Pennsylvania

PA sure is pretty. My first stop, after leaving one of the most populated cities in the world, was to visit one of its least populated.

Centralia, PA has been a road trip staple ever since my first trip in 2007. It sits on one of the largest anthracite coal veins in the world, all of which happens to be ON FIRE. The government moved everyone out in the 1970s and 1980s, but a few stragglers remain. Every time I go back, more structures are gone, and the woods have taken more of a foothold.

Afterward, I drove through Sunbury, which is a town lost in time. Specifically, I'd say the 1950s. Trolley tracks still run through this quaint downtown burg, and the locals were falling over themselves to tell me local history. Seriously. A dude with a beard about a full meter long came up to me as I crossed the train tracks with my camera and he said, "There's a really good photo of town from the 1930s in the window of that shoppe over there, city slicker!" I made up the city slicker part, but the rest of it is true.

Then, it was off to Dutch country to find a park in which to camp for the night. I settled on Reeds Gap. No one else was staying there, and I had it all to myself. That is, aside from the eagle scout induction ceremony that was taking place, for hours and hours into the evening. How long does it take to say, "Welcome to the eagle scouts. Let's eat"?

I'm off now to Pittsburgh.