Funny, when my son visited Whitman he fell in love with what he saw, who he met, and an energy he did not sense at other places. When friends or family pointed out it was in the middle of nowhere he responded with it was smack dab in the middle of all that he cared about. To him it was simple, where else could one experience this unique combination? Too remote, for him, meant a place which was unwelcoming, rural in the extreme.