Keith and Molly both swiped right and had their first date at Bad Weather Brewing. That first meeting was filled with a few fibs told by Molly including her being from Colorado and currently living with a few roommates. It came out a few dates later that these roommates were actually her parents and she'd grown up in St. Paul, living only a few years in Colorado before having recently moved back. It was good we were both already falling hard for one another at this point, as Keith shared he'd recently developed new standards for his dating and none of this would have been acceptable had he known. Over the next several weeks we bonded over our mutual love of good food and adventures. We quickly got travel plans together on our calendars. This meant we had real plans for a future date and we both knew things were getting serious. The last two and a half years have been our best adventure yet and we're so excited to start married life together!
Some details of this story are simply fact. We were at the end of the Gunflint Trail. It was March 9, 2019. Other details of this story depend on who you ask. Molly remembers Keith being adamant he wanted to do a picnic lunch on the Gunflint Trail. In March. Somehow we stumbled upon some snowmobile races and I was quite content to have found such an event! Well Keith rushed us right out of there after one drink and in hindsight this should have been a warning, but I honestly had no idea what was coming. We drove to the very end of the Gunflint Trail, to an empty campground parking lot, and Keith decided this was the perfect place for a picnic. I remember mostly being relieved it seemed there was a winterized outhouse at the other end of the parking lot and immediately headed that direction. I return to the car babbling about how the outhouse, while winterized, was so rustic that the tree outside the outhouse seemed like a better option. Mid-sentence I walk around the car and there he is on one knee, saying my full name (which exactly zero people have called me that I can ever remember) and here I am babbling about a bathroom. I remember saying yes and then both of us standing there speechless for a few minutes. Keith remembers being very nervous. Molly's friends were supposed to join them at the cabin this particular weekend, but had to back out at the last minute. He'd already acquired the ring and knew right away when he heard the news that this weekend was it. He remembers suggesting a picnic and stopping at several points along the route, waiting to find the perfect spot. Obviously the snowmobile races were not going to be it. The next stop proved to be a no as well, since they were walking on a lake in waist deep snow and Molly was struggling to keep from falling through the snowpack. A few hours into their adventure, and at least a full handful of pitstops later, they reached the end of the Gunflint Trail and he decided it was go time.