Becoming a Bride: The Proposal

I'm taking a page out of Jesstagirl's book and cataloging my trip as a bride!


When Drew and I PCS’ed from Camp Pendleton to Maine, we drove. And ohhhh boy did we drive. Twelve hours a day for 5 days. We stopped ONCE during this trek … at Cortez National Park in Colorado at my insistence. And he moaned and groaned the entire way, because it’s 30 miles to get IN to the park … but well worth it! We were originally supposed to stop at Niagara Falls and visit his friends in Albany … but I fell asleep in Pennsylvania and I woke up around Boston, which is clearly NOT the direction to Niagara. Drew decided all on his own that we would bypass Niagara. Keep in mind: I’ve been sitting in a damn Jeep Wrangler packed to the brim for 5 days. Needless, I was seething. And around the time we crossed into New Hampshire, I let him know it. I think he felt bad.

So Labor Day weekend 2009 rolls around. I happen to have the weekend off (miraculous, considering as a waitress at a popular Olive Garden next to the mall: I’m required to work all holidays) … and he asks if I’m interested in going to Niagara Falls since we didn’t do it on our trip up. HECK YES I say. :-)

So we get in the car and we drive down. We go out to Cheesecake Factory with his friends in Albany (and for the record: my favorite Cheesecake Factory location is at the Irvine Spectrum in Huntington Beach) …. and then we end up at their apartment and proceed to get plastered.

So the next morning, we get up, get in the car … and drive the 5 hours to Niagara Falls. Did you know: most of Western New York is of middle eastern descent? Not that I minded, but ZOMG! I didn’t know to expect it.

So we get there … and this is what we see:

I just love long lines.

Suffice it to say ... I was getting grumpy and antsy for our turn at the Maid of the Mist! Especially considering the folks behind us had zero concept of personal space and were literally standing on the heels of my flip flops. That alone was making me a little grouchy!

But at long last .... we board the ship, put on the silly blue ponchos ... and take a minute to view an epic wonder of the world!

So I'm flitting around the deck of the Maid of the Mist like a pinball, and at one point Drew says in exasperation: "Dammit, woman, would you just stand still?!"

Well, no, silly! I can't! Look at this and this and this and this!

But then we get off the boat (soaked to the bone, by the way) .... and I wander over to the observation deck and ... well ... I'll let the photos tell the story. ;)