The sun rose with a welcoming warmth. We felt as though this day was going to be a wonderful change from what we had experienced the day before.
I woke up and stretched my stiff body, opened up the tent and squinted in the glare of the late morning sun. We had slept in a little because we knew of the day we had ahead of us, and besides that we had no desire to wake up to an alarm clock in the middle of the wilderness. I made my way to the ranger box and took my book along with me for some morning reading and bathroom break. Upon returning I noticed Heather was still in the tent so I began starting a fire for breakfast. With the smoke steadily rising from the wood and ashes I had prepared I decided to go and wake Heather up so she wouldn’t sleep the morning away. Breakfast was the second of two gourmet meals of the trip. We created a wonderful breakfast skillet concoction with the rest of the food from last night and we were happy with the way the day had begun.The breakfast was relaxed and Heather and I began to discuss the plans for the day. We decided to pack up and head to the other side of Ensign Lake where we would hopefully arrive early enough in the afternoon so we would not have the same congestion for campsites we did the night before. Cleaning up consisted of packing up all we had with us and leaving no trace of us being at this campsite. No trace is a relative term in the BWCA because of the wood that is collected and left by the cooking area and ashes from the burnt wood. And people can also see that we were once there by the deposits in the ranger box as well. =) But other than that, it is our goal to leave no trace of our presence when out in the wilderness. We loaded our canoe and shoved off the shore for our leisurely paddle to the other side of this huge lake.
Three hours later we had reached our destination. We had many options for campsites, but it looked as though we were going to still have a little competition from people that had set up camp for a long stay. We paddled around the large island in the center of the lake and began looking on the north shore of the lake. Passing a few small islands and taken sites we came upon a wonderfully secluded site that had no sense of being occupied. We decided to check it out and see if it would be suitable for a spot to spend the rest of the day and night.
My concern for the spot that we picked out for this day was traffic. Was there going to be a lot of people around or people passing on the way to their sites? I really wanted as much privacy for this evening, because this was going to be the night that I popped the big question.
We pulled up to the shore, secured the canoe and walked up to the campsite. The tent pad was off in the back and not in plain view. The cooking area was out on a bit of a point with lots of flat rock around it. It was backed by tall pine trees while the shore gently sloped down to the water. We also had a great place to jump off a rock into the water. It was perfect. So we gathered our stuff and took our time unloading and setting up camp, because well…we could. There was no rush this time because of darkness.
The afternoon was hot and we were due for a swim. The water was cool and refreshing and I could tell by the way Heather looked that our stress was finally gone from the day before and we were starting to work on getting rid of all the stress from the many months before without a vacation.
When we had become chilled from the cool water, we decided to lie out in the sun to warm up and dry off while enjoying lunch. Eventually, our laying on the warm rock turned into a nice afternoon nap. The day was going very well.
At this point I was busy thinking about how to secretly plan for the big question this evening at dinner. I though back to the cool water and realized it would be a good idea to chill the wine that I brought for the occasion in the lake. I got up and told Heather that I was going to take some pictures down the shore and she should continue to sleep. She did, and I grabbed my camera bag with the wine and headed down the shore. It wasn’t long before I found a great place for the wine. It was a rocky shore and I found a bunch of large rocks that created a basin to keep the Tera-paked wine. I pulled out the wine and placed it in the plastic bags I had with to keep it dry. The extra rocks around it provided a perfect cover for the wine just in case Heather came down the shore for a walk.
I headed back to the campsite and found Heather awake and in the shade ready to journal. I also pulled out my journal and joined her in the shade. Heather was diligently writing about our time in the BWCA so I figured it was safe to focus on something a little more important, the proposal.
I began writing a letter to Heather, because I knew with my nerves I would most likely stumble over my words and it wouldn’t come out like I had planned. I planned to read it to her when we were getting close to the end of dinner. But we had a bit of time before we would come to that.
We were done journaling and we still had time to burn so Heather got out a book she brought along called “Finding the Love of Your Life” by Neal Clark Warren. We took turns reading about the proper ways of going about finding the love of your life, and things to learn about and work through with your potential spouse before you took the big leap. And according to the book Heather and I were doing pretty well. I even remember Heather saying “This will be really good stuff to know especially when (she stumbled) we…get married.” Heather was obviously thinking that the possibility of engagement and marriage were still far off. Whereas I was thinking that this information is going to be looked at in a very different light in about 2 hours. =)
We got through a good number of chapters and finally decided to start dinner. As we had been reading, one thing I noticed was that some fishermen had set up shop about 50 yards in front of our campsite where there was a shallow spot in the lake, and seemed to be content to stay there for a while, fishing. Drat….the perfect, secluded campsite, spoiled by some avid fishermen! I tried not to let it bother me, and hoped that maybe they would go away, as we began to cook. This evening’s menu consisted of a pasta primavera with biscuits. The pasta had a light oil sauce and tons of vegetables. It was something that I had picked out for the trip just for this night, and I was excited to surprise Heather with the accompanying beverage.
