On 20 June 2020, I decided to do something fun with the kids for my birthday. It had been a long while since I had been to the Geierlay Suspension Bridge and a simple hike sounded fun so we packed the van with water and snacks and headed out.
This was actually the second time I had been to this bridge. Jari visited this bridge several times with family who was visiting so I don't think she was all that excited. But the first time we went it was cold and later in the day so this was hopefully going to be a better experience.
We got out of the car with water and snacks I went to pay for parking and discovered that I not only did not have my wallet but also was missing the keys to the car. My stomach snack as I returned to the car to find it locked and the keys sitting on the front seat next to my wallet. I asked the lady who was working at the parking lot about a locksmith and called all the local towns about a locksmith (garages etc) but it was a Saturday and many people were not open. Eventually, I called USAA to see if they could tow us to a locksmith which was a far shot because we were parked in the back of the parking lot. They seemed to think that they could open the car there rather than tow us...
In the meantime, the kids were bored and pestering each other so I gave them my phone to take pictures. You never know what you are going to get when that happens; usually feet and blurry close-ups of hair.
But they got a few good shots.
Jari had the idea to call a friend who miraculously was home and lived within 10 minutes of our home. She drove there and explained the situation to our neighbor and landlord who amazingly let them in our home. I suppose it was because I asked them for the spare key to our home several times we were locked out while living there so the situation likely did not seem that odd to our landlord...
She scooped up the bowl of keys by the front door and drove out to meet us. In the meantime, Jari sent us to the bridge.
It is a little bit of a walk to the bridge from the parking lot (maybe a mile? And this sadly wore out the kids.
When we reached the bridge there was a really long line being policed by a security company to make sure people were wearing masks.
Jari was able to join us in time to cross the bridge.
Amazingly they were not strict about masks for the kids which was a blessing.
A few extra photos.
Looking down from the bridge
One thing that was different about this trip was that while previously we were able to cross the bridge twice (to and from our destination), they now only allow people to cross one way which means you have to hike back,
A friend of mine said he did this once only to discover that rather than being a few kilometers it was much longer than that. We were on a timeline to meet our friend Michelle with the key so we had to hike fast.
Keeping a brisk pace did not stop us from enjoying the views or the kids from finding things to fight about...
...like hiking sticks.
Just as the kids were fizzling out a small dog came hiking by energized the kids as they chased after it.
We did make it back and the kids were hungry and thirsty and we were without any snacks or water by this point.
But Michelle Borne did meet us there and we were SO thankful she had the key. Even if she did not have the right key we were thankful for her friendship. So awesome that she was willing to drop all her plans to drive out to meet us. It took 5 hours out of her day to help us out which was truly an act of mercy.
This was actually at the beginning of the day - Hazel shared a book she made with me as a gift for my birthday.
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