County Park at Seven Mile and 34?

What a joke to put an "RV Camping Park" in right by I5. All that would be is something to make money for the county. Linn County doesn't have active recreational parks, that I know of. I can't find any, at least.

Oh sure, there's Sunnyside, a big open field park, way out in Foster, at one end of Foster Dam. Foster Dam is primarily used for passive recreation, i.e. jet skiing, water skiing, boating, fishing. If you want to swim there, you take your life in your hands. You're dodging boaters, some of them drunk, even in the slow zones. I've had boaters scream at me for swimming in "their lake". Whatever, you know. I swim there anyhow, when I'm up that far.

It is a great area for the motorized boat and jet ski racing crowd. The water is sometimes sheened in gas put out by these vehicles. But it also about the only place to swim in these parts, if you like to swim for fun and exercise somewhere other than a super chlorinated indoor pool, which is all Albany offers outside of an outside shallow kiddie pool.

There is a nice camping park in Waterloo. Again, no real trails however it is a beautiful camping park. You can walk the park loop roads, at least.

There's some sort of farm museum park I think somewhere near Halsey. Hiking parks? Don't know where they'd be found in Linn County. I have not discovered any yet. If you know of any please inform me. Or in Albany. There's some grassy field parks in Albany, made for picnicing or sitting. You can walk along the river but most of that trail is downtown Albany. Or you can walk a real short path across the river. again, it's a real short path.

There are some duck shit filled pond parks in Albany, that are stocked with trout for people to fish them out before they die from lack of oxygen and heat from the algae clogged shallow pond life. This is popular in recreational sit fishing here.

There's Simpson park, which probably has some trails. I suppose it was spoiled for me there, because it's the former homeless Camp Boondoggle. I know the crap that lies there, literally, beneath the brush. And other objects too. I can't get that out of my mind enough to even want to go near there. We're talking open air pit toilets used by the homeless for forty years. You can't get that out really, without excavating the entire area, I don't think. For people who don't know about what was once there, good for them. Ignorance is bliss! Go enjoy.

People like different things here than what I like, as far as recreation. To each his own, but it's hard on people like myself. I think the lack of available recreation might be one reason there's a slightly high weight issue among Albany residents and Linn County residents in general. I don't know if it's related but it might be.

The most exercise I've had probably, since moving to Albany, might have been hiking around the rest area just north of Albany at Christmas, when looking for the lost Siamese. You can walk a small area along and beside the river there. Yes, it is used for a party zone, but only when the weather is nice. When the weather is bad, no druggees or partiers hang out down along the river or under the bridges there, where parties are common when the weather is warmer. I have gained 25 pounds since moving here. That might be a lot about stress, however. It is stressful trying to help all the neglected and abandoned cats on this side of the river and stress can lead to weight gain.

It's tough anywhere to find campgrounds without partiers, obnoxious drunks/druggees or dangerous angry people with guns and loud ATV's. Really tough these days. I know there are places not frequented by such folks. I want to find them.

There is a lot of sitting to Albany and Linn County recreational life. We don't need a sit park, made for RV sit camping, too. Unless it brings in a lot of revenue I suppose and it might.

I am just a whining former Corvallis resident is all. If you lived all your life in Corvallis like I did, you become spoiled rotten. Pedestrian and bike paths everywhere. Parks, hiking parks, really nice parks for exercising--everywhere. I am spoiled rotten from living all my life in Corvallis is the whole thing. Spoiled rotten! And the other thing---I'm cemented here. I have a lot of cats and nobody to watch them for even one night if I leave. No money for a pet sitter. Cemented. And that's a little hard to work around, if you don't have local close recreation. That's my own fault.

I can talk a blue streak about camping and going places. That's all it is--talk. Fact is, I can't go anywhere. It's just a bunch of pipe dreams is all it is.