QUIRKS OF GEOGRAPHY—

When you are in Texarkana, TX you are closer to Chicago than El Paso. It’s 679 miles to Chicago and 733 to El Paso. Texas truly is a big state.

California is west of Nevada. Yet, Carson City, Nevada’s capital, is west of Los Angeles.

When you leave downtown Detroit to the south, what is the next political subdivision you will enter? Yup, Canada—even though everyone knows Canada is our neighbor to the north.

Jacksonville, FL is on the east coast, yet, it is actually west of Pittsburg, PA which itself is 315 miles west of New York City which also is on the east coast. Hmmm.

And, one of my favorites: The Panama Canal is in the country of Panama. The canal connects the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The ocean is to Panama’s west and the sea to its east. When you are traveling through the canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean, then, what direction are you headed? East you say? Nope, you are actually headed northwest.

Goodnight.