Friday, Virginians west of Washington, D.C. woke up under a white blanket.

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But the picturesque scene put a halt to school, business and general travel from Leesburg to Marshall.

Charles Pellham skipped his slippery cowboy boots for what he calls his "off-roads" to check on the 20 horses he trains. He says they don't do well on ice and snow.

"People pay a lot for these horses. We've got to protect investments," Pellham said. 

Even though it was a day off for kids too, kindergarten teacher Kelly Baker brought her whole family to catch up on classwork in Culpeper's Pearl Sample Elementary School, where there were far more snowmen inside than out.

Meanwhile, Susan Sublett enlisted her children too to stock the school's bookstore.

"Sometimes mom has to work and drag 'em along," Sublett said. 

But by days end, the inches that fell were mostly a memory.