Bright ‘n’ early tomorrow morning, dh [dear husband] and I will head off for our post-Christmas / birthday getaway… we’re trying to make sure to get some alone time at least for a few days each year while I’m in school. The tradition has evolved that he picks a place for us to go. This year when he asked me back in November for any preferences, I said, “I really want to see some SNOW this year.”
So he reserved a romantic spot for us in the Poconos - yeah, there’s even a heart-shaped bathtub in the room! 
Currently they have somewhere in excess of 18 inches of snow there, and according to a NWS bulletin, “travel should be postponed” because many roads are closed. Since we will be in the ski area, I am pretty confident that roads will be opened as fast as humanly possible… but dang that is a lot of snow, wooo-hoooo!
And I am chuckling at asking to see snow. After I filed my request, we got 6" of snow right here in Washington in early December, then got 2 more inches of snow last night and today… definitely getting in my snow jollies this year, which is only fair because the last two winters have totally sucked, snow-wise.
When I return I’ll have to get used to giving my new age…
Mary,
Where in the Poconos? Wendy & I spent a week there almost 2 years ago. Very pretty area! Our condos were disappointing, but the place was way cool! If ya like sushi, there's a wonderful place in Mt. Pocono – don't recall the name of the place, but there was only one Japanese restaurant in the area anyway! Pretty damned impressive sushi! We ate there 2 or 3 times over the week – we LOVE sushi, just ask Linda (she loves it to…just pretends that she doesn't for odd reason).
Have a wonderful trip! See ya in DC…we've already made our reservations!
Hey Dave,
We must’ve passed it today - unless there are TWO sushi places in Mt. Pocono which seems highly unlikely - the “Sushi Grill.” Paul got a laugh out of the name. We’re not sushi fans so it was okay that we saw it on our way outta town.
We stayed at the (kinda embarrassed to admit it) Caesar’s Resort nearby, the Paradise Stream. Not only was there a heart-shaped bathtub, but an in-room swimming pool. We didn’t qualify for the honeymoon suites (read, didn’t PAY for them) which have “seven-foot high champagne whirlpools.” All in all I don’t think we got our money’s worth because “daily activities with Reika, the activities director” sounded pretty stupid. We passed up the “R-rated Not-So-Newlywed Game” and various other weird events. Food was just so-so. OTOH the environs were spectacular - there was 12-18" of fresh snow all around and we had a lot of fun exploring the entire area. (and I have to admit that while the heart-shaped bathtub was pointless, the in-room pool was EXCELLENT 
)
Most importantly, we got away and spent some quality time together - only a few interruptions from the troops back at home and I am relieved to report that, on my return, the house is standing and all evidence of major partying has been cleaned up. And the neighbors haven’t been over to complain yet, so I guess my h.s. daughter didn’t do anything TOO wild. 
One more week of relaxation, then it’s off to the medicine wards for me, and Paul and I may have another quality conversation some time in, oh, March.
There is definite beauty in reconnect time. One of mine & Wendy favorite vacations occured at a time when we were dead broke! We both had some unused airfare and a free week to redeem thru our timeshare and pulled it together to spend a week in Lenox, MA the week before Christmas in 98. A good bit of snow on the ground, cold on a community of very nice townhomes on a large plot of land with a system of lakes/ponds. They were frozen, of course. We had the best time driving around & exploring…went to a coouple of art museums and visited many places for Wendy to practice taking photos – I was the camera boy. Lenox is a small New Englad township and it was all done up for Christmas – gorgeous! We also went to Stockbridge, home of Alice's Restaurant (for you survivors of the 60s) and the Norman Rockwell homeplace & museum. And, Lenox is the summer home of the Boston Symphony – we got to walk around there summer concert theater – fabulous!
Even though we have traveled extensively, that is still one of our favorites.