Yih took a particular interest in the state’s covered bridges and helped steer significant state funding to their preservation in the early 1990’s.
Sankey Park makes a pleasant spot to sit and enjoy our lunch under the warmth of the afternoon sun. Afterwards we cross the South Santiam River and follow Pleasant Valley Road to Waterloo, where I stop in at the store for a quart of milk and a candy bar while Rachael bikes down to the riverfront to check out the city park. She reports back that it’s a pretty spot, worth another trip out for a picnic lunch; and that she biked just far enough extra that she can claim an extra mile for her ride today. Nyah, Nyah, Nyah.
We ride the rest of the circuit without stopping, although we do slow down significantly when we climb the small ridge at Sodaville - we really do need to pump up the tires one of these days. When we arrive back at Boston Mills, I’m startled to see that Rachael continues on past the turnoff to the park. It’s a loop, so maybe she didn’t notice the turnoff and just started around again. I pull out the phone and call her, but then see that she’s turned back and is waving at me. She reallly didn’t miss her turn, she claims. She just decided that one mile more than me wasn’t quite enough - she wants two. Humiliate the old man, that’s her motto.
Pleasant Valley Road is just as it sounds. Much preferable to riding Highway 20 on the other bank.
The view toward Marys Peak from Rock Hill. Looking at it now, I’m a bit embarrassed to realize that I’ve never known how to spot it before our stay here.
Andrea Brown"Look for the elephant" people told me when I first moved to Corvallis. Of course I was looking for an actual peak, not these mere foothill Coast Range bumps. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
