Disaster on the Trail

My Sunday morning started out great. While visiting with my mom, I asked her if she wanted to go for a  quick walk on the trail. My Fitbit was only showing 158 steps (but it was still early) so I figured I could get a few miles in.

By the sound of my wind chimes I could tell that it was quite windy out. I equated this wind to it also being chilly so we both wore long pants and a sweatshirt. After we got to the trail I quickly learned that was not the case. It was a warm wind and it got hot really fast.          




We walked to the 2.5 mile marker on the trail. It was getting hot and my feet were starting to hurt so we figured it was a good point to turn around.  I was hot so I took my jacket off and draped it over my arm.          

When we were a little past the last mile, I realized I.   didn't have my phone! Oh no! It must have fallen out
 of my jacket pocket when I took the jacket off.  Okay, I tried not to panic. I remember where the turn around mark was, I would just go back to that point. Surely it would be laying right there.  I felt bad making my mom walk back again so I started to run so I could get there sooner. On my way back, I found my headband on the ground! O heck, I didn't even realize I had lost it. That was lucky! I passed several bikers and walkers and asked each one if they had seen a phone. They all said "no" but would help me look.  When I told one couple on bikes where I lost it, they said they would look and I felt pretty confident that they would find it, pick it up, and bring it back to me. Well, I didn't see them come back my way and the reality had set in that it may have fallen out during one of the road sections of the trail and it may have gotten run over by a car!

I kept trudging along looking while my mom looked on the edge of the trail in case it got swept to the side.  Finally I see something up ahead and it gives me hope. Could it be? YES, it was a phone. But as I bend down to pick it up, I notice that it wasn't MY phone!  In all the years that I have been running and walking this trail, I never saw ANY phones on the trail and now today TWO phone were missing.  I find it ironic that I just passed several bikers who were coming from that direction and none of them saw THIS phone that was laying right in the middle of the trail. Now I had the dilemma of what to do with this phone.  Should I leave it in the hopes that the person comes back and is looking just like I am doing?  What if it gets run over by a bike (because clearly the bikers had not seen it) or what if it gets in the wrong hands?   I ultimately decide to carry it with me as I continue to look for my own phone. 

I finally get to the turn around point and no phone.  I turn around and walk back to meet my mom who is walking towards me still looking.  I decide that I'm not going to get too worked up over this. I am still calm because I am hoping that once we get back to the car that someone may have used my phone to call my mom to tell her they found my phone.  My contacts are in alphabetical order and I have label my parents as A-Mom  and A-Dad so they come up first in my contact list. I am hoping someone calls  those numbers.  If  all else, I will just call my phone and see if someone answers it. The only problem though is that my phone is still on silent ( I keep it that way when I go to work).

We get back to the car and my mom has 3 missed calls from Scott.  I decide to call my own phone before we call him back. I call and it rings, and rings ( and I am starting to worry now that no one may pick up).  Finally someone answers and it's Scott.  What?  I am surprised and ask how he got my phone?   Apparently a biker found it on the trail (right at that turn around point). I asked how he knew to call Scott ( out of all the people in my contacts that was a very good guess). He said because he went through my call log and called the last person who called me.  So anyway, Scott made arrangement to meet this guy and collect my phone and was nice enough to give the guy a Sheetz gift card as a reward. The funny thing was, from where Scott said he met this biker guy on the trail, that meant that this guy must have rode right past me. Apparently he didn't bother to ask people if anyone had lost a phone.

Oh, and in case you are wondering what happen to the iphone I found..... Well, as I was carrying it, it kept getting dings for text messages. Of course it was my natural instinct to look down at it every time it dinged. Apparently someone was really trying to get a hold of Bill and Ruth Anne to let them know that they were gonna hang out at the Ocean and then go have dinner. Everyone was on their own for dinner. Who ever was texting was having grapes and apples.  Since I had no idea who this person was I found these messages to be comical.

The phone did ring and the callers name came up Bill. I assumed it was the Bill who the texts were for so I answered it and told him that I had found his phone on the trail.  It was actually his wife's phone and we made arrangements to meet him on the trail to give it back.

Oh what a day!   If you read ALL of this. Thank you!  Its always so scary when someone finds something of yours that is so personal. you can tell a lot about my life from my phone. -M

Has anything like this every happened to you?  What would have you done (in either situation)?

Oh, and by the way, at the end of all this I had 15, 885 steps on my Fitbit, 2 sore feet and 1 big blister.

38 comments:

  1. Oh wow. How crazy you'd find "a" phone but not your phone. I'm glad someone returned it though. My hubby has a nasty habit of putting his phone on the floor when he rides with other people and he did that in a cab in Barcelona and of course it slipped under the seat and was gone forever. We did the tracker thing and could see it was still in Barcelona but because we were boarding a cruise ship, we weren't there long enough to have it returned. Such a mess.

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    1. Yea, what are the chances of finding another phone?..lol

      That definitely sounds like a disaster with your hubby's phone in Barcelona. And to not be able to do anything about it cus you are on vacation just adds to the mess! Wow!

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  2. WOW this was a very compelling story!!! It is totally crazy that you lost a phone and then FOUND a phone! What this whole story tells me is that most people in the world are good people and want to give phones back to their rightful owners. :)

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    1. Yes, I was pretty sure that if someone found it that they would want to give it back, but ya never know.

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  3. Oh no! I'm so glad you got it back! At least people are good enough to return it!

