Being together was natural from the very beginning. Our first date was at Blue Kangaroo in Sellwood. After, we walked down to Oaks Bottom where Scott went swimming while I watched from the shore as I had work afterwards. Scott walked me to Gino’s and I remember not wanting the date to end.

Our second and third dates were to Battle Ground Lake. The third date being a camping trip that turned into a 48 hour date. When we returned to Portland, we stopped for lunch at Por Que No and Scott asked if I wanted to go see a movie. I said yes.

A few weeks later Scott invited me on a road trip to Colorado to visit national parks. We had been going on dates for a little over a month at this point. To his surprise and delight I agreed to go. We knew it was crazy and yet I wasn’t worried at all. We visited Rocky Mountain National Park where we took our first selfie at the top of a windy mountain. We stayed in Denver and ate vegan chicken and waffles and spent time sightseeing and wandering around the Denver Art Museum.

On our way to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, we broke down. A Good Samaritan drove us into the town of Paonia, where Scott got a tow truck. We spent three nights there at an Airbnb in a mint green western style building. The cottonwoods were blooming and filled the air with tiny balls of fluff that danced in the breeze. We fell in love in Paonia.

Broken down in the middle of nowhere Colorado was tough but we didn't seem to care. We had fun along the way. It didn’t matter that we didn’t make it to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, we were together and we knew we could figure it out. The car was totaled and Scott bought a white Cadillac we named Rocky. On our last night in Paonia, we took Rocky up to the cemetery and under a starry sky Scott asked me to be his girlfriend. We’ve been on many trips together since that first one and to this day, that still might be our most memorable vacation together.

The following spring, I moved in with Scott and Ross during the pandemic. In the following years we went on another epic roadtrip, many camping trips, visits to Scott’s brother and his family in Utah, visits to my family in Alpine and Seattle, and a trip to Hawaii. I got my masters in urban planning and left the restaurant. Scott started working at Chown and I started at 3J Consulting.

And at another national Park, Crater Lake, Scott asked me to marry him. I said yes.