The family had a really long weekend at
Mohican. Despite the long weekend they did not do some of the things
they really love to do there. Aidan (the youngest boy) broke both is
radius and ulna in his right arm so he is in a cast and between the heat
and the cast Mom did not think he was ready. But they bought him a
product called "dry cast" and he spent so much time in the pool having a
blast that you would hardly have known that he was injured -- perhaps
he can handle hiking after all.
Despite the lack of hiking the family had so much fun on the trip. I think they went to the pool every day. They spent some time at the Mohican Lodge playing ping pong, tennis and board games. One of the favorite times at the Lodge is when they bring raptors weekly. However, with the Ohio Department of Agriculture's ban on moving birds (to prevent Avian Flu) they could not bring birds but rather stuffed animals and well, that is just not the same... Jane and Riley went with Dad tubing on the river a couple times. This is where the real adventure of the weekend happened...
One tube had a hole
in it from last season and Dad had tried to patch it. It was not
holding air over night so Dad drive to Walmart in an attempt to buy
another one. Wouldn't you know it? They had no more. So, Dad bought a
REAL patch kit (rather than duck tape) and patched the tube for Riley.
Then Dad had a "super fun" idea. What if they went to the covered
bridge and started there and had a longer tubing adventure? After all,
that is where the naturalist wanted to take them kayaking last year.
Jane was intimidated by this idea. After much convincing, around 7p,
Jane, Riley and Dad decided to do it. Mom and Aidan drove them to the
bridge and set them off. Aidan wanted to walk along the river and talk
with them for a while... actually he wanted to walk the whole way but
that would defeat the purpose of driving them there. So, Mom made him
come back to the truck and return to the campground with her. When they
left the 3 in the river Dad was teasing Jane and Riley about
"lachrymose leeches" and he said something about the fact that he should
have brought his waterproof flashlight. But, Mom was not worried --
she has double bagged Jane's cell phone in case they needed it and they
could call for help (in the land with no cell reception) if they needed
it.
Dad and Mom had though the
trip would take about 2 hours so Mom expected them home around 9. But
somewhere around 8p Mom and Aidan had noticed that it got dark a lot
quicker than they thought it would. (Boy was that an understatement!
For as dark as they thought it was, imagine being on the river under
tree cover that blocked out the dusk that everyone else could see...)
Mom just prayed that God bring them home safely to her.
In
the meantime, Aidan and Mom built a stellar campfire. A feat that Dad
and Riley had failed at the night before. They also played board games
and enjoyed some time together. But then Mom noticed it was so dark
people were walking around the campground with flashlights and trucks
had headlights on. She checked the time... 9p. No sign of the family.
She and Aidan got in the truck and drove to the places that the family
was most likely to come of the water. Her thought was to hand them the
flashlight they had neglected to take so that they could walk safely in
the campground. But she could not find them.
At
this point Mom started to panic. She tried calling them several times
-- no answer -- great land of no cell reception strikes again.
Uncertain what to do, she thought of a few things. She had heard that
the camper in the site next to them was a retired police officer (and he
just happened to be my previous owner too!) she thought of going to ask
him for advice. But they were not missing persons and well she was
afraid for some reason to ask him. So she called her BFF who used to be
a park ranger. In the land of no cell reception it took 5 tries to
complete the story to Diane. Diane asked her what her gut told her.
Mom said that her gut was conflicted. She figured they were probably
fine but she was uneasy. She was afraid if she called in help that Dad
would be all macho and say "We were fine we did not need help..." Mom
has a way of over reacting and she wondered if this was one of those
times. However, Diane said it was time to talk to a ranger. She
suggested Mom go to the camp store and say she wanted to talk to a
ranger. Mom told her the store was closed. Just as they were about to
discuss the next step, Jane walked crying into the campsite to Mom's
relief.
So here is what happened
on the river. Shortly after Mom and Aidan left, Dad had started
wondering if this was indeed a good idea. Riley was not only upset
about the leeches joking but his tube's patch failed again and was
nearly empty. Fear was upon them. In an attempt to help them Dad moved
Riley and Jane to his larger tube and he took Jane's for himself.
Darkness had indeed struck them and fear was upon all of them. Imagine
being in a dark, strange place with sounds that are not normal and no
flashlight. Imagine you are a parent trying to calm fearful children in
this situation. Imagine you have no cell reception either. Now place
yourself IN WATER and have the river suddenly getting much deeper than
you thought it did... deeper than Dad is tall and you can't see where it
does this. You have lost one raft and somewhere in all the
transferring of tubes your phone's bags leaked and fried the phone then
it fell to the bottom of the river. The children were terrified but so
brave.
After many moments of
prayer, Dad saw lights on the shore from night hikers. He called out to
them. No response. Jane called out to them -- Yes! A reply! After
going back and forth a bit the hikers agreed to help them walk back to
the campground using their flashlights. Apparently they got out of the
water and just pushed through brush -- could not tell what plants they
were walking through. These 4 young hikers were an answer to prayer!
Based on the calculations from the hikers, Dad and the kids were still
about 1 to 1 1/2 miles from camp!!! And, it was only getting darker.
Thanks to these kind souls the family was returned to camp.
Mom
was relieved to have them all back but no one could hug yet. They did
not know if they walked through poison ivy on the way to the path so
they all had to take baths in Dawn dishsoap (removes oils) and be
checked for ticks. After that hugs were given all around.
They
spoke to the naturalist the next day about the adventure and I want to
share what they learned so you all can learn from their adventure. These
are important items for hikes as well.
- They did the right thing by making sure someone knew where they started and what their path was so people would know where to look for them and could retrace their steps.
- Having a cell phone was a good idea but in water you can't rely on that.
- Flashlight... not just one but two... what if your batteries die in the first one?
- Before you leave for an excursion like this check the weather application on your phone if you can for what time the sun is supposed to set.
So,
that my dear friends is my first adventure with this new family. I am
pretty sure it will never be a dull moment. What have I been handed
into?
