Unexpected Adventure!

I decided to take the kids on a picnic along Grandview Drive on this nice fall day. All was going well until Noah discovered a trail, and we thought we should investigate. It looked like a nice trail through the woods, and the leaves were beautiful, so we thought we would take a quick little hike. Bad call.

After about ten minutes, I was just thinking about turning around and going back, when Sarah announced that she had to pee. There was a sign just ahead of us that said "Nature Center" with an arrow. I asked Sarah if she could hold it until we got to the Nature Center, and she said yes, so we decided to forge ahead. After all, how far could the Nature Center be? Bad idea.

As we got deeper and deeper into the woods, and the trail got narrower and narrower, and we hadn't seen a single person the whole time, and I realized that Sarah was wearing crocs, I began to feel the slightest bit uneasy. I didn't really know where we were or if we would be able to find our way back, so I started discreetly marking the trail. The trail was now very rugged, and Sarah had fallen several times and was beginning to whine. Noah whipped out a little toy that he had brought along and pretended it was a GPS unit. He kept holding it up to the sky and saying, "Oh yes, we're on the right trail. Just keep going."

We came to a clearing where the view was amazing and the land was flat, so we rested. We were all sweating, and of course I hadn't brought any water, not thinking we would be going on a major trek through the forest. I started singing songs that I remembered from church camp and tried to motivate the troops (mainly myself). The trail got very steep, and I thought even if we ever make it to the elusive Nature Center, we'll never make it back to the van. I kept seeing signs for the Nature Center, but none of them said how far it was.

We crossed a rickety old bridge and climbed over a tree that had fallen across the trail. I tripped on a hidden root and went down, but fortunately didn't damage anything. That's when I began to internally freak out, thinking no one knows we're out here, and if I break a leg, the kids will have to go for help, and it's going to get dark and cold, and we're all going to starve to death and get eaten by bugs.... Externally, I was saying, "I'm in the Lord's army...sing it, kids!"

Finally, a road appeared and across it was the Nature Center. It was a beautiful thing. We entered, dirty and sweaty and exhausted. Poor Sarah still had to pee, so while I took her to the bathroom, I started thinking about a plan. My legs were feeling rubbery and shaky, but I knew I could hike back if I had to. I asked Noah if he thought he could, and he said yes. But we all knew that Sarah would never make it, and I knew I couldn't carry her. I found a map and studied it to figure out if there was a road that would take us more directly back to Grandview Drive. It didn't look good.

I found a Nature Center employee and asked her if there was a way back besides that trail. She said the trail was the quickest way. She looked at our pitiful condition and offered to have another employee give us a ride. I politely declined, not wanting to put anyone out on account of my stupidity. We sat and watched squirrels and wild turkeys for awhile. I thought about calling a taxi, or maybe Mike, or maybe my parents. Finally I decided to eat crow and take the woman up on her offer.

She called the other employee, and he came over. He seemed very tall, but maybe that's because I felt like he was looking down on me. He appeared to be smirking a little and judging me, but he was very nice and said he would go get the keys to the park van. I was so humiliated that I could feel my face burning. When he came back, Noah was standing dutifully by my side, and Sarah was....missing.

I looked all around and didn't see her anywhere. Park man smiled (a little smugly, I thought) and said, "Did you lose her?" My face turned another shade of red, and I said, "Yes, I lost her. I'm a loser." I sent Noah to look in the gift shop while I looked in the other room. We met back at the door, where the guy was still standing holding the keys. No Sarah. I didn't think she would be in the bathroom since she had just peed, but since there was nowhere else to look except outside, I looked.

There she was in the bathroom. A vein popped out on my neck, and she figured out that I was furious. She claimed that she had told me she was going to the bathroom. I bit my tongue so hard that it almost bled, grabbed her hand as gently as the circumstances would allow, and led her to the guy, who led us to the park van. He said it wasn't the first time that he'd had to drive someone back to the top after they'd hiked that trail. I told him I had no idea how long (or how rigorous) the trail was, and he said he didn't know why the park district didn't post a sign indicating how far it was to the Nature Center. I thanked him profusely, and I didn't even have to prompt the kids to thank him. They were truly grateful!

(The picture shows a big rock where we stopped to rest. Noah is checking his "GPS". The trail really dropped off after that point. )