Vacation
I was looking forward to this trip for quite a little while. We'd been planning on going up to Yosemite sometime in May, when the waterfalls would be nice and full and everything would be green and blooming, but before the tourists would arrive in force. One day I looked at his training schedule when we were on the way to dinner, and we decided that this weekend would be a perfect time to go. (We'd forgotten that this was Mother's Day weekend, which screwed things up slightly, but meh.) So I asked for and miraculously received vacation for the weekend, and after class on Friday, I drove out to Harbor City to meet JR so we could set out.
We got to Oakhurst around 6:00ish, and headed to the Pizza Factory, which JR kept telling me was amazing. (It was, by the way.) As we sat on the patio waiting for his business partner Jason, we saw a few people that JR knew, who stopped to chat. Small towns are crazy. Jason showed up, and we talked shop for a while, discussing the various projects that we're all working on and just generally chatting. We stuck around for quite a while, then, as it was getting dark, headed off toward our home for the weekend.
We were met by Heather, JR's sister-in-law, and inside I met Jason (JR's brother, not the other one). As we were unloading our things, I noticed a wrapped package in the trunk, and remembered that JR had bought me a gift for our five-month anniversary. (Yes, I know anniversary's not the proper word, but the proper word doesn't really exist, so go with it.) Since that day was our actual anniversary, I asked if I could open it. "No, I want you to do it tomorrow in the park," he said. I pouted a bit, not seriously but just to mess with him, and we went inside. We chatted for a bit with Jason and Heather, watched an old episode of SNL, then we all headed toward bed.
The next morning, after we finally roused ourselves, we struck out. We went to the Vons where he used to work so he could say hello to some old friends, and we picked up a couple of disposable cameras, since my mom had insisted that we take pictures. We then headed back to Pizza Factory, so JR could pick up the video camera from Jason. "I just think we should record our first vacation together," he said when I asked if there was anything specific we were going to be filming. He had a bit of a cheeky grin that should have tipped me off, but I just chalked it up to him being sappy the way he can be. After a hearty breakfast (made much better thanks to a warning from Jason that the place which used to serve the best breakfast in town is now terrible), we made the long drive up to Yosemite. We stopped at the Tenaya Lodge so I could meet JR's other brother Steve. The intention had been that we'd stay at the Tenaya that night, but the aforementioned Mother's Day, combined with two weddings and a prom, filled the hotel to capacity, so we couldn't squeeze out a room.
The park is BEAUTIFUL. I've seen pictures and the like, but they really don't capture the feeling of actually being there. We were going to start at Mariposa Grove, which has all the giant sequoias, but it was closed for some reason. JR asked if I wanted to see the Valley or Glacier Point first, but as I'd been telling him throughout the weekend, he knew the place much better than I, so it was up to him. After a moment's internal debate, he said, "We'll save Glacier Point for later." With the same goofy grin on his face.
We made our way to Bridalveil Fall, which was really quite beautiful even if it did take us an eternity to find a parking spot. I did a bit of filming along the way, because I figured if we were going to be filming our vacation, we should do it properly. The waterfall was so full that we couldn't go all the way to the viewing area; the camera was getting soaked, so we had to turn back. We went deeper into the Valley and saw Yosemite Falls (though not very close up, the other road was closed) and the Ahwanee, a gorgeous historic hotel on the Valley floor. Then we fought traffic out of the Valley, and headed up toward Glacier Point.
It was a pretty long way, and there was a bunch of snow on the ground the higher up we went. In May! It was trippy. Finally, we got up to the top and parked. JR opened the trunk to get out his warmer clothes (it was pretty cold up there), and I noticed the gift again. I asked if I could open it now, and he said I could, and got the camera out to film me opening it.
It was a Build-a-Bear toffee brown bear, really soft and cuddly, and wearing a tuxedo. In his lap was a big box with a bow. I thought it was adorable, and figured that the box was just a prop, since it was being given as a gift. "Open the box," JR said. I pulled off the bow and looked at the box. It had a big fancy "RB" in the bottom corner. I recognized the initials. If my brain hadn't shut down completely when I saw that, it finished the job when I opened the box and saw the diamond ring.
JR knelt down (in the freshly melted snow near the car, no less) on one knee. I'll have to watch the video to catch exactly what he said, because my brain wasn't quite functioning yet. I'm reasonably certain it contained the phrase, "Will you marry me?", though. The first words out of my mouth were, "Julia's going to kill me." (My dear friend Julia had warned me that if I got engaged before she did, she'd kill me. Julia's a 5'5" blonde girly-girl who can be moderately terrifying.) Then I kissed him, and as I did so, it occurred to me that I still needed to actually say "yes".