We finished preparing the meal and we gave thanks for the food and a great day. But before we sat down to eat I said, “I have to go get something.” That something was the wine. She had no idea and had a very confused look on her face when I came back and told her what it was. “You have wine? In the Boundary Waters? How did you get wine into the Boundary Waters? And without me knowing??” I responded, “I do have wine, and you carried it in! In my camera bag.”
Her huge smile (and confusion) were priceless! I opened up the chilled wine and explained where I hid it and where I got it as I served it up along with the meal.
The wine was good but after my first sip, my head started to spin and I could feel the nerves kicking in. I had started the ball rolling and it was hard to eat and drink knowing what was coming. Heather, on the other hand, was loving the wine and food, but didn’t notice that I was hardly touching mine (a good thing, or she probably would have been suspicious).
I needed a break, a chance to collect my thoughts, not to mention get my camera bag and journal. Well, God must have been on my side because I believe at that very moment He put within my bowels the urge to poop. I quickly got up and headed to the ranger box with a book to collect my thoughts and think for a bit.
After a while and a good prayer, I came back with camera bag and journal in hand. Heather was reading a book and had finished her food….and much to my delight, the fishermen were just starting to leave, and give us our privacy back! Great timing.
So I sat down and said that I had another surprise for her and handed her the journal. I told her there was a part where she needed to hand the book back to me so I could read some as well. She had a huge smile, and began to read it aloud…
When we had become chilled from the cool water, we decided to lie out in the sun to warm up and dry off while enjoying lunch. Eventually, our laying on the warm rock turned into a nice afternoon nap. The day was going very well.
At this point I was busy thinking about how to secretly plan for the big question this evening at dinner. I though back to the cool water and realized it would be a good idea to chill the wine that I brought for the occasion in the lake. I got up and told Heather that I was going to take some pictures down the shore and she should continue to sleep. She did, and I grabbed my camera bag with the wine and headed down the shore. It wasn’t long before I found a great place for the wine. It was a rocky shore and I found a bunch of large rocks that created a basin to keep the Tera-paked wine. I pulled out the wine and placed it in the plastic bags I had with to keep it dry. The extra rocks around it provided a perfect cover for the wine just in case Heather came down the shore for a walk.
I headed back to the campsite and found Heather awake and in the shade ready to journal. I also pulled out my journal and joined her in the shade. Heather was diligently writing about our time in the BWCA so I figured it was safe to focus on something a little more important, the proposal.
I began writing a letter to Heather, because I knew with my nerves I would most likely stumble over my words and it wouldn’t come out like I had planned. I planned to read it to her when we were getting close to the end of dinner. But we had a bit of time before we would come to that.
We were done journaling and we still had time to burn so Heather got out a book she brought along called “Finding the Love of Your Life” by Neal Clark Warren. We took turns reading about the proper ways of going about finding the love of your life, and things to learn about and work through with your potential spouse before you took the big leap. And according to the book Heather and I were doing pretty well. I even remember Heather saying “This will be really good stuff to know especially when (she stumbled) we…get married.” Heather was obviously thinking that the possibility of engagement and marriage were still far off. Whereas I was thinking that this information is going to be looked at in a very different light in about 2 hours. =)
We got through a good number of chapters and finally decided to start dinner. As we had been reading, one thing I noticed was that some fishermen had set up shop about 50 yards in front of our campsite where there was a shallow spot in the lake, and seemed to be content to stay there for a while, fishing. Drat….the perfect, secluded campsite, spoiled by some avid fishermen! I tried not to let it bother me, and hoped that maybe they would go away, as we began to cook. This evening’s menu consisted of a pasta primavera with biscuits. The pasta had a light oil sauce and tons of vegetables. It was something that I had picked out for the trip just for this night, and I was excited to surprise Heather with the accompanying beverage.
We finished preparing the meal and we gave thanks for the food and a great day. But before we sat down to eat I said, “I have to go get something.” That something was the wine. She had no idea and had a very confused look on her face when I came back and told her what it was. “You have wine? In the Boundary Waters? How did you get wine into the Boundary Waters? And without me knowing??” I responded, “I do have wine, and you carried it in! In my camera bag.”
