I picked up Laura and Jess and we headed to the nearest McDonald's because I was craving an Egg and Cheese muffin. I can't even remember the last time I went to McDonald's. Besides having to remove the meat they put on my sandwich despite me saying not to, it was pretty good. Then we got on the road.
The drive was somewhat long up the PA Turnpike, but Jess didn't notice because she was cuddling with her iPhone in the back seat.
We made it to Centralia, where there was still snow covering most of the ground and keeping us from finding an easy parking spot on the shoulder. We parked in a cemetery and walked over to the entrance to the old highway.
I was slightly dismayed when I saw that the road was covered with snow. I didn't remember exactly what it had looked like before but I knew there was highway here. We decided to walk around the bend and see if anything was uncovered.
I'm glad we did that because we came upon the section of the highway that was cracked and smoking just shortly after the bend! If you don't know, the town of Centralia was a mining town in the middle of the 20th century and in the late sixties, a coal fire started in one of the underground mines, spreading quickly and out of control, unable to be extinguished to this day. The heat is what caused the ruptured ground and also the evacuation of the entire town.
And this is what people do there now. We had some fun jumping around the giant cracks and taking photos for a while.
We got several awkward group shots before heading back to the car up the snowy road. The snow was a pain to walk through because it kept sinking under our feet.
Next, we headed to an abandoned coal breaker not far from Centralia that Jess had found out about and it looked really cool and creepy and interesting from the outside. I was a little worried about going in but Laura persuaded me so I made a run for it.
I was immediately glad I did because the inside of the place was awesome even in the main hallway. There were hanging hooks, broken down beams and random items all over the place.
As we ventured deeper into the place, the sights became even more exciting. There were gears and large machinery broken down and rusted all over the place, creating a beautiful scene out of urban decay; just what we came for.
This room was completely pitch black, lit only by Jess's iPhone and the ghost that probably lives in there according to Laura's camera....
My favorite room came on the third floor bathroom, where an old locker room full of boots on benches created one of the eeriest scenes I've ever shot. I love the photos I got of this and I want to go back just to shoot more.
Among other things, there were quite a few large saws around. They were pretty menacing looking and even though this place has been closed down for years, it seems like they could turn back on at any moment.
We ran to the top of the building just to get the view, which was pretty great. I think this is a conveyor system that was used to bring coal to the top of the system.
The balcony I'm standing on is pretty weak and I didn't want to stand there for too long but the view was nice in all directions. The sky was bright blue above the white snow and the contrast of the broken down old buildings on the beautiful snowy landscape was great.
Urban exploring makes one hungry, so we finally got some Chinese food on the way back. I got my usual veggie lo mein and crab rangoons. They were really good after being hungry for so long.
We drove along large open fields, watching the sun set beautifully on the horizon as we bade farewell to PA's rolling hills and looked forward to our return to the flat homeland of New Jersey.
The trip was great fun but I was so incredibly tired when I got home I watched some TV shows, talked to some people and was in bed by 10pm and sleeping before 11. Tell me the last time that's happened?!
I picked up Laura and Jess and we headed to the nearest McDonald's because I was craving an Egg and Cheese muffin. I can't even remember the last time I went to McDonald's. Besides having to remove the meat they put on my sandwich despite me saying not to, it was pretty good. Then we got on the road.
The drive was somewhat long up the PA Turnpike, but Jess didn't notice because she was cuddling with her iPhone in the back seat.
We made it to Centralia, where there was still snow covering most of the ground and keeping us from finding an easy parking spot on the shoulder. We parked in a cemetery and walked over to the entrance to the old highway.
I was slightly dismayed when I saw that the road was covered with snow. I didn't remember exactly what it had looked like before but I knew there was highway here. We decided to walk around the bend and see if anything was uncovered.
I'm glad we did that because we came upon the section of the highway that was cracked and smoking just shortly after the bend! If you don't know, the town of Centralia was a mining town in the middle of the 20th century and in the late sixties, a coal fire started in one of the underground mines, spreading quickly and out of control, unable to be extinguished to this day. The heat is what caused the ruptured ground and also the evacuation of the entire town.
And this is what people do there now. We had some fun jumping around the giant cracks and taking photos for a while.
We got several awkward group shots before heading back to the car up the snowy road. The snow was a pain to walk through because it kept sinking under our feet.
Next, we headed to an abandoned coal breaker not far from Centralia that Jess had found out about and it looked really cool and creepy and interesting from the outside. I was a little worried about going in but Laura persuaded me so I made a run for it.
I was immediately glad I did because the inside of the place was awesome even in the main hallway. There were hanging hooks, broken down beams and random items all over the place.
As we ventured deeper into the place, the sights became even more exciting. There were gears and large machinery broken down and rusted all over the place, creating a beautiful scene out of urban decay; just what we came for.
This room was completely pitch black, lit only by Jess's iPhone and the ghost that probably lives in there according to Laura's camera....
My favorite room came on the third floor bathroom, where an old locker room full of boots on benches created one of the eeriest scenes I've ever shot. I love the photos I got of this and I want to go back just to shoot more.
Among other things, there were quite a few large saws around. They were pretty menacing looking and even though this place has been closed down for years, it seems like they could turn back on at any moment.
We ran to the top of the building just to get the view, which was pretty great. I think this is a conveyor system that was used to bring coal to the top of the system.
The balcony I'm standing on is pretty weak and I didn't want to stand there for too long but the view was nice in all directions. The sky was bright blue above the white snow and the contrast of the broken down old buildings on the beautiful snowy landscape was great.
Urban exploring makes one hungry, so we finally got some Chinese food on the way back. I got my usual veggie lo mein and crab rangoons. They were really good after being hungry for so long.
We drove along large open fields, watching the sun set beautifully on the horizon as we bade farewell to PA's rolling hills and looked forward to our return to the flat homeland of New Jersey.
The trip was great fun but I was so incredibly tired when I got home I watched some TV shows, talked to some people and was in bed by 10pm and sleeping before 11. Tell me the last time that's happened?!
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