US Highway 20

I live a block away from US Highway 20. Actually between Corvallis and Phillomath, US 20 shares the road with state Highway 34. On the west end of Philomath they split up and 34 heads southwest to Waldport while 20 heads due west to Newport.

I knew 20 was an old US highway and figured it had some history to it. Heading East from Corvallis I knew it became Santiam Highway as it winds through the Cascades on it's way to Sisters, Oregon. From there it was lost to me, until I saw this picture on someone's bike touring blog.

Wow. The same road I cross several times a day and sometimes even ride on, could take me places. I felt like the kid growing up near the railroad tracks and dreaming of all the places that train could take him. I decided it was time to consult the fathomless knowledge pool and learned some interesting things in this Wikipedia article. For instance Highway 20 is the longest road in the US, going from Newport, Oregon to Boston, MA. It also goes right through Yellowstone park.

So one of these days I may just have to take a little detour on my way home from work, and explore this highway a little further.