Exit 82 Centrailia

Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.

Centralia Washington

We drive up and down I5 between Portland and Seattle often. It gives us ample time, especially me, to make up stories.

Plummer Lake is a sorry lake with a Shitz Creek like hotel on its bank. I tell my wife we should do an anniversary there.

We could go outlet shopping, listen to the roar of I5 and then eat at Dennys .

Centralia Pennsylvania

Not to be out done I’ve never been to Centralia in Pennsylvania. It’s a dirty stinking town that’s been on fire for my entire lifetime. Bill Bryson talks about it in his book “A Walk in the Woods”. Here’s a clip of the beauty that is Centralia Pennsylvania.

Key aspects of Centralia: 

• The Fire: An underground coal seam fire has burned beneath the town since 1962, creating dangerous gases and sinkholes. 
• Population Decline: The population has dwindled from over 1,000 in the 1980s to just a few residents today, with most forced out by eminent domain. 
• Ghost Town Status: Most of the town’s structures have been demolished, leaving behind empty streets and a surreal, smoky landscape.