Gigantic lessons learned on our trip to Rialto Beach. There is a hike out to the "Hole in the Wall", an arch. We weren't going to do it because we were visiting Rialto later in the day than planned and after low tide. Then when we were playing around, I suggested that Max and Ryan jog out and just see if they could see the Hole in the Wall. Max had the car keys and we didn't have any reception. After awhile, Jason, Evelyn and I started walking along the beach to meet up with the boys. We kept going and going and did not meet up with the boys. Because of the cold and because it was getting dark, I was worried. Jason and Evelyn were worried too. I was hoping there was an inland trail that the boys could have found and that's why we weren't seeing them on the beach. I was calm for my kids but inside I was so worried. What if they had slipped off wet rocks. They are smart and have a lot of experience with hiking and outdoor safety with scouts, but I hated that we couldn't call them and check in. We decided to turn around and walk back, hoping that they were back at the parking lot after finding a faster inland trail. We prayed and went back. When we got to the parking lot, t was dark and the boys weren't there. Some men in the parking lot were fixing their truck. They didn't have a phone with reception, but they said they would stay until we found the boys. We started walking to the ranger station (which was quite a ways, but then we saw the other parking lot and there were two men who were there. They had a phone with reception and I called the police. One of the men also took off to find the boys on the beach. He said he knew the area like the back of his hand. I had the man's phone and was talking to the police. I don't know how much time passed but it was very dark and we saw two people come into the parking lot. I never hugged the boys so hard. They thought they were going to get in trouble for being gone so long but they had been too tired to jog all the way back. I was not mad, just grateful because that had been really scary. Apparently, it was dark enough that the boys didn't see the man on the beach. We waited for him and I was just praying for him to be safe as well. His friend was on the beach with us and he was so high so he had some interesting things to say, but we waited with him and talked with him while we waited for his friend. His friend came back after a while and was so glad that the boys got back. He said that he was thinking of his own mom the whole time and how worried she would be if something happened to him. We cried and hugged and it was such a special humanity moment. We were grateful that our prayers were answered by these kind men who gave their time and helped make sure my boys were okay. And the men who worked on their truck and made sure the boys were back before they took off. The unanswered question remained--why didn't the police ever come? After the man came back, we called the police to tell them everything was okay. They said they already knew. The Quileute tribe is tight-knit and someone had already communicated to the ranger that the boys were found. We definitely learned a lot from that experience and continue to be so grateful for those men who were so kind.
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