Life Goals: Have Fun, Learn Something

When Sawyer was little, we spent tons of time together — just the two of us. 

I worked nights, which meant we spent a good chunk of the day together, even when he started preschool. On my weekday weekends, we often went somewhere fun — Tweetsie, the children’s museum or the science center. And we logged plenty of overnight trips.

That quality time is a lot more rare now. He’s at school and I’m at work all week. We have a few hours together in the evening, but that time is often packed with chores and errands. He’s much more into hanging out at the airport (and his buddy there) than riding the rails at Tweetsie or going hiking with me.

So when I realized that we’d have a full day off together on Good Friday, I decided we needed an adventure. I let Sawyer choose between going to the zoo and going hiking, and he surprised me by picking a hike.

I chose Pilot Mountain State Park for several reasons. Despite living here this long and growing up just 90 miles west, I’d never been there — unless you count by air. Ray and I flew two lazy loops around the pinnacle in the first flight we took after he got his pilot’s license. And of course, I’d driven by the peak on my way to Mount Airy a few times. I showed Sawyer a picture on my phone, and he thought it was cool.

It also wasn’t a long drive and wasn’t too far off course for our second destination: Grandmother’s house for Easter.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, even a bit hot for late March. And we chatted and played car games on the hourlong drive.

We drove through the campground just to see what it was like; Sawyer peppered me with questions the whole way. His excitement grew as our car wound its way up the curvy drive to the summit, almost like the buildup of cranking a Jack-in-the-Box. When we parked, he was itching to pop out of the car and see everything.

We walked around Little Pinnacle, which was packed with people. There were about five overlooks with amazing views of the surrounding farmland. A few of the spots had giant boulders to climb over or through. At the overlook of Big Pinnacle, I pointed out the trail below and how small the people looked. 

Sawyer decided we should walk that trail. So we checked our map; it was less than a mile long, so we headed off.

The whole loop was an educational experience — mostly teaching Sawyer what NOT to do. (I'm thankful my parents taught us these lessons.) 

Chucking that piece of gravel off the side of the mountain? Consider how hard it must’ve been for workers to get that gravel to this trail. And then think about why it’s here: to keep the trail from washing away and getting muddy every time it rains. The gravel needs to stay on the ground.

Climbing the rocks? Bad idea. See those signs; they say it’s illegal — that means against the law — to climb here. So, yes, even though other kids are doing it, we’re going to follow the rules. When we passed the parents who had let their older son climb so high he was out of view and their other child, who looked no older than 4, scale 30 feet above the trail to an outcropping, I told Sawyer they were idiots. Imagine how long it would take for an ambulance to get here, I said. They’d have to drive up that long, winding road and then they’d have to HIKE in here to rescue someone.

Want to pick a flower or a leaf? What if every person did that when they walked by? Sawyer’s guess: They’d go to jail? Telling him it was illegal climb the rocks must’ve done the trick! Well, probably not. But soon, there’d be no flowers or leaves (or sticks or mushrooms or whatever natural thing you came there to see) left to see.

This spot was so cool. The rocks were flat and almost looked like a pool of hardened lava. 

“That’s why Daddy and I make sure you understand the rules and fuss at you when you ignore them,” I told him. “People who just ignore the rules often ruin places for everyone else.

“We want you to be someone who grows up to follow the rules.”

Sawyer, who was holding my hand as we hiked back out to the car, looked up and said, “Like you are?”

It was maybe one of the best compliments I’ve ever gotten.

I said, “Yes, son. Following the rules may not always make you popular, but it will usually keep you out of trouble.”

After our short hike, I convinced Sawyer that we should drive into Mount Airy for lunch. We walked around the touristy Main Street, popped into a few stores (including Opie’s Candy Shop where we picked out strange candy, waiting forever for our hamburger and hotdog at a lunch counter and got ice cream cones for the stroll back to our car.

He was so eager to get to Grandmother’s house that he hadn’t wanted to come into town, but he admitted that it had been fun.

That was my goal, kiddo.