In May 2003, Robin moved out of the cabin she had been renting in Fairbanks, Alaska and into her big Chevy Suburban. She had been working a year for the Alaska Department of Transportation and was being sent to inspect a couple of road construction projects near Tok, Alaska. As the DOT paid her a standard rate for housing and food as well as time and a half for all the overtime she worked, by living out of her car and eating a few energy bars a day for her meals, she saved a great deal of money by the fall. Although she didn't mention this to her supervisors until giving her two weeks notice, Robin had been planning for some time to take a road trip to the "Lower 48" states to go rock climbing and hiking and see the National Parks she had been hearing about since she was little. She quit her job and swapped the Suburban for an efficient little Chevy Metro, traveled down to California, and then around on a loop to many parks in the western states, ridding herself of some unwanted baggage along the way.
She settled in Camp 4 of Yosemite National Park for climbing, when she could bum a partner, and hiking when she couldn't. One day, three men, Jason, Larry and Thad, came to share her campsite. They were funny and trustworthy and she climbed with all three. Jason taught her to lead trad and lent her gear to go climbing with his father, Larry (which is a story unto itself).
The same summer, Jon got out of the Army after five years and moved to Santa Cruz, California. He had been a computer programmer before the Army and had just started working again as one at a small company called Advent Systems in Mountain View, California.
Jason and Jon had met three years before while in job training in the Army together and had become friends. Once Jon found out Jason was a rock climber, he asked to be taught rock climbing should the two of them end up at the same duty stations. Luckily, they both ended up being stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As the New River Gorge, West Virginia, a major climbing area, was only a five hour drive away, they spent most weekends there, with Jason teaching Jon first to climb, then to lead.
They got out of the Army within a month of each other, and Jason, who is very good with money, immediately went on a rock climbing road trip with his college friend Thad, while Jon, who isn't, had to find a job right away.
While Jason was in Yosemite, he came to visit Jon, and invited him to come out the next weekend to climb in the Valley with him. Jon came out late after work, found the campsite, and crashed in his sleeping bag. In the morning, he awoke to Jason saying, "What's up Jon? I have a girl for you to climb with. Meet Robin." And Jon looked up at a girl with hair almost as big as her smile.
Jon and Robin climbed most of the weekend together and had some minor adventures. They really hit it off, but as Jon had to return to work, he gave Robin his business card and offered his couch to her if she ever felt like visiting Santa Cruz. Then Robin went on a week long backpacking trip with her father, where she often thought of the the funny and kind Jon. After she said goodbye to her dad, she hiked up Half Dome, and then she called up Jon and asked if she could visit.
The rest of her road trip had its nucleus in Santa Cruz. She would go to Moab and then Santa Cruz. Bishop, then Santa Cruz. Joshua Tree, then Santa Cruz. They fell in love. Robin returned to Anchorage, Alaska for a semester because she applied to get her teaching certificate and wanted to give that a try. Even so, they phoned every night and visited each other.
Robin eventually moved to Santa Cruz after the one semester and got another engineering job in San Jose. She didn't like the Bay Area because they are so many people and not enough mountains. Jon enjoyed his job and the company of his friend Trampus, but agreed that living closer to climbing would be better for them, since they were driving several hours to go climbing every weekend. Robin found a job in Bishop and moved there about a month later. Jon had to finish some projects for work, so moved out six months later.
Jon and Robin took turns driving to each other's home on weekends during the time they were apart. On a very stormy visit to Bishop on New Years Eve, Jon took special care when he packed his day pack. They went on a hike up an old mining road to a broad plateau. The rain had turned to snow and it was quite windy, so they set up Robin's tarp on the lee side of a mini peak and hunkered down for a little snack. Jon said to Robin, "I have two surprises for you." Robin cocked an eyebrow at him, "Oh?" Jon pulled out of his bag a bottle of primitivo, their favorite red wine, and then the two nalgene wine glasses Robin had bought him for Valentine's Day nearly two years before. Robin smiled and Jon uncorked the bottle and poured and they clinked and sipped. Jon asked Robin, "Don't you want to know what the second surprise is?" But Robin had thought that the wine was surprise number one and the glasses were surprise number two. Normally, a bit of dark chocolate would be what she expected, but Jon was acting rather peculiarly at the moment. Robin nodded. Jon produced a little ring that he had made out of silver wire twisted into a carrick bend. Jon asked, "Will you marry me?" Robin was so happy and giggled and probably said yes, but the answer was definitely understood.