Do now and Ask for Forgiveness Later

On Thursday Garrett asked if he could ride Front Runner to Ogden with his friend Paul. I told him that would probably be okay, but first Brent and I had to go to the DMV. You see, we bought a new toy (The Scooter)

- a scooter. Because we have wanted one and it is more fuel efficient. Not to mention Fun and Cute! Besides, for those short errands we jump on it and go and it will save gas in the car/van and wear and tear on them as well. So, earlier in the week we, Brent and I, took the written portion of our drivers license test to get our motorcycle license. You have to have a motorcycle license to drive a scooter that is street legal on the road. On Friday after Brent got back in town - he was in Hawaii for a total of 7 whopping hours! He spent more time on the plane then he did on the island. Oh well, so Friday morning when he arrived home, Garrett asked him if he would mind if he rode Front Runner up to Ogden to the Union Station with his friend. Brent said no that would not be a problem, but he would need to go after we got back from taking our test. Parker wanted to go as well and so we needed someone to stay with Madi, since when we left to take the drivers portion of our test she was still asleep.
It was about 12:30 when we got home and so off Garrett, Parker, and Garrett's friend Paul went, riding their bikes about five miles to the Clearfield Front Runner station. Each of the boys bikes has a metal bike basket on the back, since all three boys do a paper route. Off they go to Ogden. They are very independent and free on their bikes, especially now that they can ride a train north and south and they have their own money to fund their excursion. Nothing is going to stop them, short of being grounded, they are going to go to Union Station and go to the train store that is located at the station and shop. I gave Garrett and Parker very specific instructions, "Do not leave the station while in Ogden!"

Well, they are heading home on Front Runner and my phone rings, it is Garrett. "Mom, hey we are in Roy on Front Runner, would you mind if we rode the train to Salt Lake? We have a round trip ticket so we can go their and come back."
After some thought, I said, "No, that is okay, but just stay on the train."
Now that is the part that Garrett does not seem to remember me saying. Hence the title of this post, Do Now and Ask for Forgiveness Later.
Also, it is a good thing my boys know their way around Salt Lake. We go their often enough - to shop, for drives, for tacos. It is also a good thing that they know where and what Main Street is and used KUTV as a landmark! I do not know how many others their age that do not live in Salt Lake would be able to find their way around.
It is about 5:00pm when I am starting to wonder if they are on their way home. So, I call Garrett's cell phone.
"Hi, hey where are you guys?" I ask.
"We are at Wendy's eating," Garrett replies.
Okay, their are two Wendy's that I am thinking of where they could be eating. One in Clearfield by the train station. The other, across the street near my house.
"We are at the Wendy's by Smith's Marketplace," Garrett says.
I am thinking, "What!?!" to which I reply and I think Garrett could read what I was thinking, "What!?!"
"Down in Salt Lake," he replies.
"No seriously, where are you?"
"In Salt Lake, we went to the Train Shoppe."
Now the Train Shoppe is up by Trolley Square. Which means not only did they get off Front Runner, they also took Trax. They rode Trax to

4th South and 9th East!
Hello!?!?!?! My kids are in Salt Lake riding around. Does their mother or did their mother know where they are? NO!!! I never gave them permission to venture into Salt Lake, only ride the train to Salt Lake and come back home. Now they did take their own money and they do know their way around Salt Lake. I guess I did not know how much of an adventure they were planning on going on.
"Well, I did not tell you that you could go that far into Salt Lake, I think I told you to stay on the train, Front Runner that is," I tell him.
"Oh, I never heard you say that," he says. (Do now, ask for forgiveness later....)

I only told him this, oh somewhere around three or four times, to which I remind him of that.
"Well, head home!" I tell him.

So, I tell Brent where they are. He was a bit shocked, but not as much as I was, I think. He said I guess you, meaning I, did not specify which train to stay on. They must have thought I meant Trax - he was totally joking of course.
So, I am talking to Brent a little bit later. I did not know their adventure fully since Garrett had not told me all of it. I told Brent that I was going to call the kids and see where they were. He said that he had spoken with them not long before I suggested calling them and he was quite surprised at their adventure and their smarticles (Garrett's word for brain, smarts...you get the point).
Brent goes on to tell me, which later Garrett vouches for as well. Brent tells me that at one point Garrett's friend Paul gets separated from them heading south towards Salt Lake. Paul was told to get off at the next station by a train attendant. She told him that he would need to throw away his sandwich. So, Paul gets off at the Roy station to throw away his sandwich. But when he gets off, the train takes off without Paul. Garrett and Parker are on their way to Salt Lake without Paul but with Paul's bike, which has this big, bulky bike basket. Which also meant they waited in Salt Lake an additional half hour for Paul to arrive after their train arrived - with not only their bikes, but with an additional bike, Paul's bike.
Well, later they are heading back from Wendy's heading for the Front Runner Station. Paul boards Trax, and Garrett and Parker are left off of Trax. Garrett looks at the train schedule and the next train is 25 minutes away. So, they decide to start riding their bike down towards Main Street and try to catch the train their. When they get to Main Street they decide to head over to 2News, since it is about 5pm, they wanted to check to see if Lindsay was working, but she was not. So off they went, they ended up catching the train by the mall and got right on the train. At the Intermodual Hub, where Front Runner and Trax meet, they met up with their friend Paul, and all boarded FrontRunner and about 10 minutes later the train left heading north.
Now they are heading home. 7:30pm, after leaving the house about 12:30pm, seven and a half hours later and an adventure that spanned from Ogden to Salt Lake, they arrived home and ready to eat dinner.
I was a little frustrated that they did not follow directions, but I am glad that they knew exactly what to do when they were separated from their friend. I am glad that we have taken them to Salt Lake enough times that they know their way around and know east from west and north and south. They also came home with the only complaint, and that was Garrett had to wait for Parker only when they were getting close to home and that Parker led most of the way, so this was the first time Garrett did not work up enough of a sweat to take a shower!
This is not an adventure I want them repeating each week, but I am glad that they were able to rely on each other and able to think through things and keep their cool to allow them to get home safely. They were not scared, and I guess had I have known exactly what went on and exactly where they were, I would have been scared. So maybe it is just as well that I found out after all was said and done.
So for them, I guess Do Now and have fun, and ask for forgiveness later. But next time they do not listen, they will be grounded, and that is a promise!