So last Wednesday (my gosh - a week already!) we drove up the Oregon coast from Cannon Beach (home of the big sea stacks/haystacks as seen in The Goonies) through Astoria and into the very southwest corner of Washington. There is a park there called Cape Disappointment. (formerly Fort Canby) Anyway - it's one of the Lewis & Clark historical parks which I think is pretty cool. They had lots of campsites open so we picked one and set up camp. We had lunch - with 3 raccoons (!) and then decided to go on a hike. I will never stop finding it ironic that the park was called Cape Disappointment. We took a 1.8 mile hike to the North Head Lighthouse on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Anyway - we were about halfway to the Lighthouse hiking through an incredible temperate rain forest with ridiculously huge trees, ferns, birds of all sorts, etc. It was gorgeous. We also could see the ocean now and then through the trees. We stopped at a bench to have some water. I was flitting about taking pictures and taking in the scenery. Steve started acting kind of goofy....he gets a bit nervous-y and giggly when something really matters. So, I told him he needed to relax. He told me maybe I should relax and sit down. So I did....he was digging in his bag...I'm thinking What is he doing?!? Then he was hiding something in his hands. Ohmygosh. It hit me. This is really happening. I just stared at him. He turned and got down on one knee. My tears were flowing. He opened the ring box. I still was gaping and staring and crying. He was watching me so intently. He held out the ring...but didn't say anything. I couldn't believe it was happening....and then after a while I said "You have to ask me!" and so he did. Naturally I said "YES" with much gusto, held out my finger and he put on my ring. Then there was lots of hugging and kissing and crying and picture taking and just being generally amazed at the situation and how lucky we feel to have found one another. It was amazing. After a while we continued on our hike - we saw a snake (my absolute and complete phobia) which he "protected" me from, we ate the most delicious Oregon coast peach EVER and visited the lighthouse. All the while I wanted to shout to the world how happy I was and that we were engaged! We hiked back after a while and returned to our campsite where we made phone calls. Steve's Mom had called him at least 4 times already on our trip. It finally dawned on me after the proposal that she knew and was calling to check in. Sure enough, when we got back we both had missed calls from her on our cell phones!!! The coverage was spotty but i talked to my parents. My Dad answered and I was being all non-chalant just updating him on our trip and then I said "...we took a beautiful hike and then guess what..." He replied "Hold on, I'll let you talk to your mother." He knew. Steve had asked him if it was alright when my folks were up in July. My Mom was in the dark. It was fun to talk to them.
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Anyway - that night we went back to Astoria (Okay, I love the Goonies, forgive me) and had a fabulous seafood pasta dinner complete with champagne. It was awesome. We haven't set a date yet, I'm trying to get a hold of different places up here and get information. Things are booking up (or booked up) for next summer (July) already so I do feel a bit of pressure. We may have to wait til September which wouldn't be bad either (just a longer wait...).
So now the fun begins....right?
(that's what I hear anyway....)
I'm sure there'll be a wedding blog soon....
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