3 hrs, 7 kms

Actual date: May 28, 2015

From Altoona, the plan is to contine on west to Johnstown where it looks like there are a whole bunch of towns I can add to my collection and hopefully hit my 2,000 town benchmark soon . But first I'll add a couple more towns here in the Logan Valley.

Hollidaysburg is 4 miles to the south. And after a couple of miles of sunscorched busy road walking, I start to wonder if it's really worth it just to add what I assume with be a boring, generic suburb.

Along the way I pass I construction site marked "Islamic Society" where it looks like a small mosque is being built. It's actually a bit refreshing to see a little bit of faith diversity here (along with a beautiful domed synagogue in south Altoona). And by the names I see on the medical centers (on one, 5 out of 6 names were either Middle Eastern or South Asian), my guess is that many of the worshippers at this mosque will be doctors and professionals.

Turns out, Hollidaysburg not only has a beautiful, charming downtown--everything I'd been hoping for from Altoona--but it's actually the county seat! Glad I didn't pass it up . In the center is another large cathedral--this one more of a gothic style with a towering clock tower that can be see for miles. Next to it is a Civil War monument and a monument to the the pioneer family with the father holding a gun and the mother reading the child a book. Sort of the stereotypical image we like to preserve of the first white settlers.

Incidentally, I learn, Logan Valley is actually named after a Native American leader who lost his role as chief because he lost his eye due to an arrow. He was friendy towards the colonists and fought with them against the British in the Revolutionary War.

I take a stroll down Main Street, then back up the adjacet street where, as I expected, what looks like a castle is actually an old prison...

To the south of Hollidaysburg there are some big boulders rising from the mountain where you can get a good view up Logan' Valley. However, I'm getting tight on time, so I think I'm going to have to skip climbing up there.