Thursday's Ramblings - To go or not go

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. 
                                                      ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

In late December I was playing around on Facebook and noticed something from Mixed-Media Event.  This sounded interesting and when I clicked on it and kept checking this out, it sounded more and more intriguing.  I finally put a message out to my Fly Tribe group of artist friends and found one other person who also was interested in attending.  So the beginning of January I registered as soon as registration opened up.  The Create Mixed-Media Retreat is going to be held in Irvine, CA from May 30 thru June 3.  I saw where there was going to be one later in the summer in Lisle, IL, but I had no clue which workshops would be offered and I figured I would be able to obtain a good price for airline tickets and possibly just use the miles I had accumulated for a free ticket.  Then I had a "light bulb moment" and thought it would be nice if I contacted my cousin who lives in CA and maybe we could hook up while I would be there.  I hadn't seen him in over 30 years and I had never met his children.  Wow, a retreat and a reunion tied into one!

When I went to the United Airline site, I found out that for the distance I would be traveling, I would need almost 20,000 more miles than what I had.  Ooch, this wasn't going the way I thought.  So I started playing around online with kayak.com and a few other travel sites.  The rates weren't that bad.  So I tried getting a hold of my cousin and we were back and forth for awhile regarding when I would be leaving.  I thought maybe I would stay and visit with them on Sunday, June 3 and then take a red-eye back home.  No problem, right?  WRONG!  I discovered that the red-eyes cost more than daytime flights.  Then the rumors and news about the gasoline prices beginning to rise, and you know what that means for airline tickets!  Next time I checked airline prices they were now running around $500-$600!  Much more than I had planned on.  So I made a really hard decision and decided that even if I lost some of my retreat money, I may have to forego flying out to CA.  So I contacted my cousin and my roommate to inform them what had happened and that I probably won't be going now.  I told them I was still going to try and see what I might come up with, but I wasn't holding my breath.



Well, don't you just love it when something happens when you really don't expect it!!  I was all set to pay some $$ to transfer some of Mr. Cottage's mileage to my account when I had this thought.  Long story short, I was able to purchase a one way ticket going to CA and to use my mileage only for my return flight back home.  In the end, this was the most cost efficient way.  I contacted my cousin and my roommate to let them know I will be California bound the end of May.  WHEW!!




I think this means I can start planning and making a list of all I need to take.  So excited!