A Thailand beach surprise

As I promised in my previous post, we had a big surprise while visiting the Thai Islands.  Our son from Utah, Alex, and his girlfriend, Sam, planned to meet up with us for several days while we were staying in Ao Nang, Krabi.  But that wasn't the surprise.  Alex had been to Krabi before and thought what better time than to come over again while we were there.

Alex and Sam stayed over in Railay, only accessible by boat, which was a short ride for us from Ao Nang.  Railay is surrounded by a warm sea, lush jungle and limestone cliffs.  Perfect for the adventurous, like Alex and Sam.

Of course, there are others who would prefer just to chill out 

and have a wonderful Thai massage.....

.... or hang around reading ....

.... or sleeping .....

or like this kitty ....

watch what others come here to do, 

from all around the world

... rock climb ...

But rock climbing wasn't what Alex came to do.  Alex had other plans.  

As an experienced BASE jumper, he planned to do several jumps on this visit, as he had on other visits.  If you are not familiar with BASE jumping, it is an extreme sport of jumping from fixed objects with a parachute. The name BASE is derived from the fixed objects that are jumped from:  buildings, antennas, spans (like a bridge) and earth (like cliffs). 

One has be in great shape to endure the climbs 

up the backside of these cliffs.  

It took Alex about 3 hours to climb through jungle and sharp, knife-life rock 

to reach his jumping off point.

And he lands ....

The jump was awesome to watch,

but even more awesome was what happened

after he landed!

He got down on one knee in front of Sam and said:

"I thought I'd take the plunge and ask you to marry me."

Well .....  you can see what her response was!

It was wonderful to share such a memorable moment

with family.

Congratulations Alex & Sam.

Looking forward to your Utah wedding in March 2015!

A side note:  One must be alert when packing one's parachute.  You never know when some Thailand kitty may try to rearrange your lines!  Might not make for a pleasant landing!