Ah, winter. Especially this one. It has been a wet one mostly for East Tennessee for 2021. That makes my job difficult when planning proposals since weather is above my pay grade, if you will. But sometimes the sun will come out to shine upon young lovers and what better time than during a proposal?

Not to mention, even if the weather was bad, love always brightens the day.

Now, Andy and I had been in a lot of communication, with emails going back and forth, to plan his marriage proposal to Megan. I realize for a lot of folks wanting to propose, they don’t know the SMokies as I do so I try to make sure we find a place that is the setting they want, and how to get there. In Andy’s case, he really wanted to propose marriage at sunset atop Newfound Gap. I watched weather like a hawk, even looking at the METAR reports out of Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge airport to see if a cloud ceiling below the Gap would obscure the view.

Oh, wait, as I write this post, let’s see what it looks like now at Newfound Gap . . .

“So,” you say, “what was the view for Andy?”

How about . . . this?

Beautiful, yes? Except for one problem - that snow you see resulted in the park rangers closing US 441. That is always a worry if you come to the Smokies in the winter: bad weather can mean snow and ice, as well as downed trees, causing the rangers to close roads out of precaution. Newfound Gap is at 5,046 feet (1,538 metres) and the topology of the mountains means that many parts will remain in shade for most of the day, meaning ice won’t melt. The road to the Gap is about 25 miles of narrow, twisting highway, so any accident on it is a mess for responders. And so, the road - and sights such as Newfound Gap and many trailheads for popular hikes along the way - gets shut down between Gatlinburg, TN and Cherokee, NC.

And that’s why we have backup.

Andy and I put our heads together and since other circumstances meant it would have to be shifted to the next day and in the morning, we decided it would be by the Little Pigeon River at Greenbrier. That is a fabulous location and is nearly 100% accessible throughout the year. Because, damn it, weather and road closures would not stand in the way of love!

And so, this happened …

Andy made a wise choice: Megan turned out to be a smart and sassy, kick ass kind of woman - not to mention beautiful and tell me she doesn’t bear a passing resemblance to Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge?

And bonus for me! Andy drove his Tesla from Wheeling, WV to the Smokies and demonstrated to me how you cvan program the horn to be . . . a screaming goat.

I NEED THIS, ELON.

And as Megan said to me, “Elon Musk should hire Andy, he convinces more people they want a Tesla from showing them his car.” Well, yes, Megan - that and his great personality but then, you know about that, what with now being his future wife.

So, how else to conclude this story except with:

Mazel tov, you crazy kids!