HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Knowing all the things that Lou has done for me over the years (it will be 10 years together for us this June) I wanted to do something extra nice for Valentine’s Day. A little online research turned up a great rate at the Circus Circus in Reno which is a two hour drive from our home. I made a reservation for Sunday, February 13 which would carry us over to February 14 – Valentine’s Day!

We checked the weather reports since the journey involves crossing Donner Summit in the Sierra Nevada, and found out that the snow was supposed to hold off until Tuesday – the day after our return.

Since Lou is a train fan and a history buff, I suggested a stop at Colfax, a small town in the foothills, where there are two train depots, a history museum and many old-time buildings. It turns out the town is named after Schuyler Colfax who was the 17th vice-president of the United States and moved to Colfax after his term.

One of the historic Colfax train depots

Lou's photo of numerous ecletic items packed into the small history museum

Remnants of the old town's signs and historic buildings

These birds kept us occupied for awhile trying to get decent photos

While we were exploring Colfax, a freight train came roaring through town. I ran to the fence and furiously snapped a few photos.

I got lucky to get this photo of the engine

One of the many boxcars covered with colorful graffitti

Neither of us are big gamblers at all except for a few sports bets. Lou bet on the Kings to win that night – which they did – so he won $25 minus the casino’s 9% cut. He also put some money of the Giants to win the World Series this year and I put a few bucks on Jeff Gordon to win the Daytona 500 this coming Sunday. Cross your fingers!

As soon as darkness began to fall, we walked up and down Virginia Street where Lou took lots of neon sign photos to add to his collection.

The famous sign that crosses Virginia Street in the heart of the casinos

A now-closed dive motel that still had it's neon sign lit for some reason

After a great dinner at the Silver Legacy we headed back to our room to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I had a really bad cold which was putting a damper on my celebratory mood but I did my best to hang in there. Lou gave me the simplest gift – and by far the BEST gift – anyone has EVER given me for Valentine’s Day!

He handed me a full page handwritten letter along with the usual card with beautiful sentiments. The heartfelt letter told me all the reasons he loves me and how much I mean to him! Of course, it was absolutely beautiful, made me cry and totally blew me away! He said he read an article that said women want love letters more than anything else so he decided to try his hand at it. Well, my sweetie done real good! I fell in love with him all over again.

One of my favorite cruise photos of my other half - am I lucky or what?

The weather reports all said the storm was moving in quicker than expected so we decided to head home right after breakfast. Unfortunately, we had to put the chains on the car over the summit in windy, cold, snowy weather. Lou was outside in his yellow rain jacket while I was in the car with the window cracked following his instructions – turn the wheel this way, the other way, drive forward a foot, stop, back up a little, etc. He managed to get them on before frostbite set in.

The view from the car window as we headed for home

It was slow going but we made it home in about three and a half hours including chain installation and removal. It was a wonderful Valentine getaway and one that I will remember fondly every time I read my letter!