It's one of those little valley towns frozen in time. There's a water tower, a big Case steam tractor and other farm implements outside the area museum, and a bandstand and wisteria-covered arbor at the end of the main street next to the Willamette River. We crossed the river and turned left onto the Peoria Road. The two-lane highway cuts through rich fields, past red barns and farmhouses with big front porches and daffodils blooming in the front yards. It was easy to see why the pioneers liked what they saw when they arrived 150 years ago.
Traffic is practically nonexistent here.
Along this stretch of highway is the Lake Creek Grange, the Lake Creek Mennonite School and the Country Bakery, open on weekends at 26615 Peoria Road. In tiny Peoria , named for the town in Illinois, magnolias were in bloom. Peoria Park with tables and public restrooms next to the river would be a pleasant place to stop for a picnic lunch. Settlers came here as early as 1851 to grow wheat in the rich land. The road continues past a nursery selling fruit and shade trees.