Laurel's States Visited

Laurel added Maine and New Hampshire during Kellisa's Sweet 16 Birthday Weekend and North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas during our end of the summer trip. This brings Laurel's states visited total to 40. Outside of the four states in the northeast, the other six are pretty well spread out at this point. If all goes as planned, Laurel will visit and hike in all 50 shortly before her 8th birthday in June 2017.

Kellisa's States Visited

With a long 2,300 mile road trip across the northern United States this summer, Kellisa has now visited 47 of our United States. Kellisa crossed off seven new states and we pushiked in 9 different states on our trip. It's probably not surprising that she still needs Alaska and Hawaii, but she still needs Iowa. We've been all around Iowa, but never crossed into that elusive state.  

2016 Wolfson Children's Challenge

Kellisa- January 2009

Yesterday, we received a phone call to tell us that someone at Wolfson Children's Hospital nominated Kellisa and she was chosen as 1 of 55 children to share their stories at the 2016 Wolfson Children's Challenge. We accepted without hesitation. We don't know all the details yet, but Kellisa has a photo shoot scheduled for August 22nd. We will update as we find out more information.

Pushiking Definitions w/Pictures

We just completed a series of posts defining pushiking with lots of cool pictures on 3Wheels Blazing. You can click on the rating under each picture to see the full post.

                                  ADA Easy             ADA Challenging           Obstacles             Inclines/Declines            Extreme

The Kate Steinle Law

Kate Steinle

A father and daughter are out for a walk when she is killed for no reason by an illegal immigrant felon who should have been behind bars. Her last words, "Dad, please help me". Kate was only 32 years old and she worked for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. As a father, this story breaks my heart and as human, I am outraged that this scum was allowed to walk free to kill in a sanctuary city- San Francisco. 

Please support Kate's Law 

3Wheels Blazing

Please check out (and sign up for email updates) our new website: 3Wheels Blazing. Kellisa's Path will continue as it has without any changes. 3Wheels Blazing is dedicated to our project of pushiking in all 50 states in only 366 days. The format will be slightly different. We will be experimenting by posting many short blog posts with a picture or two. Each short post can stand alone while still fitting into the overall flow of the complex project. Once we start, in the next week or two, we hope to post at least once every weekday until the completion of the project. Since we will have extra photos, those will be posted on Kellisa's Path.

Mackworth Island Trail

Falmouth, ME

May 23, 2015

Kellisa (and the rest of us) really enjoyed a nice birthday hike around the perimeter of Mackworth Island, just outside Portland. Besides a few little hills and some roots, the trail was fairly easy to navigate with a regular wheelchair.

(More pictures from Mackworth Island) 

Maine Narrow Gauge

May 23, 2015

Kellisa  enjoyed her ride on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad on her 16th birthday. Laurel also had a great time riding the train with water on one side and cliffs on the other side of the tracks in Portland, ME.

(Pictures from our ride)

Kellisa's Airports Visited (49)

Kellisa has been flying since she was 359 days old. Below is a map of all the airports Kellisa has visited in her travels. It's hard to tell, but she has visited both O'Hare and Midway in Chicago as well as DFW and Love Field in Dallas. Also, Kellisa has been to Tampa's airport many times, but she also flew to and from St. Petersburg, FL when she was in the womb to visit the world's leading TTTS expert.

 



Hiking with Azmia

May 2015

 

 

 

We found ourselves in the Cleveland, OH area to visit family, some from as far away as Kenya. This was our first time meeting Stam and our great niece, Azmia. We had a few free hours and went to a nearby trail for a 1.5 mile hike through some freshly green forest. We had a great visit and maybe next time we can visit and hike/climb something (Kili?) in Kenya!

 

(Many more pictures can be found here)

Kellisa's Sweet 16

May 23, 2015

Driving, planes, trains, hiking, swimming, and boats for a sweet 16 birthday celebration. Not bad for a girl who wasn't suppose to live more than a few minutes.