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  4. Well the good news is that it was a happy ending for everyone. :) I have misplaced my phone before but thankfully never lost it on a run. I did think I lost my car key after shamrock and that caused a minor freak out. -C

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    1. Last time I lost my phone (summer of 2012 in South Carolina) I never got it back so this was a blessing!

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  5. Wow, that was quite the story! I'm glad you got your phone back and got the other phone to its owner. That's funny that there were two lost phones on the same day when you normally wouldn't even see one.

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  6. So glad that you finally found your phone, and that you were able to get the phone you found back to its owner. Its great when people actually do the right thing with things that they find since that's not always the case.

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  7. Oh man... this is why I'm so anal about checking my phone 1,000 times when I'm out. That's so scary. SO much info on a phone anymore. You dont want it getting in the wrong hands.
    But yippee for good people who help get it back to its rightful owner.
    I'd be afraid to ask people on a trail if they'd lost a phone - you really never know if they are telling the truth, ya know? I'm sure your heart rate was higher then normal on that walk ;)

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    1. Hmm, I should have checked the fitbit, I never thought about my heart rate.

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  8. Oh wow!! that sounds like a very stressful walk! I'm glad you found your phone, and an extra phone! and they all got back to their owners!

    I keep my phone in silence 99% of the time, and always regret it when I can't find it.

    Does Scott keep sheetz cards handy? that is so wonderful of him to give a reward. I would have had to give them a coffee shop card with 11 punches, and tell them they were 1 punch away from free coffee.

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    1. Haha, No Scott does not keep sheetz cards handy...lol. Although not a bad idea. The guy who found my phone told Scott he was biking for another 40 minutes and that he would meet him at the end of the trail. Scott passed a Sheetz on his way to the trail and picked up a card as a thank you.

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  9. Holy Moly....what an adventure!! You sure made up for the slow start of steps in the day!

    I am glad everyone got their phone back ;)

    I lost my phone once on the football field, I was A MESS!! Only because of all the pictures I have on my phone of my kiddies ;)

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    1. I sure did get the steps in. Yea, pictures are one thing that can't be replaced on the phone. Although I do have all my vacation pics saved on my pc as well. It's just those day to day pics of my dog I' miss.

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  10. I found a phone once too and I too called the last # that was called and able to find it owner! :) I would hate to loose mine- it's like a body part- LOL!

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    1. I think most people would make the effort to find the owner themselves. One person we passed said when they found a phone they took it to the police station. I think trying to contact one of the people in the phone is a better idea.

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  11. That is the craziest phone chase ever! Seriously, they need to make an episode of a sitcom out of your story - it would be perfect for something like Seinfeld! I am really glad you got your phone back and that you were able to deliver back the one you found!!!

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  12. I'm so glad you got your phone back, and why not, with the good phone karma going since you found and returned the other one! But what a heart-stopper to discover it was missing!!!

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    1. I have to say that I did remain fairly calm. Now if we got back to the car and there was no answer once I called my phone, then I would have panicked!

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  13. Oh wow, what a mess! I am glad it worked out for both you and the owner of the other phone!

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  14. Isn't it just crazy how our whole lives are in our phones now? Glad you found yours

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  15. Hah! That's quite a story. We've used Find My Phone to track my kids' phones before. Once they got it back but once it was stolen. :-(

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  16. I'm glad this ended happily for everyone. What a relief that you got your phone back!

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  17. I am glad you were lucky to get your phone back, and maybe it had something to do with the good karma from you picking up someone elses to return it!
    Never found a phone on a trail or road. But people leave them at one of my jobs all the time, I can honestly say I find a phone about once or more a week. If I can get into the phone and it's not locked I usually call mom or husband if listed or some type of family member if I can tell. Usually always works, but locked phones well I just put them in a drawer and see if anyone comes for them, not much you can do on those.
    I'd say you had some very good luck, this week with finding your phone. Keep on doing what your doing to get that great luck to keep coming your way!!!!

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  18. Too funny that you found another phone. I am sure they were glad to get it back!

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  19. OMG this is so funny.
    You are lucky someone turned in your phone !

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  20. That is a pretty crazy story! Who would have every thought you'd find another lost phone. I'm so glad your phone was returned and you returned the lost phone as well. I always hope if I loose mine honest people will find it.
    So glad to read this had a happy ending. Btw, did you get in all your steps for the day??? ;)

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  21. That is a crazy story! So glad you got your phone back! My car key fell out of my belt pocket on a trail running once and I didn't have a spare so I was FREAKING out. Thankfully someone saw me looking and said they found it and it was at the trail head but I was freaking out!

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  22. That is a crazy story! So glad you got your phone back! My car key fell out of my belt pocket on a trail running once and I didn't have a spare so I was FREAKING out. Thankfully someone saw me looking and said they found it and it was at the trail head but I was freaking out!

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    1. That's good that there were other people on the trail and that someone found it. That could have been a very long night on the trail.

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  23. I had my iPod fall out of my camelbak once on the trail. I set out to do 5 miles that turned into 9 miles as I searched for it. Luckily, I found it!

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    1. O wow, so glad you found it. An ipod would be a very difficult thing to find the owner for. Makes me want to label all my stuff with my name and address on it..lol

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  24. I have lost a headband on a run before and, like you, I didn't realize until I was running over the same spot and saw the headband laying there! ha I'm so impressed you got your phone back and were able to get the other lose phone back to it's owner!

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Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.