Every year, my wife and I face the same predicament: How to schedule our annual trip to Fredericksburg for our anniversary while taking the state football championships into account. 

The trick, is to accurately project how many teams from the Big Country will get to Arlington and then make our reservations in Fredericksburg accordingly. Ideally, the Mrs. and I would like to be in our secret getaway on our anniversary or as close to it as possible.

The problem is, our anniversary often falls right in the middle of championship week and our “getaway spot” is often booked more than a month in advance.

During two-a-days it’s all fun speculation.

But by late October, this is a serious endeavor, and if I miscalculate it, I’ll be driving from Arlington to Fredericksburg in the middle of the night after covering a game. Or even worse, I’ll be driving from Fredericksburg to Arlington at the crack of dawn to reach a game on time.