On Feb. 13th we set out on a weekend excursion for the long weekend and a much needed break from school. We had a 3 day trip planned, which was mostly a surprise for me since my birthday was that week. So I was lead to believe that this extravagant trip to the mountains in Angeles National Forest, just outside of LA, was a birthday gift, but it was actually much more.
I had asked to go somewhere with snow, as I was actually really missing it, and I wanted to try an outdoor activity like skiing or snow shoeing. We went with the snow shoeing, which was amazing. You can see a picture of us here on top of a mountain, quiet as could be, looking down at an amazing vista. I felt like a mountain climber, or maybe a mountain goat. So on the first day of our trip we went with a small group of people on this snow shoeing adventure before we even checked into our cabin.
James had found this cute little cabin in Wrightwood, and had booked it for the weekend. He did a great job finding this place. It came with a fireplace, full kitchen, television and board games. We did it all: roasted marshmellows at the fire place, played the board game pass the pigs, and of coarse argued about the movie Pretty Woman. And that was just the first day.
The next day was Valentines Day. We had decided to spend it at Devil's Punch Bowl, a geological site on the San Andres Fault line. The pictures I took completely do not do the place justice. I really needed a wide angle lens, but the views wasn't even the best part. As I was staring of the vista, I turned around the find James on his knee with a beautiful ring, asking me to marry him. I was shocked, surprised and elated all at once. I agreed, and we continued our hike as an engaged couple, which I have to admit was really hard not to tell everyone we passed on the hike.
I can't really remember what happened the rest of that day, except a pure state of bliss. On Monday however, we packed up our stuff, loaded the car and decided to go sledding. We found a pretty quiet spot, and thought we would give it a go. I was having second thought about the hill we chose, as it was quite steep, but James went for it. And this was one of the scarest moments in my life. As he slid down the hard ice hill his body vibrated in an unnatural way. I stood there on top of this hill thinking, I've only been engaged for 24 hours and I might have just lost my fiance. When he finally got up I raced down the hill to him to find his hands bleeding. I ran to the car to get the first aid kit and wrapped up his knuckles.
The whole thing worked out. We were both ok, so we decided to just snow shoe a little before leaving this beautiful landscape.
