Excited..Thelma and Louise style...

I wanted to go to retreat so badly this year, but the price of plane tickets from Maine to Panama Beach were squashing all hope for this Po mama. ...Until...I got a message out of the blue from an old school chum. We talk every so often..I say out of the blue, but really we know better. I had been praying in the morning to go, but if I couldn't, I wanted to accept it gracefully. Anyhoo, my friend called and we were chatting about fall and I spoke about the retreat and that the tickets were an issue for me. She said to wait, she was going to call me on the phone.
She called and asked if a road trip might be the way to go cheaper. Now, my friend lives near Tampa and I live in Maine, she made a plan..I will fly to Tampa on the 8th, and she will pick me up and road trip the rest of the way to the retreat...she plans to hang around Panama Beach city until the 12th, and then we will road trip to Waxhaw NC where my brother and sister in law , they have just lost a twin son to suicide ths past April, live, making lots of scenic stops along the way. I will stay with them a few days and I have booked a return flight for little dollars..all in all it is saving me 300 bucks..and I get to spend so much time with the most imaginative friend ever. I hope  everyone has a go to person like my Elizabeth .