Well, Whipple Point is the place where I proposed to Casey. Things came to a head at Whipple Point in this manner... I had had the ring on me for about a week or two before the trip. I wanted to propose somewhere on the trip, but I wasn't sure where. I thought about maybe buying Dodger tickets and doing it at Dodger Stadium, or maybe doing it at Yellowstone somewhere. After some pondering though, I decided to wait until after the Bakersfield part of the trip. Otherwise proposing to Casey, then having her meet a lot of my family for the first time a couple of days later, would be a tremendous amount of pressure. Also proposing early would take attention away from the places we were visiting.
I was almost 100% that she would say yes, because we had talked about it, but still. Its kind of like this... when you get on a plane you're almost 100% that you aren't going to die, but that doesn't mean you aren't nervous about it, if you can dig that.
But regardless, I felt that I had to propose somewhere on the way home. And having decided that, I also decided I didn't wan't any gawking idiots around when I did it. So we saw the Grand Canyon and I didn't do it there. Stupidly, I left the ring in the car when we went to Sunset Crater - if I had to do it over again I'd have done it at Lenox Crater on top of the huge hill we climbed. The opportunity there passed, I couldn't think of any reason to give Casey as to why we should climb that huge hill again. Not to mention that it had just started downpouring. So we drove on.
We saw the Meteor Crater and there were too many people around. We saw the Petrified Forest and there were too many people around. So we got to the Painted Desert and I snuck the ring out of the trunk on the pretext of 'getting some more money out of the trunk'. While I was getting the ring out of the trunk, Casey walked back there and told me I didn't need to get money out because she had plenty in her pocket. I had the ring in the palm of my hand at that time, so I covered my tracks and allayed any of her suspicions by telling her, 'Yes, I do need to get money out. Now go away'.
So anyway, we're driving around the Painted Desert, and every time we stop, some yokel from Montana or Iowa or Texas would pull up behind us and bust up the situation. I'm getting worried because the Painted Desert is the last scenic stop before we head for the east coast. I'm either proposing here, or in the parking lot outside a truck stop in Oklahoma. So we get to Whipple Point, and its getting near the end of the Painted Desert. We get out, we're alone, and we're checking out the view. I'm looking around like a shoplifter, making sure no-one's around, and groan inwardly when I see a white minivan in the distance heading towards us. I have to act fast. The ensuing conversation goes like this:
Casey: "Ok, lets go."
Me: "Uhhh.."
Me (sneaking a peek at the approching minivan): "Uhhh.. wait a second."
Casey: "Why?"
Me: "Uhhh.."
Casey: "..."
Me (sneaking a peek at the approching minivan, and whipping out the ring): "Will you marry me?"
Casey (shocked): "Yes"
Casey cries. Happy tears I think. I sweat profusely. We hug, and about 20 seconds later I shove a camera in her mug and snap the picture below.
