Fred and Valerie

In the wake of the Valentine’s Day winter storm that hit our area, we were quite interested in the winter storm warnings that were posted for this weekend. Thankfully, none of the predicted inches of snow and ice came to be and we’re left with just a dusting of snow in the yard. The roads appear to be clear, though they’ll likely ice overnight and thaw out in the morning. It seems like most of the storm hit to the North and Northeast of us, but it’s nice that we didn’t have to survive another ice storm.

While the weathermen were correct about the 1/2 to 1 inch of ice, the Rules of Five certainly applied to the timing of our recent ice storm. Not that it was a bad thing, but the ice storm started well after they claimed it would and ended well before they claimed it would. The result was still a lot of ice on the ground and in the trees.

Our “fun” with the ice storm started when we heard about an accident on I-64 on top of Afton Mountain Tuesday afternoon. Conditions weren’t that bad in Charlottesville, but we still decided we should head home early. We made our way along I-64, thinking we could get off at exit 107 and take US-250 across Afton Mountain, when we suddenly found ourselves in a parking lot. It must have taken half an hour to get from mile marker 108 to Exit 107.

Thankfully, traffic started moving once we got on US-250 and the road conditions weren’t too bad. We made it home before the worst of it started, but we awoke to an ice-covered landscape. There was ice on the grass. There was ice on the plants, the other plants, and the other plants. There were even icicles on the lamppost and the siding of the house. It was everywhere!

Clearly, we weren’t going anywhere, so I spent some time putting salt on the driveway and later clearing the driveway and then called it a day with a warm cup of hot chocolate, thanks to Valerie. I stayed home, watched some TV and movies, and waited for the ice to melt. Valerie, on the other hand, worked from home.

There’s still quite a bit of ice outside, but it’s mostly off the roads. With temperatures not expected to get much above freezing in our area anytime soon and the possibility of snow (currently 30%) on Saturday, it could be a while before we see all this frozen precipitation leave the ground.

According to the latest weather reports, we’re supposed to receive somewhere around 1/2 to 1 inch of ice between now and Wednesday morning. Originally, this was supposed to be a snow storm, but now they’re saying it’ll most likely be sleet and freezing rain, meaning a lot of ice. Unfortunately, I’d rather have the snow as it’d be more likely to keep the power on.

Still, this is the weather and weathermen around here are notoriously bad at predicting this sort of thing, meaning it’s time to break out the Rules of Five once again. So far, it’s looking like the 2nd Rule of Five, the one dealing with the timing of the event, is working. Most preditions had things starting this evening and it’s already 9 pm without any sign of precipitation.

The application of the Rules of Five should mean that the weather will stop Tuesday night instead of Wednesday morning and that there will most likely be 1/4 of an inch of ice or less. We’ll see…

Seize the low-wattage light bulb?

We went to Vegas last week to find out if there were any venues that were options for us to get married at. Before the trip, we did some research and decided to check out the accomodations at Paris, Venetian, Bellagio, and Wynn. The Bellagio and Wynn set up a meeting time with a coordinator while Paris and Venetian basically told us to come by any time we wanted to and someone would be available.

On Thursday, our first full day in Vegas, we decided to check out Paris and Venetian because of the lack of a specified time. We went to Paris first and were immediately turned off by the tacky decorations. Pretty much everything in the place screamed, “FAKE!” Disappointed, we headed to the Venetian and found their chapels to be much nicer than Paris’, but Valerie still didn’t have that feeling that she wanted to get married there.

That night, we checked out Mamma Mia at Mandalay Bay and it was great. Great acting, great music (how can you go wrong if it’s based on ABBA?), and a great story. We’ll probably check it out again in the future.

The next day, Friday, we went to our meeting at Bellagio and were immediately impressed with their chapels. The reception area was a bit over-the-top, but overall it was a place we could see ourselves getting married at. Then, we went to check out the Terrazza Di Sogno (The Terrace of Dreams) and were blown away. The terrace overlooks the famed Bellagio fountains and Paris’ Eiffel Tower, the location of our engagement, is situated nicely in the background. That the Bellagio fountains shoot off at the moment of “the kiss” is just bonus.

After checking out Bellagio, we headed out to Ethel M Chocolates to re-stock our supply and then went to Red Rock Canyon for a beautiful scenic drive. Ask Valerie and she’ll tell you that the best part of the Red Rock Canyon trip was seeing the burro at the end of the drive. It made her day (and trip)!

Lastly, we went to Wynn on Saturday and, like Bellagio, were immediately impressed with their chapels. Valerie liked their chapels more than Bellagio’s and their reception area was nicer as well. We checked out the Primrose Courtyard (their outdoor location) and were not impressed with the construction of the Palazzo in the background. But, their indoor chapels certainly hit the mark.

With all the chapel visits complete and a few hours left before we headed home, we went around town a bit and got to see Pete Rose and Roger Clemens at Caesars Palace, got my fix at In-N-Out, and got to see the Masquerade Show in the Sky at Rio.

In the end, we haven’t made any final decision yet as we still want to look around Virginia, but Bellagio (for an outdoor wedding) and Wynn (for an indoor wedding) are two very viable options.

Be sure to check out the rest of the photos from the trip!

Final note: The $20 tip at check-in trick worked once again! We stayed at South Point again and were originally supposed to have a basic 2-queen bed room. Instead, with our $20 tip, we got upgraded to a professional suite, complete with desk area, huge bedroom, and huge bathroom. It was awesome! This marked the fifth time in five tries that we succeeded in getting a room upgrade with a tip at check-in.

As the local weathermen might say, we got 3-1/2 inches of “the white stuff” last night and it made for a beautiful countryside this morning. I had to get out and clear off the driveway to prevent it from icing over tonight, but it was still nice to see some snow after such a balmy Winter.