Friday, January 13th 2006

The Setup

Chris told Bethlyn that they would be going on an adventure on Friday the 13th (their anniversary). At first, she was shocked and couldn't believe it. Later, she was excited and couldn't wait for the adventure to begin.

The Adventure Begins

As they headed out on the 101 Northbound from Thousand Oaks at 2:30PM, Bethlyn asked Chris, "Are we going to Santa Barbara?" To which he responded, " Yes we are!!!" as they headed up the coast in Bethlyn's 2002 Honda Civic.

The Discovery

After checking into the Hotel MarMonte overlooking the ocean in Santa Barbara, Chris asked Bethlyn to see if they had a phone book while he used the restroom. Bethlyn looked in the nightstand drawer and made a shocking discovery. An envelope. That's right, a white envelope that was labeled, "Adventure".

Upon opening the envelope, Bethlyn found a copy of Chris' first e-mail to her along with her response. It had been written 3 days after they met in Mexico on March 24, 2001. In the e-mail, Chris asked her to go to lunch if she was "the adventurous type." She said yes and signed her response,

The Adventurous Type,

Bethlyn

The Map to Adventure

But the e-mail wasn't the only thing in the envelope. There was also a very old map, which looked like it had been burned in a fire long ago.

On the back of the map was written what appeared to be a riddle. It said:

Not the day to test your luck,

A sunset cruise that now is stuck,

Pointing from atop the mast,

Leading you to days gone past.

Go ye back, but don't despair,

Seek the rock, the cross it bears.

Christened hull will fill your grail,

Come aboard, this ship's set sail.

The clues from the map led Chris to believe that they should head to the beach. So that's what they did. They headed for the beach.

The Sunset Cruise

Bethlyn was sure that they would be going on a boat trip and thought back to the last time she had been on a boat and how she had puked non-stop for 2 hours. But her stomach felt better when she saw, "The Boat."

It was hard to tell how long this boat had been there, but it was certain that it wasn't going anywhere soon.

The Dig

From reading the clues and looking at the map, Chris thought they should start digging directly below the top of the mast. Remarkably, he happened to be carrying two shovels and pails in his backpack. So they started digging. And they couldn't find anything. So they kept digging. And digging. And digging. They got a lot of weird looks from passersby. But still, they kept digging. They got tired and frustrated. They wondered if someone had found the treasure. They wondered if it had been washed away in the high tide along with the stones and sticks which had been used to mark the exact spot. Bethlyn thought Chris had lost his mind. Chris thought about running into the ocean and drowning himself. But as the sun began to set and all hope seemed to be lost. They found it.

The outside of the treasure chest had pictures of places Bethlyn and Chris had gone together and the inside had gold coins, dinosaurs, and a note. The note had a picture of Bethlyn and Chris and a poem.

You came from very different lands,

And now you're digging in the sands.

You've shared great times and had some fun,

But your journey together has just begun.

You came to look for buried treasure,

But this ain't it, by any measure.

Don't give up, you're on your way,

It's Friday the 13th, Your lucky day.

The Cross

After going back to the riddle on the map, they read the line:

Go ye back, but don't despair, Seek the rock, the cross it bears

It wasn't long before they found it. A cross stuck into the side of the cliff.

So they began digging again below the cross. They found a message in a bottle.

Inside the old bottle of Corona was a piece of paper with 2 pictures and another poem.

These words are from my heart and true,
I give thanks to God that I found you.
When everything has turned to dust,
You’re still the one that I can trust.
When I’m with you I cannot frown,
You never, ever let me down.
You give me joy and bring me pleasure,
Greater than any buried treasure.
You’re beautiful and so much more,
I have finally found what I was looking for.
And even when we’re ninety-three,
You’ll always be the one for me.
Through the good and also strife,
I’ll be there for you, for all my life.
We’ll raise our children, maybe twins,
Now the adventure really begins.
From your side, I will never depart,

I will love you forever. With all of my heart.

The Proposal

After reading the poem, Chris got on one knee, took the ring out of his pocket (no it wasn't buried) and said "Dorko,Will you marry me?"

After laughing for a few seconds she said, "Yes."

The Sunset

The Toast

Chris remembered that one clue was left in the riddle.

Christened hull will fill your grail, Come aboard this ship's set sail.

He got his shovel and went to the boat and started digging again.

This is what he found.

The Adventure Continues

All in all it was a fun day and a great adventure. Friday the 13th was as lucky as always and the newly engaged couple had a really great time.

I'm sure this is the start of a lifelong adventure together and many other great days to come.

To Be Continued.....