Well, as I mentioned in my last post, we had planned a big vacation in Europe for almost two years. We were traveling with some of our favorite people and spending two weeks floating down the Rhine and Moselle rivers through five countries in Europe. Such fun!

We get all packed, everything arranged to be gone and then the day ahead of when we were flying the news came in that the cruise was cancelled. The summer had been unusually hot and the rivers had gotten too low. Our fun cruise with friends was, shall we say, all dried up.

We'd been watching the temps and river levels there so we knew it was a possibility. One thing about travel is you have to be ready for fun opportunities and tough setbacks. Honestly, I was most miffed that I had spent so much time packing! 🙁

It quickly became apparent though why our trip didn't happen. (I'm a believer in the idea that life is always in perfect order - just not my order necessarily.) Because the trip was cancelled:

• We got to go to my adored nephew's wedding reception which was a blast and packed with cool friends from all over the world.
• Our refrigerator went bonkers and we saved ourselves from coming home to a massively messy kitchen.
• And, by far, most importantly, we were able to load up at a moments notice to head to California to see one of our closest friends challenged with a late-stage cancer none of us saw coming of which he is not going to recover from. Thank goodness we had not gone on that cruise. 

But zooming down to California also meant driving back to Seattle from California and this girl, like Sandra Claus... pretty much loves California. So, our cancelled vacation allowed for an opportunity to visit the redwoods and drive the whole Oregon Coast. 

Have you been? The redwoods are soooooooooooooooooooooooo majestic and wonderful. You simply can't stand amongst them and not be humbled. The oldest of them are over 2000 years old! Two thousand years! For this brain, it is almost too much to comprehend.

And then you get to the stunning Oregon coast where our massive Pacific Ocean meets the massive West Coast of America. Again, the beauty of it, the rolling, unending waves, the twists and turns of the road demand your attention. I find they settle me, they inspire me, they humble me and they help heal me. 

Plan a trip! Maybe not to the redwoods or Oregon Coast (and the photo above is actually from the Washington State coast!) though I can't recommend either enough. Maybe you love Hawaii or the desert or sailing or hiking the Appalachian trail. Whatever you love, take time to do it. Life changes in a heartbeat. Trust the change but also shape the new direction. 

Squeeze on your friends -- Jingle