Alright you romanticals, let’s get to the good stuff
A little background for some of you strangers out there, Nick still owns his house out Colorado and it is HANDS DOWN our happy place. (And polar opposites to Chicago, so it’s nice to switch it up every now and then.) So this summer we decided to block off a long, two-week trip in to relish in all of its mountainous glory and satisfy Banks’ hiking fix. About a week and a half goes by while we were out there and we decided to take am impromptu mini road trip through the state. The plan was to drive down to Breckenridge, then Salida, the Great Sand Dunes, Aspen, Grand Lake and then make our way back up to the house in Estes.
SO! We packed up the car, our sleeping bags, all of Banks' toiletries, and hit the road.
After a few hours in the car and several crime podcasts later, we were in Salida. We walked around downtown, let Banks play in the stream, and then watched an amazing sunset from the top of a random trail road.
With an early morning ahead, it was now time to catch some z’s. (Did I mention the plan was for all three of us to sleep in the car???) I’m still very much afraid of the wildlife eating our son and a bear sniffing out all of our snacks, so this was the cheapest and most uncomfortable option available. Little did we know how hard it was going to be to find a good spot to park it for the night. We spent an hour and a half driving around debating our options. AN HOUR AND A HALF. It’s a very tricky balance of finding a parking lot that wouldn’t arrest us for being on private property and somewhere where Banks wouldn’t bark at everything that mosied on by. Anywhooooo, we finally found a place around 10:45 pm and all three of us cozied up in the back. Now remember, I am near 6 foot, Nick is 6' 3, and Banks is a straight up tank. "Cozy" was a very generous term. Assuming a few hours had passed I rolled over and asked Nick what time it was. His response? "11:01 pm”
We booked a motel.
Woke up the next morning super grimy, grabbed some very mediocre continental motel breakfast and coffee, and headed for the Dunes. (If you've never been, you need to add it to your bucket list ASAP.) Acres and acres of massive sand dunes, surrounded by gorgeous mountains, and the bluest skies you will ever see. You literally feel like you are in another country. (It’s also a great spot for wearing out a 17 month old Australian Shepherd.) The drive from Salida to the Dunes took a little under two hours and there were absolutely no signs of a proposal in the future. Like I’m talking zip. Banks was in the back snoozing, Nick was going on about aliens and solar powered fields, and I was sipping on some coffee and wishing I would've showered.
When we finally pulled up to the Dunes, we were completely in awe of what we remembered to be true and headed in the opposite direction of everyone else there. We hiked (on scorching hot sand) up to the top of one of the dunes and were taking it all in. Banks and I started digging our way to China in hopes to find cooler temps for our toes and Nick started setting up his camera stuff. (For those of you who don't know- Nick is a photographer/videographer so his camera is like our second child. It's ALWAYS out. So this process is more than normal and did not set off any red flags at all.) We hadn't taken our traditional family tripod pic yet, so Nick called Banks and I over to snap it.
We ran over to the spot he had all framed up, I kissed him a few times with my hands around his neck (you know the smooch), and I noticed his pulse pumping like CRAZY through his neck. Like a "do you need to get horizontal with a cool rag?" type of crazy. Internalizing my concern for his health, I brought my hands down on his chest. Again, PUMPING. Before I could put two and two together (that this was no longer a family tripod pic), he started saying the words that you dream about as a little girl. Don’t ask me what they were though, I 100% blacked out.
Thankfully he was filming the entire time (Sneaky little devil. Family photo my a**) so we were able to re-watch the whole thing. He got on one knee, I said "yes", and somehow the ring got on my finger. Check, check, check. The tears were running down my greasy face, I was hugging his shaky body uncontrollably, and I lost all sensation in my limbs.
And now I get to spend the rest of LIFE with my guy.