What is the importance of Arcadia, Texas in the novel, West With Giraffes?

Arcadia is Woody's hometown in the Texas Panhandle. It is the place where he buried his mother, sister, and beloved childhood mare. It is also the place where Woody witnesses his father's suicide that haunts him in dreams. The path to California travels straight through Arcadia, and Woody is forced to stop there due to flash flooding. Returning to Arcadia causes Woody to revisit his childhood traumas, and as a result, gives him the ability to overcome his past and live a new life of his own making.