So yeah. I'm engaged. We spend most of the trip home telling our friends and my family (his family already knew; it's a small town). We're not going to even start planning the wedding until after I graduate, but still.
Dude.
We got to Oakhurst around 6:00ish, and headed to the Pizza Factory, which JR kept telling me was amazing. (It was, by the way.) As we sat on the patio waiting for his business partner Jason, we saw a few people that JR knew, who stopped to chat. Small towns are crazy. Jason showed up, and we talked shop for a while, discussing the various projects that we're all working on and just generally chatting. We stuck around for quite a while, then, as it was getting dark, headed off toward our home for the weekend.
We were met by Heather, JR's sister-in-law, and inside I met Jason (JR's brother, not the other one). As we were unloading our things, I noticed a wrapped package in the trunk, and remembered that JR had bought me a gift for our five-month anniversary. (Yes, I know anniversary's not the proper word, but the proper word doesn't really exist, so go with it.) Since that day was our actual anniversary, I asked if I could open it. "No, I want you to do it tomorrow in the park," he said. I pouted a bit, not seriously but just to mess with him, and we went inside. We chatted for a bit with Jason and Heather, watched an old episode of SNL, then we all headed toward bed.
The next morning, after we finally roused ourselves, we struck out. We went to the Vons where he used to work so he could say hello to some old friends, and we picked up a couple of disposable cameras, since my mom had insisted that we take pictures. We then headed back to Pizza Factory, so JR could pick up the video camera from Jason. "I just think we should record our first vacation together," he said when I asked if there was anything specific we were going to be filming. He had a bit of a cheeky grin that should have tipped me off, but I just chalked it up to him being sappy the way he can be. After a hearty breakfast (made much better thanks to a warning from Jason that the place which used to serve the best breakfast in town is now terrible), we made the long drive up to Yosemite. We stopped at the Tenaya Lodge so I could meet JR's other brother Steve. The intention had been that we'd stay at the Tenaya that night, but the aforementioned Mother's Day, combined with two weddings and a prom, filled the hotel to capacity, so we couldn't squeeze out a room.
The park is BEAUTIFUL. I've seen pictures and the like, but they really don't capture the feeling of actually being there. We were going to start at Mariposa Grove, which has all the giant sequoias, but it was closed for some reason. JR asked if I wanted to see the Valley or Glacier Point first, but as I'd been telling him throughout the weekend, he knew the place much better than I, so it was up to him. After a moment's internal debate, he said, "We'll save Glacier Point for later." With the same goofy grin on his face.
We made our way to Bridalveil Fall, which was really quite beautiful even if it did take us an eternity to find a parking spot. I did a bit of filming along the way, because I figured if we were going to be filming our vacation, we should do it properly. The waterfall was so full that we couldn't go all the way to the viewing area; the camera was getting soaked, so we had to turn back. We went deeper into the Valley and saw Yosemite Falls (though not very close up, the other road was closed) and the Ahwanee, a gorgeous historic hotel on the Valley floor. Then we fought traffic out of the Valley, and headed up toward Glacier Point.
It was a pretty long way, and there was a bunch of snow on the ground the higher up we went. In May! It was trippy. Finally, we got up to the top and parked. JR opened the trunk to get out his warmer clothes (it was pretty cold up there), and I noticed the gift again. I asked if I could open it now, and he said I could, and got the camera out to film me opening it.
It was a Build-a-Bear toffee brown bear, really soft and cuddly, and wearing a tuxedo. In his lap was a big box with a bow. I thought it was adorable, and figured that the box was just a prop, since it was being given as a gift. "Open the box," JR said. I pulled off the bow and looked at the box. It had a big fancy "RB" in the bottom corner. I recognized the initials. If my brain hadn't shut down completely when I saw that, it finished the job when I opened the box and saw the diamond ring.
JR knelt down (in the freshly melted snow near the car, no less) on one knee. I'll have to watch the video to catch exactly what he said, because my brain wasn't quite functioning yet. I'm reasonably certain it contained the phrase, "Will you marry me?", though. The first words out of my mouth were, "Julia's going to kill me." (My dear friend Julia had warned me that if I got engaged before she did, she'd kill me. Julia's a 5'5" blonde girly-girl who can be moderately terrifying.) Then I kissed him, and as I did so, it occurred to me that I still needed to actually say "yes".
So yeah. I'm engaged. We spend most of the trip home telling our friends and my family (his family already knew; it's a small town). We're not going to even start planning the wedding until after I graduate, but still.
Dude.