States Visited

Laurel

 

With Maine and New Hampshire added during Memorial Day Weekend, Laurel has now visited 30 states:

 

 

Kellisa

 

With Maine, Kellisa has now visited 40 states:

 

 

 

 



Hotel Safety (Part II)

Richfield, OH

May 9, 2015

I should and do know better! Less than two months ago, I even wrote an article about wheelchairs and hotel safety.

Kellisa, Laurel and Azmia

We flew to Ohio late on Friday evening to meet our new niece. As I was driving to our hotel, I told Lisa that I made a reservation at a hotel that is close to her brother's house, but that I didn't have any loyalty status with the chain. I also realized that I forgot to request a first floor room. I told Lisa that I was too tired to fight if they didn't have a first floor room. As I parked the car, Lisa checked us in and of course, they did not have a first floor room because it was so late, so we took the third floor room. What could go wrong?

Like clockwork, Laurel woke up early and wanted to go down for breakfast. As I was staggering around the room to get ready, we started to hear an alarm. It sounded like someone's alarm clock going off in a near-by room. Laurel and I left Lisa to shower and Kellisa to sleep longer. We walked down the hallway and Laurel pressed the elevator's down button. As we stood there and waited, Laurel said, "I smell smoke".

Once Laurel mentioned smoke, I realized that I could also smell something burning. The elevator came and we started to get on when I had second thoughts. To be safe, we went back to the room to get Lisa and Kellisa. We were barely in the room when all hell broke loose. We could hear a man and woman in the hallway, both pounding on doors and screaming, "The building is on fire"!

I know the first and only thought should be getting out safely, but I had two more thoughts as well. First, we need to grab the medicine for the kids. We can't be a 1,000 miles from home without them. And second, we had Kellisa's Hippocampe chair and I wasn't leaving that behind. (I also grabbed our bag with all our electronics)

In less than a minute we were out in the hallway which was now full of smoke and people. A police officer was yelling to get out by using the stairs. As soon as he saw me pushing Kellisa, he offered to help. I knew I could get Kellisa (and her chair out safely) and advised him that we were OK. I told Laurel to go and she ran down the stairs, out the hotel and gathered with the crowd of hotel guests in the grass.

I slowly pushed Kellisa down the stairs as people were backed up and screaming. Normally, she would have loved this activity, but she wasn't really awake yet. I knew I could get down the stairs, but I was worried about people pushing. Not a single person pushed and I even heard a few offer to help. We reunited with Laurel outside and we quickly learned that everyone was out of the hotel and safe. I was relieved for only a few seconds. I did an inventory check of everything I grabbed and realized that I didn't have the medicine.



 

The fire was contained to two rooms, about four rooms down from us on the other side of the hall. I knew our room was safe and if the medicine was in the room, we'd be OK. However, I was worried that I dropped the medicine on the way out and it could have gotten destroyed, ruined or even taken. I had to sweat it out for a couple of hours before the fire chief escorted me to our room to gather our belongings. I was relieved to find all the medicine on the edge of one of the beds. It's must have fallen out of my short's pocket in the rush to evacuate.

The police and firefighters did an amazing job to put the fire out and keep everyone safe and informed. Laurel was very scared at first and several first responders went above and beyond to make her feel safe. Thank you!

We had to move to another hotel and we made sure we got a room on the first floor!

HOME

Serendipity

An Uncomplicated Life

A Father's Memoir of His Exceptional Daughter

 

By: Paul Daugherty

 

 

It should be no surprise that this book caught my eye and I bought it without a second thought. What surprised me and I couldn't explain it until today, something made me put down another book in the middle and start reading An Uncomplicated Life. The reason became clear after reading several chapters about the IEP process. Paul Daugherty shares some of their struggles and successes with the process while offering inspirational words to other families. Since we have a fight, I mean IEP meeting scheduled 12 days from now and I have many hours of training, I mean research and preparation to do, this book has given me new hope and resolve. I've read 22 out of 34 chapters, but would already highly recommend this great book to all families, both in and out of the disabled world.

