Over the weekend New Jersey was being threatened by Hurricane Hermine. While the storm ended up being a dud, bringing only some choppy waters, Paul and I decided not to take any chances and make a run for it. On Sunday we all got in the car and drove.

Our first stop was Centralia, Pennsylvania. Centralia is an old mining town in the heart of Pennsylvania’s mining country. In the 60’s a fire started underground in one of the old mining shafts, and since then it has continued to burn. Over the years the town turned into a ghost town, with only about 10 residents left living in Centralia today. While the story behind the town is really interesting, there really isn’t too much to see. Most of buildings in Centralia have all been demolished, and the only large piece of the town left is an old abandoned stretch of Highway 61. The road was closed off after it began to crack due to the underground fires. If you visit Centralia in the fall or winter you are able to see smoke spilling out of the cracks in the road.

After our short visit in Centralia, we decided to continue driving. We drove through so many beautiful little towns, miles of farm land, got stuck behind a parade of tractors, and ended up watching the sunset from the Application Trail. As we continued through the winding roads of Pennsylvania we decided to pull off to watch the sunset, and after missing a few pull offs we finally pulled onto a small dirt road that to you back to a trailhead. The trail was the Application and as Paul and I jumped out of the car to take a quick look at it, Murphy was barking from the car to let her join in as well. We grabbed Murphy and were able to see a beautiful sunset over the Pennsylvania countryside.

We ended our night in Harrisburg, stumbling upon a street fair and fireworks. We had a beautiful adventure, sometimes a day off and a full tank of gas are all you need.