On May 25^th, 2012, Michael and Michele got engaged while driving up the California Coast to visit Michele’s parents in Oregon.  

It was a beautiful drive up Hwy 1 through some of the best views we had both ever seen. The weather was great the entire drive and we were excited to get to our hotel that night in Carmel. Michael had arranged a proposal that evening at the Hyatt Highlands Carmel outside on the cliff overlooking the ocean. It was the longest 8 hours ever for Michael as he was trying to act relaxed and calm so he wouldn’t give anything away . As we mentioned before, the weather was great the entire time until we pasted Big Sur and it was at that time that Michele and Michael hit the hardest rain storm they had both even seen. The rain and wind were out of control. As we arrived at the hotel, Michael asked Michele to stay in the car and he was going to go in to see if the room was ready. (Thank the lord Michele agreed and kept reading in the car…if she would have wanted to go in to the hotel check in area with Michael, things could have been a little different) Michael had to think quickly and change the proposal location. With some great help from the hotel, he arranged an indoor proposal in our room with great views of the California coast and a warm fire in the background. As he got down on one knee, Michele said yes and the rest of the trip was amazing.