 

 



Laurel's 2015 Summer Vacation Wish

May 16, 2015

 

Laurel was working on some homework this morning and one of the assignments was to draw a picture (below) of what she wants to do during her summer vacation.

 

 

Daddy, Laurel and Kellisa pushiking across a bridge under a partly cloudy and sunny day somewhere in New York.

 



Travel Goal Getter

Pushiking in ALL 50 States

4/7/15

 

 

 

 

A nice little write-up about our goal of visiting and pushiking with Kellisa in all 50 states before her 18th birthday (May 23, 2017) can be found here: (Travel Goal Getter).

 

 

Current Statistics (States Visited/Hiked and/or Pushiked):

 

Kellisa 39/31

Laurel 28/22

Chris 46/37

Miccosukee Indian Village

South Florida

 

March 2015

 

We ended our 2015 spring break trip at Miccosukee Indian Village. Laurel heard the captain on our boat tour of the Everglades explaining what life was like for the Indians who lived in the Everglades and she tried relating it to the Indians and Pilgrims she learned about in school.  After the boat tour, Laurel had millions of questions about Indians and she expressed a strong desire to meet some Indians. After a quick search, we found a tourist trap located in the middle of the Everglades, but it had real Indians. It also had alligator shows which I'm not a huge fan of, but both girls really enjoyed the action. However, the highlight for both girls was holding a real life alligator. We also enjoyed the rest of the village: a museum, archery for kids, and boardwalk complete with a Totem Pole. 

 

      

 

(More pictures from Miccosukee Indian Village)

 



Whiteface Mountain

 The Olympic Mountain

Wilmington, NY

September 2013

While attending the Outdoor Writers Association of America 2013 conference in Lake Placid, NY, we were able to slip away between seminars for one of Kellisa's favorite activities- riding a gondola to the top of a mountain. Whiteface Mountain is only 13 miles from Lake Placid and was the site of the 1980 Winter Olympic Alpine Skiing Events. 

GONDOLAS, LIFTS, and TRAMS

HOME

Anhinga Trail

Everglades National Park

 

March 2015

 

 

 

 

The Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park never disappoints with it's beautifully accessible paved trail and boardwalk that is surrounded by birds and alligators.

 

(More pictures of alligators, birds and sisters)

Backcountry Tour

Whitewater Bay

Everglades National Park

 

March 2015

 

Both girls enjoy a nice ride on a boat tour, so it was an easy decision to book the Backcountry Tour of Whitewater Bay in Everglades National Park. Boarding the boat was on a first come first board basis, so we were at the end of the line since we couldn't be as fast as everyone else when the boat pulled up to the dock. I was watching the boat fill up and we were going to be stuck at the front of the boat with little room for the wheelchair and in the direct sunlight, which is a trigger for Kellisa's seizures. The boat tour was almost 2 hours and I knew Kellisa would have a seizure. I was thinking about backing off the boat to see if we could reschedule for the next tour when people at the back of the boat offered to relocate for us. If we don't absolutely need this kind of random act of kindness, I will usually decline the offer, but I was quick to agree to the switch. I was even more appreciative when we were caught in a sudden thunderstorm during the tour. I think the heat and lack of wildlife viewing prevented Laurel from maximizing her enjoyment. However, her mood quickly changed when the captain asked her to steer the boat when we reached the open waters of Whitewater Bay.

 

(More pictures)



Eco Pond

Everglades National Park

 

March 2015

 

 

 

 

 

It was hot, very hot, but we enjoyed the short (.58 mile) Eco Pond trail just past the Flamingo area of Everglades National Park.

 

(More pictures) 

Flamingo Visitor Center

Everglades National Park

 

March 2015

 

Picture by: Laurel

 

 

 

 

 

Accessible perhaps, but you better have a strong helper and/or good brakes!

