OK…this idea is going to take a little effort on your part, so I’m going to make a bet with you: try it once and see if you don’t believe that little extra effort was well worth it. I’m talking about Destination Walking; driving to a place like Salem or Shushan in the Battenkill Valley to take a walk. It’s a completely different experience than “Mall Walking”. It gets you out in the open country, taking in that delicious country air, witnessing breathtaking new vistas around every bend in the road. More importantly even than that, it gets you out of your old routine and takes you to a beautiful new place to explore, putting another notch in your Life Experiences belt. Get your friends together and try it. To get you started, come to Salem on Rt.22, take Riley Hill Road, which starts out steep but levels out and opens up nicely. Make two left turns when you come to them and you’ll loop back into Salem on Blind Buck Road, past our beautiful school and just north of Riley Hill road where you started. I do it in 40 minutes at speed, but you’ll likely want to take twice that much time as the scenery – if not the walk – will take your breath away. Another nice one is in Shushan. Park by the covered bridge on Eagleville Road off of Rt. 313, then go over the bridge and bear left onto Binniger Road, take that out to Rt. 61, (the paved road you’ll come to in a mile and a quarter), make a right and then another right when you get to Eagleville Road again. This is a bit longer, a tad over 4 miles, but hey…you came all of this way, right? Of course, you really should make a day of it, to explore the funky eateries, art galleries, antique stores and curiosity shops that make the Battenkill Valley so unique. And if you should be passed by a car be sure to give a friendly wave. We do that here.