Her huge smile (and confusion) were priceless! I opened up the chilled wine and explained where I hid it and where I got it as I served it up along with the meal.
The wine was good but after my first sip, my head started to spin and I could feel the nerves kicking in. I had started the ball rolling and it was hard to eat and drink knowing what was coming. Heather, on the other hand, was loving the wine and food, but didn’t notice that I was hardly touching mine (a good thing, or she probably would have been suspicious).
I needed a break, a chance to collect my thoughts, not to mention get my camera bag and journal. Well, God must have been on my side because I believe at that very moment He put within my bowels the urge to poop. I quickly got up and headed to the ranger box with a book to collect my thoughts and think for a bit.
After a while and a good prayer, I came back with camera bag and journal in hand. Heather was reading a book and had finished her food….and much to my delight, the fishermen were just starting to leave, and give us our privacy back! Great timing.
So I sat down and said that I had another surprise for her and handed her the journal. I told her there was a part where she needed to hand the book back to me so I could read some as well. She had a huge smile, and began to read it aloud…So I’m going to sit here next to Heather and pretend I am journaling, I am but it has a purpose. I am writing a love letter to her and then will read it to her later. Here goes.
Dear Heather,
How’s it going? Good, you’re looking very hot tonight! You’re welcome.
This has been a pretty good trip wouldn’t you say? I think it has been. We have taken lots of trips together. Do you remember our first one? I believe it was a trip into Grand Rapids in a Youth Encounter van. Just you and I. We talked, I thought you were hot and we were planning on meeting up with teams and staff to go and see a movie. Well, no one showed up and that was our first date. It was a good one and I think I held your hand. Way to go me, breaking the touch barrier. We had a couple of other days off together, but none as special as that first one during training.
We have had lots of other trips together too. We have driven lots of times up to see your parents. I remember the first time I met your mom. She was very nice. I think it was to help make Christmas cookies. That was fun. It wasn’t until a little later that I would meet your dad. Turns out…he’s a nice guy and doesn’t constantly sit around polishing his guns and thinking of tough questions to ask me. Trips up north are always fun. Sitting by the fire, watching a movie, falling asleep next to each other. Show shoeing, 4 wheeler riding, playing with the dogs and then coming back to the cities with 30 pounds of food and two 24 packs of mountain dew. Those were good trips.
And then there were trips to meet my family. The Colorado, Wyoming, Montana driving extravaganza. That was a fun trip too. Granted we spent very little time at each stop, but it was super fun. We even climbed Pikes Peak! We have seen the camps we worked at, the places we grew up and are now going places we have never been before.
This trip is always exciting because we get to spend time together without the distractions of everyday life. All the while spending it doing something we love in the middle of Nowhere, God’s Creation.
Heather we have had an amazing time together and have grown to love each other. We have shared so much. We have learned so much. And the greatest thing, we love God so much that we want to put Him in the center of our relationship. (Give the book to Dain)
Heather, I love you. You are my dream girl. You love the outdoors, you ski, canoe, bike and love the woods. You want a log cabin. You are beautiful beyond all measure. You love Jesus. You are musical, care for others, are hard working, are an outstanding kisser, and you can somehow put up with me. I can’t think of anyone more perfect. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
At that point I reached into my camera bag and pulled put the ring box, got down on both knees and said, “Heather Nicole Carr, will you marry me?”
Her hands went to her face as she looked at the ring and said “Oh my gosh, YES!” Then her eyes changed focus, her brain caught up and she realized that I had completely surprised her, and she hit me on the arm and exclaimed “You Suck! I mean…you’re awesome.” And she began to cry.
I took the ring out and tried to put it on her shaking hand. The ring was a little too small but that didn’t matter; we forced it on and spent the next few moments kissing and cuddling (while she cried and kept saying she couldn’t believe I surprised her) as the sun set opposite our campsite.The rest of the evening was spent explaining all the planning and conversations I had with relatives to make this happen. One crazy part was that I almost couldn’t reach her dad in time to ask his permission before the trip! I only had her mom’s cell phone number, and it turned out her mom was out of town for the rest of the week. So I had had to steal Heather’s phone earlier in the week when she wasn’t looking, so I could get her dad’s cell number out of it, and give him a call to ask his permission. I would have asked in person the last time we visited Two Harbors, but it would have looked suspicious to ask John to just go for a walk out of the blue….
So we talked about all the facets that led up to this day, and Heather continued to be in shock that this was really real, and had actually happened, as we finished off the wine and settled in for our first evening as an engaged couple.
