Read the thirty-second version.
The following is Elaine's account of the events on the day we were engaged to be married:
The day began when Chris gave me a gift bag containing a key chain with
several keys attached late Saturday morning. Chris had taken the time the week before
to make this special heart-shaped key chain using sheet metal and felt. He told me
to use one of the keys on the key chain to check my mailbox. Inside the mailbox was
a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver and a birthday card with balloons
and confetti on it. This was my first clue, signaling the beginning of a birthday
scavenger hunt. Chris planned it a week earlier than my birthday since we both had
a lot of academic commitments for the following weekend and he'd have the benefit
of a surprise...How special!
On the birthday card were latitude-longitude
coordinates of the location of the next clue, which I would need to find using
the GPS receiver. Chris brought me back inside and showed me how to use the
GPS receiver, which he'd borrowed from our friend Matt Haugland.
Chris packed several bags with items we would need for the day
(granola bars, cameras, hiking boots,
etc.), then I followed the coordinates of the first clue card to his car, where a second note was
waiting. With each location there was a personal note on unique stationary, some
corresponding scripture verses, and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the
next clue.
The second clue led us a few miles away to the roof of Sarkey's Energy Center (in
which the Meteorology Department uses the top five floors), where Chris had left a
gas grill for me! He even covered it with a tarp to protect it from the overnight
rain. It turns
out that Chris had enlisted our friend Bob's help in getting the large grill up
the three flights of stairs to the roof late on Friday night. We saw Brad and
Andy in the office, who were planning on going out chasing
some possible thunderstorms in SW Oklahoma that afternoon. The Storm Prediction
Center had issued a moderate risk for severe weather that day. Brad and Andy invited
us to join them, but Chris didn't think we'd be done in time. Sneaky guy.
The third clue (inside the grill box) directed us out to Lake Thunderbird, east
of Norman. I got the hang of the GPS receiver pretty easily, and had fun guessing where
everything was. Chris did a good job driving and following my instructions. The
next clue was hidden way off of a hiking trail that Chris and I had walked once the
previous fall on a beautiful Sunday afternoon (the day a nice woman and her husband saw
us near the side of the road and gave us some rose rocks and red Oklahoma dirt).
It was muddy, and I was glad Chris had suggested I bring a spare pair of
boots! There were little wildflowers blooming along the path, and we stopped to
examine and photograph a miniature turtle on the trail. He was no bigger than a
quarter. Following the GPS farther into the woods, I wondered where the note could
be. I never would have found the surprise, had I not had the GPS! It was hidden
very well underneath a pile of leaves deep in the thicket off of the trail. Chris
said he'd placed it there at about 10:30 the night before, in the rain! My goodness!
With the fourth clue was a package wrapped in wedding paper -- a Xyron 510 (it's an awesome sticker/
laminator/magnet-making machine that uses no electricity), tucked safely in plastic.
The coordinates of the fourth clue sent us a significant distance away;
the GPS said over 90 miles straight. So we
picked up a special lunch from Arby's, and headed southwest on I-44. Chris's DeLorme
Atlas is labeled with latitude and longitude coordinates, so I was able to determine we
should go to the Wichita mountains. Now Chris had taken me to the Wichitas just one
week after I moved here in August of 2001. We had great fun enjoying and
photographing bison, prairie dogs, and long horn cattle, then hiking up to the top of
Elk Mountain, despite the extreme heat.
Again we enjoyed seeing the bison and other wildlife, and then we headed towards the
next destination point. There was a great crowd of people
and there were several cars in the parking
lot at the base of Elk Mountain. Chris was concerned about the crowd, and we were both
concerned about the threatening and overcast weather. We
changed into shorts for the hike, and began an enjoyable trek up the mountainside.
The whole time I had to wonder, "Has he been here already, like the other spots?
Or will he just propose at the summit?"
Despite the occasionally drizzling weather, it was an enjoyable hike. There were
all sorts of colored wildflowers on both sides of the trail. A few times along the
way we had to stop under boulders until the thunder and lightning stopped. We didn't
want either of us to be electrocuted! While sitting out one batch of weather, a
large Boy Scout troop passed on their way down the mountain.
There were about 25 scouts and 12 or so leaders.
What a group! There were also a few families coming and going, and we hoped no one
would have trouble with the lightning. No one did.
Once we were close to the top, I noticed that the GPS was not directing us toward the
summit of this mountain, but towards the summit of an adjoining one. Chris checked
some numbers he had with him, and we determined I'd entered the wrong coordinates into the GPS.
I fixed the coordinates, but upon reaching the summit,
I noticed that we still had not reached our destination according to the GPS receiver.
Chris kept encouraging me to just "follow the GPS." I did, and it led me quite a distance off
the summit of the mountain, down the back side and around huge boulders and shrubs.
Eventually we reached the point indicated by the GPS, and there was nothing plainly visible.
Chris had to show me which patch of trees I should look under. |
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| Elaine with the GPS near the summit of Elk Mountain
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| | Elaine retrieving her box |
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Hidden beneath a large boulder and
underneath a tree was a white box (a waterproof
electronics box used by the Oklahoma Mesonet for weather observations), which was
chained to the tree using a bicycle U-lock. I was nervous as I unlocked and removed the box using
the keys on the key ring, and Chris took pictures all the while. Inside were more felt
hearts and a red box with hearts on it, tied with a white ribbon. I was nervous to
open it, and found two rubber stamps inside: one of a diamond ring, the other of a bride.
The card was very touching, and was written on the same style of paper as before, but
this time with wedding designs. Chris helped me carry the box back up to the summit
of the mountain. |
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Elaine opening her box below the summit |
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Once there, he brought out a bag and present, which I unwrapped.
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