thank guys, much appreciated.

Kevin, why can't I click on your link? it underlines like a link but won't allow me to click. and I agree, we can't reply on the user, lol. And I have never been able to produce this in testing or debug mode.

Shaggy,

I am not sure I follow. How can this line throw an exception
Code:
If curNode.ToString.Length = 0 Then
If it is 0? even if there is a node selected why would it even run that if statement? I mean it will run but it won't be true, correct? My idea is to see if a node is selected, by default there should be one selected at all times. But if nothing is selected than I need it to be the tree parent, which is Jackson County. what is the best way to check without throwing an exception?