Friday May 23rd:
Amber and I got in a minivan full of friends and took a road trip with a group called Peak4Poverty. The itenerary consisted of camping, white-water rafting, hiking a mountain, and less than ideal weather forecasts. We arrived at camp mid-evening. Assembled tent. Rain fell. Tent leaked. Less than a few hours into our trip and Amber and I had to move our sleeping bags into the minivan.
Saturday May 24th: Rafting
We wet suited up, boarded a raft and floated down some level 3 and 4 rapids. Because of my beard, our guide decided I should take the lead (shameless bragging out of the way). Oh, and the water was 34 degrees. Everyone was shivering, hands clinched around oars, frigid to the point that we couldn't open our hands if we wanted to. Halfway down the rapids, every time we hit a rough patch, I would turn around to check on Amber. Every time I checked, she was rowing and crying. The rest of the raft couldn't tell because she was wearing sunglasses, and we were all soaked. Despite the tears, she kept rowing. It was miserable, until it was over, then it was one of the coolest experiences of our lives.
Sunday May 25th: Hiking Mt. Torreys
5am we make our way up the mountain. Amber, who has never hiked, is trudging away, maintaining second in line most of the way up. We reach 12k-ish feet when the sun gets too warm and we start to post-hole (every step you take drops through and your in snow up your waist). The storm that had rained us out the last two nights was moving in for an early afternoon return. We start our decent, very quickly, shreading clothes becuase of the heat. Amber's altitude sickness begins to set in.
A few hours later we make it back to camp. Amber's altitude sickness slowly subsides as my heat exhaustion begins. Later in the evening we start to feel better. The rain finally gives us a break, and we have our first opportunity to socialize around the camp fire. The 19 of us gather by the camp fire and discuss the highlights of our trip.
With an early morning departure ahead of us, the discussions came to a close, and we made our way to the van. After collapsing all of the convenient stow-n-go seats we layed out our sleeping bags. After a few minutes I got back up, dug around in the back of the van, and pulled out a guitar that had been successfully hidden under everyone's luggage. Amber's a bit confused, seeing how I don't know how to play guitar. Well, it turns out I had been taking lessons every Monday night for the past two months. So, I began to play. Dustin Kensrue - Pistol. A song that meant a lot to us for the last 7 years. I gave a less than perfect performance and made it to the line in the song, "darling please wear this ring," when I got down on one knee and pulled out the ring.
Her response: "Are you serious?"
Once seroiusness was confirmed she said yes.
And here we are.
