Britton Hill

Britton Hill

345ft.

Florida

March 2013

Egypt's 2nd state Highpoint

Exploring Lakewood Park:

View from the parking lot:

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Britton Hill

 Florida's Highpoint Revisited

June 2019

Britton Hill - November 2004

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Britton Hill, FL

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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)

 



Visitor Center Boardwalk

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Florida

 

January 2015

 

 

 

I usually don't get too excited about what I call, "short, little boardwalks behind visitor centers so a park can call itself accessible". One exception is the short (0.46 of a mile round trip), little boardwalk behind the visitor center at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. It's a nice starter path to see what the refuge has to offer. We did learn one lesson the hard way. The visitor center closes at 4pm and we were caught on the boardwalk. Since we couldn't re-enter the visitor center to leave using the accessible route, I had to carry Kellisa and then her wheelchair down a few steps. We were fortunate that I was able to do that. I'm not sure what we would have done if I couldn't lift/carry Kellisa and/or her chair. What if she had a motorized wheelchair? Anyway, we had a nice little walk.

 

(More pictures) 

 

 

 



Black Point Wildlife Drive

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Florida

 

January 2015

 

 

 

 

We observed many birds and a few gators on our 7 mile Black Point Wildlife Drive in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More pictures can be found (here).

Blue Spring State Park

 Florida

January 1, 2015

 

Our first hike of 2015 on the 15th anniversary of Kellisa's first ever hike almost didn't happen because she had a significant seizure the night before. More details and pictures (here).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

South Beach Access

Guana Tomolato Matanzas Estuarine Research Reserve

Florida

 

January 25, 2015

 

 

Kellisa and I had a few hours to ourselves on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We drove to Guana Tomolato Matanzas Estuarine Research Reserve where the air was crisp (53-62F) with a constant breeze, the sky was blue and the waves set the pace for our 6.07 mile walk along the beach. We saw one starfish, less than 15 people and lots of cool birds.

 

(More Pictures from the Reserve)

 

 



Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Florida

 

August 2014

 

We spent several afternoons at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge while we spent a week in south Florida. It was hot, but we still enjoyed a quick stroll along the nice accessible boardwalk. We saw one alligator and one snake in the wild. Both girls loved the interactive visitor center, especially the animal exhibits, virtual airboat ride and the nighttime sounds in the swamp dark room.  

 

(More pictures can be found here)



Daggerwing Nature Centure

Palm Beach County, FL

August 2014

 

 

 

 

The girls enjoyed an afternoon at the Daggerwing Nature Center in Boca Raton, FL learning about the native wildlife. The enjoyed the hands-on exhibits and live animals, including a snake presentation.

 

 

(More pictures from Daggerwing Nature Center)

 



Cathy Burdett Nature Trail

Daggerwing Nature Center

Palm Beach County, FL
August 2014

 
 
 

We managed to escape the congestion of Palm Beach County for a nice little hike at the Daggerwing Nature Center.  The Cathy Burdett Nature Trail was fully accessible and a pleasant walk. It was blistering hot with little shade, so we did not linger on the trail.

 

 

TRAILS

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Fort Gates Ferry

April 2014

 

 

 

 

 

A few more pictures of the girls enjoying the oldest operating ferry in Florida can be found (here).

Julington-Durbin Preserve

St. Johns River Management District

Jacksonville, FL

February 2014

Kellisa's might have a hiking future without her father behind the wheels. 

(More pictures and a video)

Peace River

Peace River, FL

March 2012

Kellisa joined the church youth group for a weekend of fellowship, camping and canoeing at Peace River:

Unfortunately, it was too hot and sunny to take Kellisa out in a canoe all day because it increases the risk of seizures. Instead, we went for a swim and rented a golf cart to explore the dirt roads in the area: 

The youth learning that Kellisa isn't as different as she might appear as they learn about some of Kellisa's adventures:

Southernmost Point

Southernmost Point

Continental U.S.A.

Key West, FL

November 8, 2003

Britton Hill

Kellisa's 2nd State Highpoint:

Britton Hill, Florida

345ft.

November 2004

We stopped at Lakewood Park, home to Florida's Highpoint- Britton Hill, on our drive home from visiting the Buckingham's for a Thanksgiving feast in Texas. It was about a 2 1/2 hour detour for Kellisa to reach her second state highpoint. It's probably the easiest of the 50 highpoints to reach with a drive up and short paved path to the actual top of Florida. I just carried Kellisa to the granite marker for the customary "summit" photos above.

In the the 18 months before visiting Britton Hill, Kellisa continued down her rough medical path following her shunt infection of Spring 2003. Unable to drink and eat enough to stay adequately hydrated and maintain a healthy weight, Kellisa had a g-tube surgically placed in her stomach in June 2003. This would allow fluids, including prescription formula and medicine, to be directly inserted into her stomach. It's suppose to be an easy, routine surgery with only a 1% chance of complications. Never one to venture beyond the 1%, Kellisa's body was rejecting the g-tube by pushing it our of her stomach. Following a month of "nursing" the g-tube, Kellisa had a follow-up surgery to remove and replace the original  g-tube with another. Again, true to her nature, Kellisa continued down the 1% path after the second surgery. She suffered from granulation tissue growing out of the hole in her stomach. Kellisa had to visit the doctor to have the granulation tissue burned off several times a month. It finally got to the point where the doctor sent us home with silver nitrate to burn the granulation tissue ourselves as necessary to avoid the constant doctor appointments. Kellisa would need to be held down by one person while the other burned the tissue. After many months, the granulation tissue eventually stopped growing and Kellisa was beyond the g-tube surgeries.

In September 2003, Kellisa had Bilateral VDRO surgery. This would be her 13th surgery to date and by far the most painful and difficult to manage as parents. Because Kellisa wasn't bearing consistent weight on her legs, her hip socket did not grow around the ball of her hip. This eventually caused constant pain because her hips were dislocated and were moving freely. The surgery consisted of placing hardware in her leg bones and removing a section of bone in both legs to help force the hips into place with the hope of the socket developing to the point were the hips wouldn't be dislocated.

Kellisa was in constant pain and discomfort for 6 weeks despite being on strong pain killers that were dispensed every 4 hours. To make things worse, Kellisa suffered from leg spasms which would intensify the pain. We set up a mattress in front of the television in our living room as a place for Kellisa to attempt to sleep during the night. She would moan and cry most of the night from the pain. We thought the TV might help her fall asleep and if not, she could watch the Disney Channel. We took turns sleeping on the couch above Kellisa to be in position to comfort her when she would cry out. This would also allow the other parent to try and get a decent night of sleep. However, her cries would awaken us no matter where we slept in the house.

Kellisa was diagnosed with acid reflux in January 2004. Add another daily medication to her growing pill box. Everything would be quiet for several months before Kellisa had another surgery, this time a 2 for 1: Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy because of sleep apnea in August 2004. The surgeon would remove the tonsils and adenoids with a laser. To every one's amazement, one of Kellisa's tonsils would grow back even bigger than they were originally. The doctors have said that this is as close to impossible as you can get. We've even had doctors ask "what is that on her throat?". Some have even had to look for themselves because they've never heard of tonsils growing back after laser surgery.