On Sunday, December 8th, I picked up my nieces and we headed off to decorate the various family plots for Christmas. We have a tradition, we shop for the decorations, visit each grave and then go to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Jasmines.  We used to try and do gravestone rubbings but after 3 or more times of near frostbite, moved that activity to the summer time. 
However, this year they were calling for bad weather and while I don't mind driving myself in a snowstorm, I would rather not with 2 precious 12 year olds in the back seat. So we headed out earlier then usual and agreed to postpone our lunch until after Christmas.  
We completed our task in good time and I had the girls back home just as it started to snow. That's where I made my mistake - I stayed visiting with my sister-in-law and her mom for 45 minutes so when I left their house - the roads had already turned into a driving nightmare. 
422 and 202 were pretty good - everyone was driving slow but in a careful manner. Then I hit 76 which basically turned into a parking lot. Believe it or not - this was the SECOND time in my life (the first being in 2007) that I managed to get myself trapped on 76 in a snow storm. Gah! So when I got to the first exit, I decided to take it and try the back roads for getting home.
Part of the problem was the ice under the snow.  Even though the roads were treated, everything froze so fast and then was covered with snow which made for tricky driving. Well, after sitting at the bottom of the exit ramp for nearly 30 minutes, I gave up and got back onto the highway...which proved to be an excellent move - until I got to the exit for 476.
I need to take a minute here to stop and praise my Ford Focus. It was a DREAM to drive in this storm - I can't say enough about how good it was to feel safe in these dangerous conditions.   However, I can't say the same for EVERY BMW I saw on the road (and I saw a good number) - every time they would take their foot of the brake, their rear-ends would slide out from under them - can you say 'involuntary near crashes?' So glad I did NOT buy a BMW!
So when I got to the exit ramp, I was greeted with this:

I'd like to say these were slow moving trucks - but they were PARKED.  Took me a good 10 minutes or so to figure out that they drivers of the first two rigs were actually out on the highway checking out a jack-knifed tractor trailer on the far right shoulder and also helping push stuck motorists up the ramp to make way for the rest of us. Thank you professional drivers!

Luckily, a couple of salt/plow trucks also made a pass on part of the ramp which helped a great deal.

So we sat for a bit in frustration, but after the tankers & the banana truck got going, I passed the BMW (it has slid into off the ramp onto the shoulder) and carefully got up the ramp, onto the highway and home!  Final tally: 2.5 hours to drive 23 miles.

All in all - was wasn't a bad snow-trip - 
I just didn't have any drinks or snacks. O.o.

Back in 2007, I took my friend Lara to Indian River Inlet in Delaware.  She had never been to the beach in Delaware before and certainly not in October.  She loved it!  

Fast forward to 2013 and finally we had a chance to visit again - so with her husband, Harry and our good friend Michael in tow, we packed up and headed off!

There are many 'best' things about the Delaware beaches, but the most wonderful is how incredibly clean they are - and how beautiful!  Indian River Inlet is part of the Delaware Seashore State Park.  My Dad discovered it many years ago when his truck run was through the Eastern Shore/Peninsula that encompasses Maryland and Delaware.  He brought the family often throughout the years and we always had a wonderful time.  You pay a fee for the day - per car NOT per person, out-of-stater's paying a wee bit more then in-stater's. There is a bath house with a snack shop (open only in season) and hot showers.  So, you can spend a day at the beach, clean up and head out for a great dinner without feeling sweaty & sticky. 

We had a lovely time, stopping first in Rehoboth at Primo's Hoagies to pick up some lunch and then heading to Indian River.  We spread a blanket on the beach, ate our lunch, lathered up with sun block and had a wonderful afternoon consisting of naps, taking photos, getting our feet wet in the ocean and having serious and not so serious conversations (the way we always do when we are all together).  It truly was a wonderful day. 

There was a good number of people on the beach enjoyed the warm temperatures but despite the crowd, it was not noisy.  Dogs are also allowed on the beach (as long as they are leashed) and every dog there was well behaved and rather cute - even that one dog big enough to be a pony!

Later in the evening, we headed back to Rehoboth and re-discovered the same Mexican restaurant Lara and I ate in back in 2007!  This is the first time I can say that the food was BETTER then the first time (and that first time was pretty stellar)!  After we walked the boards a little and then headed back to Pennsylvania.

I can't stress enough that you really don't know what you are missing if you don't give Delaware Beaches a try.  Just remember - going 'down the shore' is going to the New Jersey beaches - going to 'the beach' is Delaware all the way!