Change of plans, a change for the better!

On our original plan, we were going to make a few stops on the way from New York State to Unicoi State Park in Helen, Georgia.  We were planning on going to the Walton Museum and stopping to see Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway, both in Virginia.  With that plan, we would leave New York on Tuesday, July 10 and arrive at Unicoi on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12.   For the last 10 years, we have always arrived at Unicoi on Sunday, so we get there when the weekend visitors are leaving and we get our choice of campsites.

Somewhere along our trip, we started talking about changing the stops between New York and Unicoi.  Because we wanted to keep this measure of flexibility, we didn't make reservations in advance.  We thought about maybe going to DC for a day (2 nights), but decided that a DC visit deserves more time than one day.  We looked into arriving at Unicoi a couple of days early, and getting home early.  This would have worked great for Claire, because there are some Band events she's missed and this plan would have allowed her to attend one of them. 

But alas, there is absolutely no availability at Unicoi for Friday and Saturday nights.  So, after all of this discussion and planning, we are back to our original dates for Unicoi, July 15 through July 20, getting home late Saturday, July 21.

What this does give us, though, is extra time here in New York, visiting family and not feeling rushed.  We got to see almost everyone at Sue and Jim's Independence Day party, but these additional visits are more intimate and relaxed.  I am so glad that over the years, we have come to New York at least once per year.  We've been able to watch cousins, nieces, and nephews grow up, graduate, get married, have kids of their own.  Even though we live so far away, we've remained close.   These extra few days are so nice.  Especially since we have such a gracious hostess, who hasn't kicked us out yet.  ;-)