Until I read “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson, a wonderful book by the way, I had never heard of Centralia, PA and the fact that a coal mine has been burning underground there since 1962.  I mentioned this to my husband, Paul and he said “it’s been burning there since the early 60s and it could burn for another 250 years.”  So he has been living with this knowledge for many years and just never shared it with me.  He is however, a walking encyclopedia of bits of knowledge. 

This event really got my attention; I had no idea a coal mine could burn endlessly on and on underground or that it had ever happened in the real world.  So today when the weather forecast stated is was to be a warm balmy 60 degrees we were thinking about where to take a day trip and Centralia popped into my mind.  I wanted to see this place with my own eyes!  So we gathered up our collie, Gunnar and off we went. Read more….