Take Me to the Moon 4.0: Wild Blue Yonder

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It was a hot summer day and Delaney had almost finished her workout in the pool.  She saw Alexander as she tipped her head up and took a breath and in an instant, she was out of the pool, and in his arms.

Alexander and she spent all their time together, when they weren't working.  She even saw him every now and then at work; she was the command center lead and he was in IT at the space agency.

 After Delaney's successful launch of Earhart, her rocket,  she had gotten a great job as a technician at the space agency right out of high school.

Ryleigh, her best friend, was working in the space agency as well, but on the business end.  

One Thursday afternoon, after being promoted to Low Orbit specialist, Delaney had a brain wave.  "Alexander," she said as soon as he picked up the phone, "Alexander, let's go to Granite Falls.  I've got nearly a week saved up and you've got four days-- if we go on Wednesday night we can stay till Monday!"  They decided to invite Alexander's family, and Ryleigh, and leave Wednesday night.

They arrived in Granite Falls right before sunset on Wednesday evening.

Delaney had really wanted to go wilderness camping, but had deferred to Alexander's mother.  Bella had insisted that if she was coming along, she was going to rent a cabin, and said she found the "perfect little place."  Delaney was floored when she saw the cabin.  It was bigger than her Aunt Cacey's house!  

Within minutes of arriving, a very jolly ranger was at the front door.

Delaney soon regretted answering the door, as the ranger continued to talk and hang around, long after Delaney had asked a few questions about the campground.

When she went back inside, Alexander had found the bookcase, and Bella and Cassandra were chatting.

Delaney wanted to be in the great outdoors, so she went outside and began to pitch horseshoes.

When Ryleigh came out, Delaney and she ended up looking at the huge, inky sky, so full of stars.

Ryleigh and Delaney talked about Ryleigh's boyfriend, Dante, and about work, and Cacey's wedding that was coming up soon.  After a while, Ryleigh asked Delaney if she thought she would get engaged soon.  "The conditions are optimal," Delaney said, in her usual geek-speak.

 The next morning, Delaney was up bright and early, waking up Alexander and wanting to take a hike to scout out locations for camping.  As they stood in one of the campsites in the campground, she noticed Alexander looked upset and asked him what was going on.  "Mom and Cassie are probably going to head home," he said.  "Mom just doesn't like roughing it."  Delaney had a hard time not to laugh out loud.  The cabin they had rented could hardly be called "roughing it."  It had more comforts than Delaney's home.

Alexander had to go to the restroom, but when he came out, Delaney asked what he wanted to do.   They decided to stay in Granite Falls when the family left, and move to the campground.  Delaney wasn't sure if Alexander was truly happy with that decision, but he was willing to stay.  And he agreed to go backpacking the next day and wilderness camp near the famous Granite Falls, deep in the national forest.

That evening after they set up camp, Delaney went for  a run.  It was her habit to either run or swim at least twice a day to stay in tip-top shape as an astronaut.

 When she finished showering and returned to the campsite, Alexander had cooked up some franks and beans.  He acted like it was the most tasty food ever; but Delaney was more concerned about the level of saturated fat and refined sugar involved.  She tried to be enthusiastic, but as a candidate for space missions, her blood cholesterol was monitored weekly.

After cleaning up, Alexander went in the tent to read, away from the bugs and hopefully, away from the bears.  Delaney enjoyed the feeling of open space and sat and read a herbalism book she'd picked up at the ranger station.

The next morning they set out bright and early, and hiked up the river towards Granite Falls.  

By late afternoon, they had arrived, and Granite Falls was more breathtaking than Delaney had imagined.

They quickly set up camp before the light began to fade.

Then Alexander said he was running quickly back to the Ranger Station, to get some maps and a book on the area.  

Delaney appreciated that he liked to read about everything, but she wanted to experience it as a surprise.

 He returned with a book about fishing in the area, quickly referenced when and how to catch certain types, and then got out his rod and reel.

He didn't catch anything, and soon came back complaining that he didn't have the right bait.

 That night they made a fire and roasted veggie dogs.  After a while Alexander asked Delaney if she wanted to dance.  As he took her hand, he told her, that even if  he wasn't crazy about the woods, he was crazy about her.

Alexander tried to remember and point out the constellations Delaney had been teaching to him.

The night was cold and there was a stiff wind, but Delaney and Alexander were warm and safe in their tent.

Friday morning, Delaney couldn't wait for it to get light so she could get started on her hiking adventure.

She quickly ate some granola while marveling at the scenery.

She got an early start, and while the light was still warm in the sunrise, she found a cool little thicket cave.

She explored the wilds and found some interesting herbs she didn't recognize.

That night over the last of the veggie dogs, she told Alexander all about her adventure.

They were low on food, so they decided to hike back to the campground the next day, and spend the last couple of nights there.

 They were pretty happy to reach the campground, get showered, and eat something besides roasted tofu dogs for dinner.  Delaney didn't even care how much cholesterol it had.

Alexander told Delaney, before they went to bed, he wanted to go hiking with her tomorrow.

He was up before the sun, grilling fruit.  True love.

Then he went and washed the dishes while he waited to take a shower.

It was a gorgeous morning; a little hazy.

They stopped to eat lunch by the river.  Alexander took Delaney's hands in his and looked very serious.  "Delaney, I want to spend my life with you.  Be my wife."

 

 Delaney said yes. 

 Notes:

• I sent Bella, Cassandra, and Ryleigh home because I couldn't control them, or what they were wearing (without cheats). Bella was upset when she arrived, but probably not because of the wilderness.  But I thought it played well into her character.
• Alexander has the traits Bookworm, Geek, and Family Oriented.  The only real interest he had in the wild was he wanted to try for baby with Delaney!  
• Delaney loved hiking, which pleased me.  She has the active trait.  I would really like it if it could be a group activity, like in Sims 2.  She collected several bugs.
• I tried hard not to just fill this post with spam.  Granite Falls area is so pretty and I really enjoyed the new interactions.  One of the things they didn't do that I am looking forward to is socializing around the campfire with a group.  The tents are easy to set up, but not the chairs.  Evidently you want to try to get them to snap to the campfire, which I wasn't doing.  
• Another couple activities I look forward to are catching (& cooking) some of the new fish, and brewing herbal remedies.  Delaney and Alexander mostly wanted to read.  He did not have enough skill to catch the fish at the falls.  

 Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!