Thursday, July 14, 2022

Road video and map of today’s drive

This trip was intended to be short but it nearly turned into an overnight excursion today. I noticed my back was aching last night and, when I got up this morning, I was in real pain. It took me 45 minutes to shower and get dressed and I was seriously thinking I might need to abandon the trip until the Tylenol began to work its magic and I was able to move with little pain.

Today’s drive was from York to Selinsgrove, PA but my stops were both in Harrisburg, the state capital.  First up was a visit to the State Capitol Building which, being summer, was very quiet.

The building dates from 1906 and is traditional and impressive. It seems as though every state capitol I visit is under perennial construction and photos are always marred by orange zones.

An Amish choir was performing in the rotunda when I arrived. This is a brief taste as my camera seemed to be having issues capturing video of the scene.

This is the house chamber. There are 203 representatives, the largest full-time state legislature in the country. The Senate gallery was closed. This capitol building is unusual in that it also contains the state’s Supreme Court room between the House and Senate. This, too, was closed to visitors.

My second visit was to Wildwood Park, a small nature preserve consisting of wetlands in north Harrisburg. It was once the site of the Pennsylvania canal which probably explains why it is surrounded by an interstate highway and industrial areas.

There is a beautiful trail around the park which is mostly in forest but opens up in places to offer views like this.

There is plenty of nature to explore along the trail but much of it is very distant, which explains why all the photographers I saw had very long lenses on their cameras.

Along the trail there is a nature center with exhibits and a classroom to teach children about the importance of wetlands and there are numerous art installations such as the one above.

As I approached the end of the four mile trail the Tylenol was wearing off and so I decided to call it a day and head to my hotel. This time I gladly accepted highways along my route as they trimmed a full hour off the journey.