This past weekend our local traffic authorities opened a part of an expanse that’s being built from…I don’t know, it goes from Brigadoon to Oz or something…to foot and non-motorized vehicle traffic. This bridge-thruway has apparently been in the works for…I hear numbers being thrown about like 20 years, or 50 years. It’s been talked about for a long time. I clearly don’t care that much about the particulars.

A portion of it is almost ready for vehicular traffic, and it spans the Susquehanna River, which is always pretty. It’s the largest river in the US that’s non-navigable by large boats, so there’s virtually no industry along it. The banks are green and lush. We have some railways. The portion that’s going to open soon is what PennDot let people walk on this weekend, and of course, me and 4,000 like-minded folks went. Was it hot? YES! Did I take my lily-white self out into the sun at high noon? YES! Was I glad I brought water and SPF 70? YES! Did I wear the wrong shoes for this trek? YES! But! I got to see the Susquehanna from a POV that I will likely never have again, so it was also entirely worth it.

There’s a lot to love about life in central Pennsylvania.