GeoNews July 1995 ISGS Geological Field Trip Geology. You'd be surprised. Only half of the participants on either trip lived nearby.
First timers are just plain curious.
I like knowing what's under my feet. One morning, townsfolk wake up to news that a big sinkhole opened behind their grade school, or they hear that the county doesn't have enough water to meet rural and urban needs. A homeowner finds a corner of his basement cracked and settling and learns that his property is undermined. It rains for a month and mudslides bury the main road into town, then an earthen levee gives way and the river takes over three farms. Suddenly people are more than curious.