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Love Survives The Call of the Wild
Tod F. of Kirkland, WA, Romance Hall of Fame Inductee (2000), shares his romantic inspiration:
A month before I asked Lynne to marry me, I did some intense research on the most romantic and craziest ways documented on popping the question. You gotta plan it....if you want to be KingLove! I found some good ideas, but not the one that was right for us. I had to find a unique Sting, and then it came to me. Here's what happened...
We'd been dating, happy, serious, and in love - all within the past eight months. Lynne's birthday was coming up, so I convinced her to shed society's trappings and take her first real camping trip with me. I'm from Alaska, and would often tell her about the beautiful country and terrific camping trips I'd taken. I told her I would take her out to experience the mountains sometime. She wanted to share this joy I had for the outdoors and could trust me - I'd been out in the bush. A camping trip was planned, but I didn't tell her any details.
Lynne went to bed Friday night expecting to get up the next day and embark on our weekend camping adventure.....her birthday trip. She was somewhat excited and nervous. She trusted that I could probably show her how to have fun...........even camping.
Everybody can get a little nervous their first time doing something. Here was a city/suburb girl that hasn't really backpacked. Also, we live in the Pacific Northwest, and there are real hazards that could arise, including bears, mountain lions, avalanches and more. This was my opportunity to test her mettle. I had all my camping equipment strewn out across the floor, from fleece face masks to snow shoes and backpacks. It was quite a picture - and Lynne was being great, trying hard not to envision emergency rescues and helicopter evacuations.
At 5am Saturday morning, Scot, my brother, showed up to drop us off at the trailhead. Lynne was a little miffed at the early start and the fact we were being dropped off and left. However, she continues to impress me - she was a trooper and went with it. We could see the morning rays on the top of Mt. Rainier as we drove south through Seattle.
Ten minutes into a rather terrifying "camping" story and survival challenge, we abruptly pulled up to the Sea-Tac Airport and jumped on a plane. Lynne still thought this was part of the camping trip, but wondering a bit about the snow gear as we headed for L.A. in June. There are mountains not "that" far from LA, right?
After changing planes once and landing in Palm Springs, the "Camping Capital of the World" we were shuffled off to the Villa Royal where we were greeted by a fifty year old Italian Style Plaza full of fern, palm and bougainvillea. Lynne was starting to really enjoy camping!
We spent the next day snuggling in our Scottish style suite with a fireplace, two person outdoor Jacuzzi, and private hummingbird flock.
I took some time the following day to decorate a friend's estate. He bought the perfect vacation home outside Palm Springs, yet of course, has not had much time to live in it. I then returned to pick up Lynne in his sparkling mint condition 1950 Ford Galaxy convertible.
I informed her we were switching to another hotel. She just about killed me and wouldn't leave the Jacuzzi. We got an extension to spend a few more hours there, and finally convinced her that, yes, we had to leave.
Cruising in the Galaxy was fun, but when we pulled up to the estate, the look on her face was a Kodak moment. We went into the beautiful 5,000 Square foot adobe house that on the inside, looked like a page out of Pottery Barn. And it was all ours. We then opened some more birthday gifts, chocolate, and jumped in the private pool.
We were surrounded by 18 palm trees, a cantina with grapes and vines hanging, a huge fountain, and Jacuzzi in one corner of the pool, ..........Lynne was in Heaven....and so was I.
The night was perfect. I had a couple more gifts that I gave her over the next few hours and she assumed her birthday was over at 11:59PM. The excitement and surprise of the trip she had been talking and dreaming about over most of the last 8 months we had known each other seemed to be a pretty great gift, as far as I could tell.
She didn't know I had sunk a blue ring box in the pool and as we were slowly circling around in the center of the pool, the ring just happened to float up between us. Lynne literally ripped open the ring box and said "yes" before I could ask the question. I carried her to the shallow end of the pool, got on my knee and ask her if she would be the caretaker of my soul for eternity. She said yes.
Now all I have to say is - who's KingLove now!?!
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