Morning of the big day came on November 25th. Wow was it beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. Katie and I had booked a weekend getaway at the Alisal Ranch just north of Santa Barbara. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and petted some barnyard animals before heading out to nearby Los Olivos for some sightseeing. In my mind the plan was simple: We would enjoy some afternoon wine tasting followed by a relaxing twilight canoeing excursion where I’d pop the question. At about 3 pm in the afternoon, I started noticing the winds picking up a bit. I wasn’t too concerned, but in the back of my mind I heard a little voice say, “You dummy, do you have any idea how windy it’s going to be on an open lake!” Nonetheless, I had to stick to my plan! Katie must have thought I was nuts as we boarded the lake shuttle (which was completely empty BTW). Our driver didn’t make it any easier. He kept leaning back asking, “Here for any special occasion?” I kept looking at Katie thinking, oh no, my cover is blown, she must know what I’m up to. We made it to the lake! Holy cow the water was foaming, the waves were rolling, and it was howling outside. Katie was a great sport; she was 100% dedicated to canoeing and didn’t even bat an eye as we walked down to the heaving dock. My white knuckles were hidden as I grasped the engagement ring in my pocket. The canoe couldn’t have been more than 2 feet wide. After carefully climbing aboard we pushed off. As luck would have it, we soon made it across the lake and found some calm inlets. Just when I’d take the ring out of my pocket to pop the question, I would hear Katie say, “Let’s keep going!” Well, after a few rounds of this I slid the ring box about 8 feet in front of me below Katie’s seat. Those were some stressful minutes of paddling as I pictured what would happen if we capsized. Who would I save?! Haha Finally, in a beautiful inlet surrounded by silence, nature, and a few cows I asked Katie to look under her seat, and the rest is history!