Last weekend, a group of friends and I decided to take a trip to Snowshoe in West Virginia. We were looking forward to a wintery weekend away, catching up, drinking wine by a fire, and snow tubing. So fun, right? Well, we left last Saturday. The day of the massive snowstorm. Had we left by 5 AM like we planned, we might have missed it. But we ended up leaving around 7 instead, and hit the snow as we got into Virginia. At first, it wasn't too bad. But it started getting worse, and long story short, here's what happened.
With spotty cell reception in the mountains, we gradually got texts from our friends in the other two cars. One of them got stuck and they had to stay overnight at a small town, sketchy motel. The other car also couldn't make it up the mountain, but they hitched a ride with two other guys in a bigger car. My car (which was me, my friend Elizabeth and her boyfriend James) stopped in a tiny town and checked at four auto stores for tire chains before we finally found some. We got the chains on and continued the drive. (I prayed a lot that we wouldn't die or become stranded.) With no phone service at this point, we just crossed our fingers that our friends were okay.
We started the crazy climb up the steepest part of the mountain, and we were making it... but it was nerve-wracking. Overall, the drive took us 10 hours when it should have taken five or six. With five miles left to go, one of the chain links on a tire broke. More praying ensued. We finally made it to the lodge and began searching for Elizabeth's sister, brother in law and niece, who were the ones who had hitched a ride. Luckily, they had arrived a few hours before us, so they were safe and sound.
At one point during the drive when we stopped for gas and Elizabeth was in the bathroom, James told me has was planning to propose on the trip. I was so excited! But then we ran into some issues:
1. We didn't know if our friends who stayed in the seedy motel overnight would even be able to make it up the mountain the next day.
2. Elizabeth's sister was supposed to hide and take pictures with her nice camera's long lens while James proposed on a cute bridge out in the snow. The camera was missing. It was either in their car, which they had to abandon to hitch a ride, or in the stranger's car they rode with. Long story short, the dude ended up finding it in his car, but after he had left the resort to go home. So, no camera.
3. Plans kept changing with all the chaos, so we didn't know when the proposal would even happen. But James was still determined to do it!
So, the next day (Sunday), the weather was much better and our two friends were able to make it up the mountain. We were supposed to go tubing and then James would take Elizabeth for a walk, but tubing didn't open until later, plus James and Elizabeth's brother in law decided to make the drive to retrieve his car so they would have it to leave the next day (about a two+ hour drive to get it). So we just headed out into the snow to play with Elizabeth's niece before coming in for lunch. The boys arrived back a little after that and finally, went back outside to start the proposal plan!
We were on the 8th floor of the condo building we were staying in, so James had the idea to write "Will you marry me" in the snow outside our window. With all the insanity that had happened and since we weren't out tubing like he planned, he came back upstairs after writing in the snow, took her over to the window, and just did it! It was hilarious because his line was, "Babe, look what some idiot wrote in the snow." Haha! It may not have gone as originally planned, but it was still so special to witness and she was so surprised. Seeing her face was the best part. (Shortly after, she asked me to be a bridesmaid, so that was also the best!)
Naturally, we snapped a ton of photos with our phones. Here are a few of my favorites:
With spotty cell reception in the mountains, we gradually got texts from our friends in the other two cars. One of them got stuck and they had to stay overnight at a small town, sketchy motel. The other car also couldn't make it up the mountain, but they hitched a ride with two other guys in a bigger car. My car (which was me, my friend Elizabeth and her boyfriend James) stopped in a tiny town and checked at four auto stores for tire chains before we finally found some. We got the chains on and continued the drive. (I prayed a lot that we wouldn't die or become stranded.) With no phone service at this point, we just crossed our fingers that our friends were okay.
We started the crazy climb up the steepest part of the mountain, and we were making it... but it was nerve-wracking. Overall, the drive took us 10 hours when it should have taken five or six. With five miles left to go, one of the chain links on a tire broke. More praying ensued. We finally made it to the lodge and began searching for Elizabeth's sister, brother in law and niece, who were the ones who had hitched a ride. Luckily, they had arrived a few hours before us, so they were safe and sound.
At one point during the drive when we stopped for gas and Elizabeth was in the bathroom, James told me has was planning to propose on the trip. I was so excited! But then we ran into some issues:
1. We didn't know if our friends who stayed in the seedy motel overnight would even be able to make it up the mountain the next day.
2. Elizabeth's sister was supposed to hide and take pictures with her nice camera's long lens while James proposed on a cute bridge out in the snow. The camera was missing. It was either in their car, which they had to abandon to hitch a ride, or in the stranger's car they rode with. Long story short, the dude ended up finding it in his car, but after he had left the resort to go home. So, no camera.
3. Plans kept changing with all the chaos, so we didn't know when the proposal would even happen. But James was still determined to do it!
So, the next day (Sunday), the weather was much better and our two friends were able to make it up the mountain. We were supposed to go tubing and then James would take Elizabeth for a walk, but tubing didn't open until later, plus James and Elizabeth's brother in law decided to make the drive to retrieve his car so they would have it to leave the next day (about a two+ hour drive to get it). So we just headed out into the snow to play with Elizabeth's niece before coming in for lunch. The boys arrived back a little after that and finally, went back outside to start the proposal plan!
We were on the 8th floor of the condo building we were staying in, so James had the idea to write "Will you marry me" in the snow outside our window. With all the insanity that had happened and since we weren't out tubing like he planned, he came back upstairs after writing in the snow, took her over to the window, and just did it! It was hilarious because his line was, "Babe, look what some idiot wrote in the snow." Haha! It may not have gone as originally planned, but it was still so special to witness and she was so surprised. Seeing her face was the best part. (Shortly after, she asked me to be a bridesmaid, so that was also the best!)
Naturally, we snapped a ton of photos with our phones. Here are a few of my favorites:
The ring is amazing-- it was James' grandmother's. She actually designed it for Tiffany's, and her husband bought it from them and proposed to her with it. So special and beautiful! After the proposal we finally went tubing while Elizabeth's sister made dinner and decorated the condo for a surprise engagement party. We had a great time despite all our setbacks and we did make it home in one piece :) Seeing one of my best friends get engaged was such an incredible experience and I was so happy to be part of it. I can't wait to stand up with her as she gets married!
Cheers to adventures & engagements!
What a beautiful proposal ! And I love the story about the ring :) x
ReplyDeleteI love it too! I was so happy to be there :) Thanks for your comment! - Sarah
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