Day 33 – Why Here?

Now that we are back home in the Pacific Northwest having travelled 7,400 miles this trip, we’ve been reflecting on our journey. Frequently, as we drove through various portions of ten different states we would ask the question, “Why here?” Why stop at this particular spot in the middle of an arid desert with no water in sight? Or why build your home on this particular bayou with no nearby town?

Some locations have obvious reasons to stop, picturesque mountains or places with clean rivers flowing nearby. Many times it is likely that the place for your home is where you have family connections. Or maybe it is because a job opportunity arose. However, it made us wonder as we wandered. 


Another frequent question of ours as we drove through little towns was, “Why is this town flourishing while that one a few miles back had all its stores closed up?” Is it the location? 

Maybe it’s the natural resources of the area, but then why the difference from one little town to its nearby neighbour? Is it the choices of political leaders? For example, some small towns we went through embraced having an influx of eclipse viewers along with the commerce they brought, while others towns blocked off parks and parking areas preventing eclipsers from watching the event or from spending money while in that town. Different perspectives we suppose.

However, now that we are back at Woods Prairie, we are thankful that we can call this tiny piece of the world our home. 

Signing off until the next time the wanderlust sends us on a new journey.

 


Our favorite locations or events from this trip were:



The total eclipse of the sun 

 





Port Aransas beach (during the week)

 




Exploring Kolob Canyon 

 





Seeing and learning about Window Rock

 




The red rock sculptures of the desert southwest

 




The glowing white sands of New Mexico

 




Meeting some Navajo weavers, carvers, and painters

 










Just enjoying the fact that we can go, do, experience, and observe during our trips around the sun

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