Args:
            location:
            default: 
        
        Returns:

def retrieve_element_or_default(self, location, default=None):
        """
        
        Args:
            location:
            default: 
        
        Returns:
        """
        loc_descriptor = self._get_location_descriptor(location)
        # find node
        node = None
        try:
            node = self._get_node(loc_descriptor)
        except Exception as e:
            return default

        return node.get_element()