On Sunday afternoon September 22nd, Paula and David followed their weekly ritual of watching football at their friend's house.  On the way home, they decided to visit Great Falls State Park. Great Falls is a park located on the Potomac River in Northern Virginia.

Paula and David enjoy relaxing on the rocks above the waterfall and try to do so often, so it appeared to be a completely normal day.  After arriving at the park, they climbed through the woods and over the rocks to their standard perch above the falls.  Paula sat down to relax while David commenced with his standard exploration of the rocky terrain.  As the water level rises and falls over time, the landscape completely changes form and presents new terrain to be conquered.  After a short time they decided to walk along the river a short distance to a nearby small waterfall that feeds into the river.  Paula wanted her picture taken by the rocks so they stopped by the falls and snapped a few photos.  She then suggested taking a picture of David by the water also.  

Paula snapped a photo or two and then pointed to an object in a still portion of the water.  She said "there's a bottle over there with a message in it!"  She pointed it out to David and asked him to retrieve it.  Climbing across the rocks, David picked up the bottle and brought it back to her.  She asked if it was safe to open and proceeded to remove the cork and the rolled up parchment inside.  As she unravelled the message she was still puzzled as to why someone left a message rolled up inside a bottle in the Potomac River.  She continued to unroll the paper to find the words "Paula, will you marry me?"  Not yet realizing that the message was for her she turned to show David who was already on one knee and slipping a ring onto her finger.  David asked her if she would marry him and she replied with a resounding and tearful "yes".  

How did the bottle get there?

Now, here's some background to the story to help you understand how unexpected an event this was for both Paula and David.  Paula had not been feeling well for several days prior to the weekend.  She had not been out of the house and they decided a leisurely trip to the park would probably be good.  Upon arrival at the park, Paula was not feeling very well and asked to sit down on a bench near the park ranger's station.  She sat down, and David went to check the rocks to find a good place to sit, as the park can get quite crowded at times.  When David reached the rock that they normally sat on, there was no one around, perfect for David's plan!  David had prepared an empty wine bottle, complete with a proposal message which he would place in the water near their rock.  A suitable location was found and the bottle placed for the surprise.  He quickly ran back to the ranger station to check on Paula and see how she was feeling.  When he returned she was not feeling good and requested that they return home so she could lie down.  Disappointed, David agreed and he took her home for the evening so that she could recuperate.  The next day Paula was feeling better and they attended the weekly football party.  Afterwards she was still feeling pretty well and suggested going to the park.  David had brought the ring with him hoping that this would happen, although he was fairly certain that the bottle would no longer be there.  When David and Paula arrived at their rock, David's heart sank.  The bottle was not there, despite desperate searching during his exploration of the rocks.  Well, it was not meant to happen this way, and a new plan would have to be hatched.  

David had given up hope as they decided to walk along the rocks and see the small waterfall. David was thinking the bottle had most certainly ended up several miles down the Potomac.  At least he didn't sign his name on the message, he thought.  While taking Paula's picture at the waterfall, David spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and after a closer look, realized it was the bottle he had placed the night before.  The spot where the bottle rested was about 100 feet downstream and 10 feet higher than where David had left it!  David's relief turned to panic when he realized that he did not have the ring!  He had left the ring in his backpack on their rock.  Desperately trying to come up with an excuse to return to the rock before she discovered the bottle, he told her that he was worried that someone could take the backpack as it was behind a rock and could not be seen from where they currently were standing.  He ran back and retrieved the ring while moving the backpack to a more visible location.  As he returned Paula asked him to sit by the waterfall so she could take his picture.  After snapping a photo, she spotted the message in a bottle and the rest is history.