We all have those days that aren’t fun in the moment but once we get home, take a shower, and let our sore feet recover, become a fun story to tell (and hear), and even a valuable lesson. We’re asking goEast readers to share their Type 2 Tales so we can all learn from them and figure out how to avoid being in the same scary situations.

We started out on an adventure down a new trail, my son Alex and I. When we reached the halfway mark we took pictures at the beautiful waterfall and proceeded down the trail to reach the peak…or so we thought. But I turned us the wrong way and we ended up back to the car. As a mom I want to keep my promises, so of course I drove us to a different trailhead down the road that I know well. So off we went for our second attempt up Pack Monadnock.

About a half mile in I felt something weird with my shoe…I looked down and my sole had detached from half of it! I certainly was not going to let my 30-year-old shoe stand in the way of getting my first solo hike in with my 4-year-old (who was excited to be on his own without his five siblings)! Being the resourceful mom that I am, I reached into my pack and pulled out some diaper bags and tied my shoe sole onto the laces to keep it together. We made it to the top, in record time with a broken shoe!

The only problem was I didn’t notice how late in the day it was, and I realized Alex’s older brother may not have someone to get him off the bus! I quickly called my mom who didn’t answer her phone. I called the elementary school to make a plan to pick Sam up at the school. As I explained to the very kind woman in the office my plight, we both had a good chuckle at the misfortune of my shoe! Her response after settling from her laughter was “you better get to EMS as soon as you get down from that mountain top!” My shoe needed some more attention so I rewrapped it with some new bags and off we went to complete our adventure, until halfway down the trail, the back of my shoe sole began to flap off! And then my other shoe began to collapse around the toe box and my big toe popped through!

Alex and I conquered that mountain together old, tired shoes and all, and made some of the best memories yet in his four long years of life. I have learned to appreciate a good hiking shoe and to make sure to check the shoes I plan to hike in before I leave home. Two days after we made it to the summit of Pack Monadnock, Alex, three of his siblings, and my husband and I hiked up Mount Monadnock and I made sure to wear a solid pair of hiking shoesMichelle F (@justbecause6603)