Down South...Day Sixty-Eight...Friday, February 5, 2010..."Snowmageddon"

I wake up at 8:30AM to the smell of freshly-brewed coffee downstairs...and there's a kitty cat next to my bed! Roxy is hard at work preparing a fabulous breakfast...bacon scrambled eggs, french toast, sausage...it's all good...no, great!
I sneak a peek outside, and all is well...no snow yet. But, by the time that I'm finishing that last bite of breakfast, the first few tiny flakes of snow are already falling. Time to get on the road!
Around 11:30AM, I'm bidding Roxy farewell...I wish that I had longer to visit. The snow is still light as I swing out of Sterling and onto the Capital Beltway. It's only 200 miles or so to Princeton, but more snow (a LOT more) is on the way. Almost immediately, traffic on the Beltway comes to a complete stop...traffic is heavy with a mix of late morning commuters and panicked residents racing to flee the impending blizzard. Forty-five minutes or so later, traffic begins to move again, and soon I'm heading up out of Virginia, through Maryland and into Delaware. The snow stops somewhere in Maryland, so I'm OK...for now. Then, onto the New Jersey Turnpike after a scary bridge crossing over the Delaware Memorial Bridge...one of the bridges from my childhood that contributed in no small part to my now well-known bridge "phobia".
Around 3:30PM, I'm at the Princeton Holiday Inn to meet up with Roger and Gretchen. I also have the great pleasure to meet Roger's Administrative Assistant, Beth (very cute, as well as professional), who put together the bound copy of all my blog entries from the trip to Alaska. Soon, we're sharing a few glasses of red wine.
Then...off to the Lampings. Ever the perfect hosts, Bill and Kathy have a nice selection of great "snacks" (prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, stuffed tortillas, etc.) accompanied by a few bottles of great Spanish red wine. Then, it's off to Princeton for dinner at Mediterra...excellent Italian. A great evening of close friends, interesting conversation, great food and excellent wine ensues. After dinner, we spend an hour or two "bar-hopping" in historic Princeton, home of Princeton University.
Then, back to Bill and Kathy's for a nightcap. Roger and Gretchen head back to the Holiday Inn, but they'll be back tomorrow morning for breakfast. Stepping out onto the balcony of Bill and Kathy's condo for a quick smoke before bed, I notice that snow has begun falling...should be interesting tomorrow.