A Beaver Creek Proposal

Joe's proposal to Rachel seemed so romantic, sunset in the middle of Sparks Lake while on a camping trip and all. It struck a familiar chord for me as my proposal to Barb also was offered on a camping trip. In a canoe in the middle of the lake? Well no, in my 4WD GMC pickup truck as we drove to Beaver Creek, CO for a weekend campout with our good friends, the Greisers.

Barb will surely expand upon what remains in my often abbreviated memory, but as I recall the proposal went something like this, "so, you wanna get married?" "Well, OK." Its a good thing I have other attributes that Barb finds appealing, because romance and recollection of those events where I have attempted it are certainly not what I am noted for.

There are hundereds of Beaver Creeks in the USA, and more than one in Colorado, but this was one of our favorite places and became even more so after the proposal. It is a 4-wheeling, fishing, camping, and wild kind of place centered in the Colorado Rockies:We got to Beaver Creek and pulled off the road. I locked in the 4WD, but Mike's pickup was 2WD, so he "aired down" the tires to give him better traction and off we went bushwhacking. We didn't go very far off the road, but I can't remember seeing another vehicle or person all weekend.

My littered memory otherwise remembers two other things about this weekend (maybe Barb will return from tennis soon and add some other more meaningful memories):

• we made a cobbler of some sort over an open fire, but it was more than we could eat, so I covered the creation and stored it in the bed of the pickup, where it later cast itself onto the sides of the bed as we negotiated the 4WD roads on the way out; (Barb sez "picture bright red cherry cobbler strewn over the snow covered truckbed")


• we slept in a tiny little green backpacking tent and were totally surprised when we awoke the next morning with over a foot of snow engulfing most of the tent.

Okay, Barb here, to add my 2 cents worth! I am always looking for basic luxuries (?) when camping, and I recall Dave and Mike promptly building us a latrine--a sturdy branch secured to a couple of trees we could sit on in the woods to take care of business :) A fine, fine work of art. It was hardly used before the big snow came and we thought we should at least get to a road before the weather became more severe.

I was ecstatic about the snow (except when we woke up with the tent smashed on our faces). The tent was a little two person tent and we were cozy in there with Olga and Rocky, our dogs. Greisers brought their cats, Big Foot and Sam.

When we were in a more secure spot (knowing we could get out), we stopped and made some little snowmen. It was something I missed from Nebraska--having enough good snow to build a snowman.