Lessons learned on the taco hike

One of my favorite things to do is to go explore amazing places, and so that's what we did over Memorial Day Weekend.  Some of my children, however, do not love to hike and explore.  One in particular often just wishes to go home.  When he was younger and we took our family to Disneyland, he asked multiple times each day "Can't we just go back to the hotel?"  He much prefers relaxed vacationing with air conditioning and TV and computer games and not walking all day long.  And he can make hiking somewhat miserable, especially if his attitude catches on.  Attitudes often are contagious and can set the tone for whatever comes next.

Don't believe it?  If I make a new food and one of the older kids tries it and starts talking about how good it is, the other kids are eager to dive in.  Conversely, if the first one to take a bite tells everyone how terrible it is, then the entire crew becomes reluctant to eat it.  Anyone with a somewhat large family has probably experienced this phenomenon.

So...we'd been hiking for most of the morning and early afternoon, and were getting ready to go home, but I wanted to check out one more area.  It was my birthday, so Scott reminded the kids that they should allow mom this indulgence and come along.  That didn't mean that they'd come along without complaint, though.

Then something changed.  We saw a sign that said "taco".  Apparently in Castle Rock State Park (in Idaho) there's a rock called "taco".  (Although we didn't know it was a particular rock formation, we just saw the sign that said "taco".)  Having never been to this state park before, and visitors centers being closed because of Covid 19, we had no map and not any great ideas of which area we ought to explore first, and so we had just picked a random trail and headed out.  I had done some research on the other places we were going, but never got around to researching this park, and we just figured we'd give it a whirl to see if it was worth returning on another trip.

After seeing the sign that said taco, we clearly knew we had to follow it.  What if it was a HUGE taco right in the middle of the rock formations?  What if there was a "free taco" taco stand as a reward for arriving at our destination?  Our purpose changed from wandering around with just a hope of seeing something cool to discovering what "taco" actually was, what it meant, where it led.  We joked about there being a random taco stand in the middle of nowhere, or a magical taco witch who granted you tacos in return for favors, or who gave you tacos to fatten you up.  Every time we saw another sign that said "taco", we got excited and joked a little more about where it might go and where it might lead us.

 Funny enough, we didn't even really know that we'd gotten there.  Shortly after going past this little tree in between these rocks, we encountered what seemed like a dead end.  We found a big rock with a small cave and the trail ended and we weren't sure if that was taco or not.  We didn't see anyone else that we could ask, so we headed back, and looked it up when we got home.

Here's everyone on the way out.  Notice the teenager in the red shirt?  He was hiding behind the baby in the first group picture which was taken on the way towards taco (before we had encountered any signs which said "taco").  He's my non hiker.  This picture was taken after we'd actually enjoyed the hike, and he's truly smiling.  (He totally adores his baby sister, by the way.  I held her part of the hike because she prefers mom, but he was more than willing to take her when my arms got tired.)

On the way back, I took these two fun pictures of the baby.  She loved looking at herself in the reflection of Scott's glasses.  She'd get right up in his face and laugh and make faces at herself in the reflection. 

Really, in hindsight, the hike itself would have been the same whether we'd have been enthusiastic or not.  We'd have seen the same things, smelled the same air, been with the same people.  It all changed though once we had a destination and were united about it.  The joking, laughing, positivity, excitement, curiosity, and enthusiasm are what made it fun and memorable.  My 4 year old decided her favorite thing about our vacation was hiking to a rock called "taco".

I keep thinking about this, about how our journey can be miserable or delightful depending on what we're looking for and if we choose to enjoy it or not.  I twisted my ankle a little bit, and I could've let that ruin it for me, but I kept on walking and enjoying the kids and their senses of humor.  I could've been angry at my teenager for having a bad attitude, and could have spent much of the time lecturing him about choosing to be positive.  Instead we kept going and then found something to enjoy, and once we all started laughing and imagining, he caught on and had fun too. I enjoyed watching the baby with my husband and with her big brothers.  I enjoyed that even the 4 year old thought the idea of hiking to a taco sounded great, and that she loves to hold hands with someone nearly the entire time she hikes.

Some life lessons that I've been reminded of by our hike yesterday:
1. Have a destination.  Aimless wandering will get you somewhere, but is it where you wanted to go?  Did you know you wanted to get there?  A sense of purpose makes most things so much more enjoyable.
2. Have a good team that works together.  Not everyone is going to be able to travel with the same grace or skill.  Some of us can walk, some have to be carried.  Some like hiking, some don't.  Some have little legs, some have long legs.  Because multiples of us carried the baby, no one of us had arms that got overwhelmingly sore.  Because several of us started joking, it caught on.  If one person sets the pace, most of the others will keep up.  So have a good team, and strengthen your team, and help your team members who struggle.
3. Sometimes (not always) ignoring someone who has opinions that differ from yours is a far better choice than trying to talk them out of it.  Maybe they'll catch on and change their tune.  Maybe not.  But often trying to talk someone into feeling the same way as you do just makes you both upset.
4. Find the good.  Maybe it's as simple as finding humor in a situation.  Maybe it's looking for the silver lining, the lessons learned, or the calm in the storm.  There IS good, though, if you look for it, and if you dwell on it instead of the bad, your journey will be so much more joyful than if you choose to focus on not liking it or wishing you were somewhere else instead.  The SAME exact journey changes immensely with a change in attitude.
5. Take some time to reflect.  I am often surprised when I look at the different experiences in my life through different lenses.  I can see God's hand when I look in the right way.  I can see myself growing and learning and changing, and I learn so many beautiful life lessons as I take a few minutes to ponder situations and experiences and try to glean what I can from them.

For the record, there is no magical taco witch.  Or taco stand.  Or giant taco. But if you have the right attitude, the hike (and potentially the climb on the rock too, if you're prepared with gear and knowledge of how to use it) is worth it anyway.