We woke up this AM to the coldest morning we have had in the 8 years of living in the Blue Ridge Mountains!!! We have about 4 inches of snow on the ground...very pretty BUT SO COLD!!! We leave 2 weeks from today for Bonaire...so I have a smile on my face and am thinking of that warm sunshine!! We are staying for 2 weeks this year. Our longest vacatin we have taken yet! I can't wait to warm up!

Hooray for you Lise!!! But you know you do live in a very beautiful spot. margarite

Yes...it is beautiful here...We are always a little sad when our vacations are over..but then my husband will remind me that we are coming back to a "vacation spot" for many others. We run a 22 room Inn and so it is our job to make sure everyone else has a good vacation...so we do really look forward to getting away and having someone cater to us for a change! The only way for us to get a break it to leave our house!! Our Inn was almost full last night as people want to come see the snow...well....after I posted the above email...we started getting calls from our guests....NO WATER...we have frozen pipes in our main building...YIKES! My husband is working away trying to fix them...We have all these rooms to clean and no water! Meanwhile I just keep smiling and saying to myself...2 MORE WEEKS and we are out of here!!

Lise, Paradise in in site. You can hold on no matter how cold it gets now. I am working down in Orolando, Florida today. I am glad to hear that it is warmer here than back home in NC. It is 44 here right now at noon. But there are people swimming in the outdoor pool. I guess if you vacationing in Florida, some people are going to go swimming no matter how cold it is. Bonaire will be warmer. Enjoy. We are all excited for you.

Hang in there. You know what I hate about frozen water pipes? I used to have that problem when I lived up in the mountains in West Virginia. The thing I hated was that the pipes only freeze when it is really cold out. It is so hard to work on the problem when it is below zero. Why don't they ever freeze up on a nice summer day when you wouldn't mind being outside digging up pipes or thawing them out?

I think I would love running amuck in Disneyworld or some other place like that in the warm 44 degree weather! I'll bet it kept the crowds down, too....too bad I can't get down there in a flash to take advantage of it. Last time we were able to run thru the park without anyone being there was during Hurricane David or Frederick (same year). We hit the park the day before the winds and heavy rains blew in and had the entire park to ourselves...it was wonderful! No lines, no waiting...choosing wherever you wanted to go when you wanted to go there. They closed the park the next day due to the 50mph winds and rain. We rode it out in the hotel.

I would definitely be in the outdoor heated swimming pool right now, too, Mike! NJ is in the cold snap grip, too....snap? Well, we are going on "week two" now.

I recall living in Fort Lauderdale back in the fifites when it hit 27 degrees...my parents built our home (we came from NJ originally) with central heating installed and we also kept our winter coats from NJ...boy, we were the lucky ones. Most folks did not have a coat and only those small heaters in their bathrooms! It can get cold down there on occasion!

Lise: Hope all ends well with your frozen pipes and that you can just relax and enjoy your vacation for two weeks on Bonaire...ah...heaven on earth! CArole

So far my husband has fixed 3 different breaks...everytime he turns the water back on we hear water running somewhere else!! ARGGG! I am just SOOO thankful that this has happened now and not while we are gone. The woman we are leaving in charge would NOT know what to do!! Actually she would have called a plumber and it would have cost us a fortune! Our guests have all been very understanding and most are off to the ski hill now...I am praying it is fixed soon...as I don't think they will all be so nice when they get back tonight wanting a hot shower!! My montra....14 days.....14 days....14 days!!!

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Lise,

Hope Bob gets it all fixed. Been in his shoes, do not care for it. Thinking you have the repairs done only to have to drain the system and go at it again.

Carol,

My wife and I went to Orlando/Kissimmee(sp?) 4 - 13 January, with our kids. What a great time to be there, half of the timeshares where we stayed were empty, the kids ruled the pools. Our Disney experience was similar to Joe and your's - walked right on to most rides. Only ride which had a huge line was "Smallworld" - missed having to do that one, NOT.:-{)} There was also a line at the Turkey leg stands - suffered a 3 minute or so wait for those treats.

Mike,

We heard people whining about it being in the 60's while we were there. We just wore windbreakers and enjoyed ourselves. Returned to 16" of snow which fell while we were gone and it has turned off bitter cold, -18f yesterday morning got up to +3f. Currently -5f.

Jake,

I think I might have personally kept the Krispy Kreme franchise on Hwy 192 open during my Florida stay. Seemed like every time I drove by it, the "Hot Donuts Now" sign was on. Those raspberry filled glazed ones seemed to affect the steering of my rental car as I ended up in their parking lot several times.

I wore my BT shirt to the beach in Melbourne that water felt about as cold as Folly Cove minus the snow. Can not wait to be wearing it on Bonaire! After all I ate last week, I kind of wish it was black or any color which would hide the poundage I put on. Who am I kidding, only wearing a tent could do that;-{)}

All,

Started getting ready for our upcoming Bonaire trip last night. Fourteen of us got together for dinner, in addition to being excited about our trip, we all agreed we will not miss this cold.

Stay warm everyone.

14 DAYS, to long, we have 10 days until warm weather and paridise.
Mark and Diane Meyer
Staying at the Divi starting Jan 29th

All is calm at the Inn now....Bob ended up fixing 7 breaks in the pipes!! But everyone had hot water by nightfall...STILL counting down...as of today only 12 days left to go....actually only 11 days till we leave here because we are driving to Atlanta on Friday night and staying in a hotel...our flight leaves early Sat morning and we are a 3 hour drive to the airport. Can't wait.

Glad to hear everything is under control now, Lise. And have a wonderful trip Lise and you, too, Mark! Carole