The Beginning Early 2000s, a beautiful winter in Big Bear Lakes, California. Elliot, sporting a mohawk and ska band T-shirt, works up the nerve to ask Nikki, 2 years older, for her AOL instant messenger screen name. They stand awkwardly side-by-side in the dining hall at Camp Whittle. Finally Nikki says "snowgurl648" and little do they know it, but their lives change forever. Nikki and Elliot are truly a camp love story. They grew up attending the same sleep-away camp in Big Bear, and when they aged out, continued as volunteer counselors. They each pursued exciting, and extremely different career paths, but ultimately found their way back to each other through their camp bond. They proved that summer love can flourish in the real world. The Proposal Among other things, Nikki and Elliot love travel and outdoor adventures. Mammoth Lakes has become a very special place to them, so it was only fitting that April 10, 2021, while taking a moment to relax on the mountain at McCoy Lodge, Elliot reached down to adjust his uncomfortable ski boot, and then looked up with smile, clutching a ring box displaying a beautiful engagement ring, and asked Nikki to marry him. They spent the remainder of the weekend celebrating the joyous occasion, starting with a nice bottle of champagne courtesy of the wonderful Mammoth Mountain staff, on a beautiful, bluebird day.