A semi-abandoned strip mall interrupts the rural landscape telling him he's approaching his next town. But all is not lost here in Millersburg: a metal working factory of sorts with some 100 cars parked in front signals that this town is a source of jobs, rather than just a place where people commute from like so many towns in these mountains.

Once again the Traveler notices "The Honor System" here: in the park there's an unsupervised public restroom, with panels with beautiful nature etchings ... alongside the urinal!

That's a first...

Why isn't there graffiti on it? Well, maybe by making it the urinal stall beautiful makes people think twice before spoiling it...

And with that, the Appalachian ridges, running east to west abruptly end, sliced through by the grand Susquehanna River, only to rise up again on the other side.

It seems to defy nature: rivers are suppose to flow through the valleys, not slice through mountains, aren't they?

A little research yeilds a fascinating discovery: the Susquehanna is actually older the these mountains! In fact, it's one of the oldest existing rivers in the world, some 320 million years old! Millions of years later, Africa collided with North America, forming the Appalachian Mountains... but the Susquehanna stayed its course.

And at a mile wide at this point, it's a sight to behold .

It's a cheerful spot here along the river, with a paddle wheel ferry hauling cars over, just as in the times of old... and kayakers launching out on paddle trips down the Susquehanna. A great spot to pause and soak in the moment.

On down the river, there's a foot path that follows what was once the levee that separated the canal from the river--a canal that was rendered obsolete by the railroad. Still the remains of the canal are an inspiring reminder of the enormous effort and ingenuity put into connecting these upstream mountainous regions to the rest of the country... long before the advent of heavy earth moving machinery. Just lots and lots of cheap immigrant labor...

It seems a bit pathetic the contrast with these days, where it seems so little serious effort is being put into keeping these mountain regions thriving.