Hi Ho Silver, Away!

Having just returned from Mexico, I will be mounting some kind of trusty steed (transporation device) and running off to a coastline, somewhere. Sound plan? Not really. Months ago, I made plans with my friend to go to Oregon for vacation. The plan was to visit Mt Hood and surrounding area, then drive down to Crater Lake, then over the mountains and up the coastline to see the Sea Lions and Haystack Rock  and Astoria, maybe stopping at Tilamook Cheese factory for a tour and then head over to Portland. Should have been a lovely scenic tour with a minimum of people and plenty of places to hike and take pictures.  Notice I say, "should have been". At present, it looks less and less likely that we will leave the east coast.

 

My eldest daughter was slapped with an emergency custody hearing, scheduled for the day I was supposed to fly away. Part of the testimony against her and presented by her ex husband was obtained by him from her exboyfriend and his mother, both of which have an ulterior motive of proving Heather unfit so that she will lose her elder two children and thus lose the baby as well. (That's their prime goal, get the baby.) Now Heather may be a lot of things, but she's not what they are acusing her of. Heather never directly asked me to come and support her. I am very proud of the fact that she was going to try and do it on her own, but c'mon... you think I'd be able to fly away when I know my baby may be in need of a shoulder?



So, it looks like my travel plans have changed. My friend decided that a vacation was a vacation and he wasn't going to give his up for anything!!  (Except a custody hearing and wailing females doesn't seem to be a great start to a vacation. Just means he's a great friend.) I was willing to go to SC by myself, but since Biltmore is right up the road in NC, and Florida is just a few states away, we are hastily trying to figure out a new gameplan.



My philosophy is that everything happens for a reason.  For example, in Oaxaca, MX I had booked our hotel rooms in a hotel 8km outside of town. My travel companion had fussed that they were not in the town proper when I booked the rooms. Little did we know that there were to be riots and boycotting and protestors blockading tourists into the downtown hotels when we arrived. Being 8km out of town was a blessing and we were able to continue with our trip and tours without a hitch. So maybe going down the east coast is a blessing, and I'll just have to try Oregon again at a later date. 



Better change some of my packing!!