 

(A few more pictures)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



"Things that Go Growling in the Night"

 

 

After writing an article on wheelchairs and hotel safety for abilities.com, I was asked if I was interested in providing another article. I was excited at the additional opportunity and I proposed (and it was accepted) writing about a trip Kellisa and I took to Grand Island National Recreation Area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan back in the summer of 2013. We spent three days and two nights on the island pushiking, backcountry camping and working on Kellisa's speech therapy. I also had a middle of the night encounter....

 

The full article with pictures can be found (here).

Flamingo Campground

Everglades National Park

 

March 2015

 

 

As part of our Spring Break 2015 trip to South Florida, we spent our first night in Everglades National Park camping at the Flamingo Campground. This was Kellisa's 3rd visit to the park and Laurel's 2nd. We picked a walk-in site to get closer to the water and the cool breezes. We had front row seats as we viewed many large birds in their natural environment. It's amazing how quiet both girls can get when observing wildlife in the wild.

 

(More Pictures)



Biscayne National Park

South Florida

 

March 2015

 

 

With our Spring Break 2015 trip to South Florida that included a quick stop at Biscayne National Park, Kellisa has now visited 21 National Parks and Laurel has visited 12. Biscayne is mostly a water park and best viewed by boat. For reasons I'm still not clear on, the concession boat was not operating the afternoon we visited, so we decided to hike the short nature trail on the mainland.

 

The nature trail was an out and back with a total distance of .84 of a mile. It started out with a nice boardwalk and ended with a sand and crushed seashell mixture. I was worried about getting a flat, but we ended up OK. Towards the end of the trail we found several nice little secluded areas to enjoy the water. It didn't look safe for swimming, but the girls enjoyed getting their feet and hands wet to cool off a little on a blistering March afternoon.

 

A quick look at the park map revealed an island with primitive camping...we will be back!

 

(More pictures)

 



Gator Tales

 

(More Pictures from our August 2014 Visit)

 

(Friends of Loxahatchee Website)

National Parks Visited

With a visit to Biscayne National Park during Spring Break 2015, Laurel has now visited 12 National Parks and Kellisa has 21.

 

Complete Lists (Multiple visits in italics):

 

Laurel- Biscayne, Carlsbad Caverns, Congaree, Cuyahoga Valley, Death Valley, Everglades, Guadalupe Mountains, Lassen Volcanic, Mammoth Cave, Redwoods, Rocky Mountain, Voyageurs

 

Kellisa- Arches, Big Bend, Biscayne, Canyonlands, Carlsbad Caverns, Congaree, Crater Lake, Cuyahoga Valley, Death Valley, Everglades, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Guadalupe Mountains, Joshua Tree, Lassen Volcanic, Petrified Forest, Redwoods, Rocky Mountains, Shenandoah, Voyageurs, Zion

Escaping with our Lives (A 1st Anniversary Story)

March 18, 1990

This picture was taken 26 years ago. But, this is the story of what happened (and more importantly, didn't happen) one year later:

We were young, had no money and it was March in northern Illinois. Three good reason NOT to go camping, but we did to celebrate our first anniversary. This was our first overnight trip beyond Chicagoland together. We somehow managed to buy a small tent, a stove and maybe a few other items, but we didn't have the money for sleeping bags. Instead, we threw a few blankets in the car and drove off for a happy weekend. I should mention that we had a 1977 Chevy Caprice that we had no business driving so far from home.

We drove uneventfully to Apple River Canyon State Park in NW Illinois. We were the only campers, but that didn't bother or scare us (at first). It didn't take long to set up our meager camp. We probably went on a hike before cooking a simple dinner. I remember it got dark fast and it was very cold, so we retreated to the tent. Before we could fall asleep, we heard footsteps and were scared to death. Then we heard branches breaking near the tent. Since we were the only campers, there was only one logical explanation for the noises we were hearing. We were convinced there was a murderer in the campground. We ran to the car and drove off into the night leaving behind our camping possessions.