I woke up the other morning in Orlando. That’s right. The moment I opened my eyes, I thought, “where am I?” For a moment I thought I was at home because the room was like our bedroom at home. Chris said I was probably in such a deep sleep when I woke up that I was confused for a moment—either that or its old age creeping into my subconscious, or maybe just a “Twilight Zone” episode. But, alas, I was in Orlando, site of the NFL Pro Bowl. Day job! But it got me to thinking about all the places we have traveled to and how they often look the same. I was going through the pictures on my phone and if I didn’t know better, there could be a case made that we were just traveling down the same path.
The path along the Skyline Drive may be at a little higher altitude than most places we have hiked. There are views of the Shenandoah Mountain range and the valley below. But it’s still a path and not a whole lot different than that along the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry, WV, which is not much different than the walk in Shenandoah River State Park above the river and winding down to the river. Even the views look very similar.
Certainly, Service Dog Charlie can’t tell where we are. All he knows is, “Hey, there is a trail ahead and I’m gonna go down it. “He is busy sniffing all the trees and plants to see if he can recognize any of his friends who might have passed through. Truth be told, there are a lot of paths we can take along the way. Many of them look alike from the pictures. Just seeing pictures without the context, some people may not be able to tell what path we were taking at after the passing of some time. But it is the experience that counts.
Trails in the woods may not be easily distinguishable from one place to another. But the one thing that sets each apart is the memory imprinted while we were there. And we know that pictures, even though they are worth a thousand words, just can’t replace the experience, because they ultimately create those moments in time where there is no confusion about where we are, what we are doing, and the path we took. Whether I wake up in Orlando, or somewhere at our camp site along the Shenandoah River, it’s not the Twilight Zone, and no path ahead is the same. That’s why we travel—to experience the great places and people of our great country.
