October 15, 2013. This Isn't Working. Let's Try Something Else.

October 15, 2013.  This Isn't Working.  Let's Try Something Else.   Sometimes things just don't work the way we plan them.  It really doesn't matter how long the plan is in the making.  It doesn't matter how sound the plan is.  There are just some things beyond the control of the planners.  When a plan doesn't work out, you have to accept, adjust and take what's left of the plan.  You can get some pretty good results from a busted plan. 

My plan isn't working out.  The plan that has been forty years in the making has been foiled by an unforeseeable government shutdown, fog and delayed cold weather.  The National Parks and other federal agencies are closed.  The campgrounds along the Blue Ridge Parkway are closed and the early morning fog has blinded us to the valleys below the range.  Finally, the cold weather hasn't reached this far south.  There is color in the trees but most of it is green. 

So, it is time to shake up things.  Tonight, we are in Roanoke, VA.  Tomorrow, we will be in Ashville, NC.  We will leave the Parkway and cover the 250 miles on interstate highway.  From Ashville, we'll start a slow and leisurely drive home.  We will arrive home sometime the week of the 28th.  The trip home will take us through Memphis, Trumann and Jonesboro.  We may also spend some time near Table Rock Lake in southern Missouri.  Somewhere between here and home, I'll wager we'll see some color other than green in the trees. 

In the words of Clint Eastwood in the movie, Heartbreak Ridge, "Improvise, Adapt and Overcome!”  We're going to make this thing work.  Stay tuned.