Joe and Tracy Imel watch the solar eclipse Monday at McPerson Ridge in the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, National Military Park. A total solar eclipse moved across North America, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada.

“There’s no place like home,” said Judy Garland as Dorothy in the 1939 classic film, “The Wizard of Oz,” as she clicked her heels and hoped for the return to the comforts of her own bed and her beloved Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.

Dorothy hit the nail on the head!

I recently spent eight days on the road, traveling to Pittsburgh, Gettysburg and making multiple stops in between. As I wrote about last week, my son Zach married the love of his life and it was beautiful. A moment that will live with me for the rest of my life. If I had to say what the downsides were, it would have to be the travel and being away from home for so long.

Flying wasn’t an option as we looked like the Clampetts in the opening scene from the Beverly Hillbillies as they roll into Beverly Hills in a truck loaded down with all their belongings and Granny strapped to the top in a rocker. We had the 4Runner loaded with wedding gifts, gifts for the groomsmen, welcome boxes for all of the traveling guests as well as enough clothes to open a thrift store.

No, grandma wasn’t strapped to the top in a rocker. She was belted safely in the back of the mini-van with sister and brother-in-law up front. In all, we had 15 family and friends pack up and head north to Steel Town. It was a wedding convoy.

The excitement of the wedding coupled with my first visit to Pittsburgh in nearly 50 years overshadowed the long drive, horrendous traffic, angry motorists and crazy weather. We went from clouds to rain to snow and back to the overcast skies all in the same day. I will take Bowling Green weather any day of the week over the stuff we drove through.

As the week wore on, the hotel bed became stiffer, the room smaller and the choice of food options less attractive. You take for granted what great small businesses and eateries we have here in Bowling Green and Warren County. I tried the suggestions of friends who are Pittsburgh champions. I ate my fill of pepperoni rolls, reubens at Primanti Bros and dozens of meat-filled puff pastries. I couldn’t wait to get back to the comfort food that our city and county have to offer.

The traffic in Pittsburgh made me yearn for Scottsville Road at the end of day, the one-lane Bypass or a traffic roundabout. I kept one eye on the road and the other on the GPS for fear of missing a well-hidden exit after long stints sitting in traffic. I now have a greater appreciation for Joe Plunk, chief district engineer for the Kentucky Department of Transportation in the region. He takes a lot of heat during the public meetings, but after traveling north, he is one of the good ones.

Every time I heard sirens, which was often, I instinctively looked for my police scanner and the X app (it will always be Twitter to me) trying to see if there was some fool in that neck of the woods constantly listening to the scanner to keep the public informed. I searched in vain. I felt like I was uninformed – I‘m sure like the 77,000 plus followers who had to suffer through me being out of scanner range.

Don’t get me wrong, visiting someplace else is enlightening and an experience everyone should try, but home is where my heart is. After growing up a military brat and traveling the world, I have finally put down roots and they run deep in Bowling Green. I am a homebody and could easily be a hermit if Tracy would let me. I gladly drove more than 11 hours in a day earlier in the week to get home to sleep in my own bed, see friends and visit familiar haunts that have become part of my daily life. Sometimes you have to leave to appreciate what you have in your hometown. Social media is full of griping and complaining about life here. I suggest you visit someplace else to make you understand how good we have it.

Besides the wedding festivities, the highlight of the trip was our three days in Gettysburg, touring the national park, battlefield and museum. The best part of that leg of the journey was witnessing the solar eclipse in the middle of the battlefield. It was relaxing, inspiring and truly an event to behold. It was our moment to be together, decompress and let time stand still.

It was a week of high and lows. Even though I was born in Columbus, Ohio, I will always call this town home and appreciate it more each year that goes by. Just like Jack Harbaugh used to say, “Who has it better than us?”

— Daily News General Manager Joe Imel can be reached at (270) 783-3273 or via email at joe.imel@bgdailynews.com.