2 hrs, 1 km
 
Today I actually start my adventure in Middletown, the town where my Global Parkbench Tour "got back in the saddle" after a rough post-Southeast Asia illness in 2007 . I suppose I should explore Middletown a bit more--but first I'm going to snag another town that I missed, right across the Swatara River.
 
Actually, there's now way I'd know about Royalton if I hadn't looked up "list of boroughs in Dauphin County" on Wikipedia. There's no sign of there being another town right across the river. But sure enough, across the bridge is a laid back no sidewalk community. Not sure what the history of this place is--seems like a highly likely area for flooding, as here's where the Swatara meets the mighty Susquehanna River.
 
The only real claim to fame here is a closer view of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the site of a partial meltdown 35 years ago, one of the biggest nucear scares in the country, which led to strong lobbying against nuclear energy.
 
It's still running today--and is a paradoxical image, these giant cooling towers in the middle of a tranquil river-forest setting.  
 
Good spot for video clip.