Because I Still Can

In the last 12 years, I've stayed 947 paid nights at Marriott properties. Most of those nights have been business travel. In addition, I'm sure we've stayed another 100+ nights on points. In all those stays, I've never been disappointed. 

When we travel for fun, I always seek out Marriott locations and will even drive an hour out of our way for the consistency. However, there is a serious lack of Marriott hotels along the coast in the far north of California. For some reason, Marriott doesn't have a single hotel in the entire region.

I was forced to book our stay at another hotel and my requirements were simple, first floor room, non-smoking, and a pool that we could use in 50 degree weather. I'm almost always disappointed when I book other chains (not counting Hilton properties where I stay probably 25% of the time, but Hilton hotels are also missing in the area), but I booked a five night stay at a national chain in Eureka, CA for our 2017 Spring Break trip. We drove for over 5 hours to reach the hotel and the idea of swimming as soon as we dropped our stuff in the room and change into our swimsuits is what got Laurel through the last 100 or so miles. After we checked in, we were told that the pool was down for a week due to a broken pipe. Laurel took it in stride and I would later learn that she was worried that we would go back home if we didn't stay at this hotel. I appreciate her flexibility and honesty.

Spring Break 2010

Muley Point, Utah

Utah - Arizona - New Mexico 

We decided to travel a little further in the American Southwest for our 2010 Spring Break trip after spending Spring Break 2008 in Texas and Oklahoma, and our 2009 Spring Break in New Mexico and Texas.

Kellisa and I flew direct to Las Vegas and left the city for Zion National Park as fast as we could. We spent the night in St. George, UT before spending a day hiking around Zion. We hiked the paved trail to the start of The Narrows. This lit a bulb inside my head and we returned to The Narrows a few years later.

Zion National Park is one of the most visited parks in the USA, so they limit passenger cars in the canyon. The National Park Service provides free bus service with many stops. This is great, unless you are there visiting with someone trapped in a wheelchair. We waited like everyone else to board the bus leaving the visitor center. The driver had to rearrange a few people so he could lift a row of seats to have a spot for a wheelchair. He then had to tie the chair down. I didn't hear any direct comments, but I could sense more than a few people were irritated to have to wait a few extra minutes after already waiting a long time to board.

However, things we far worse when we tried to catch a return bus back to the visitor center. Every bus was completely full with people standing in the aisle. In other words, there was no room for us and a chair. After missing a half dozen buses, I ended up pushing Kellisa for 8 miles all the way back to the visitor center. We enjoyed the walk and besides the occasional bus, we had the road to ourselves. This was addressed by the Chief Ranger when we returned by giving us a special permit to drive our rental car along the closed road. Thank you Chief Ranger Cindy!

Spring Break 2009

Chihuahuan Desert

New Mexico - Texas

After finishing my first Bataan Memorial Death March, we spent a day as tourists in Las Cruces, NM. Unfortunately, Lisa had to return home for work. Kellisa and I stayed in the Chihuahuan Desert for the rest of the week and we were able to visit three national parks and one state park.

After we dropped Lisa off at the El Paso airport, we headed straight east towards Guadalupe Mountains National Park where we were greeted by hurricane force winds. The weather limited us to a few short trails. 

We continued on to our second national park, Carlsbad Caverns. Kellisa enjoyed the accessible tour and earned a Junior Ranger Badge. She also played her first round of miniature golf just outside the park. 

After our day in Carlsbad Caverns, we made the long drive south to Big Bend National Park. We found the western Texas landscape to be vast and beautifully empty. Big Bend has rugged mountains, open desert, and the Rio Grande River. From a high vantage point, we watched people crossing the river from Mexico and disappearing into the brush. Signs told the story of 100+ people crossing illegally into the park every day and warning visitors not to help. 

On our way back to El Paso, we stopped for a hike at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens. Our last adventures were in the Davis Mountains where we didn't have much time, but hope to return someday. 

Kellisa and I were in the middle of the desert about an hour east of El Paso when we pulled over to watch this plane fly over us. We are very confident that Lisa is on this plane because it was the only plane in the sky (we could see forever), it was taken shortly after Lisa's scheduled departure time, and Lisa confirmed that her plane left on time.

National Parks

Home

Birds of Humboldt Bay

Sacramento Doggy Dash 2017

Bailey was excited to see Laurel again.

William Land Park

Sacramento, CA

April 8, 2017

We do not own a dog (yet) and this posed a serious problem when Laurel heard a radio commercial many times for the upcoming Doggy Dash. She was very serious in pleading her case that she would be responsible for a dog. Laurel had a lot of confidence in her tone. She even started training for the event weeks in advance. 

Lisa verified that you needed a dog to participate in the event. We are not quite ready to rush into acquiring a dog, so Lisa started to call around to see if we could "borrow" a dog for a day. Laurel was getting a little desperate, she started to ask any stranger she saw walking a dog if she could borrow the dog(s) for the Doggy Dash. As the event approached, Lisa asked around at work and fortunately for us, a wonderful co-worker (HUGE thanks to S and J) agreed to let us borrow her dog, Bailey for the day.

We met them at a park a couple of weeks before the dash so Laurel and Bailey could get to know each other. It went well and Laurel did a great job of working with Bailey.

We were reunited with Bailey an hour before the Doggy Dash. Laurel took her responsibility extremely seriously as she held the lease, gave commands, and rewarded with treats. I think the only thing Laurel was really worried about was having to use a plastic bag.

It started to rain minutes before the Doggy Dash started, but this did not damper Laurel's enthusiasm. She led Bailey around the 2K Course like a seasoned dog owner and as we crossed the finish line, she said holding the plastic bag, "I'm glad I didn't need this".

Miss Highpointer - February 2013

Back in 2012, the Highpointers Club put out a call for picture submissions for their 2013 Highpointers calendar. They mentioned the several states that up until that point were never featured in a calendar. Among the list was Delaware. The highpoint is at a busy intersection in a suburban residential area without any noticeable elevation changes. The only views are the same as just about anywhere else in suburban America. In other words, it's not the most scenic or photogenic. I immediately looked through our pictures from our 2009 visit and found a nice picture of Kellisa smiling in her travel wheelchair. I hoped Kellisa at the top of Delaware would be chosen for the upcoming calendar and we were all very excited to learn our picture was selected. 

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Blizzard of December 2009

On top of Delaware

Kellisa had the week before Christmas off from school and I had a few vacation days left. Our plan was to fly to Philadelphia before visiting the highpoints of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. If we had time, we would also visit the highpoint of Washington DC and I was secretly hoping that we could also drive through Shenandoah National Park. What we didn't know was a major blizzard was going to hit shortly after we touched down in Philadelphia. We had to be flexible since we would only accomplish about half of our goals, but we still had an amazing trip!

Our first stop was Ebright Azimuth, the highest point in Delaware. Reaching 448 feet above sea level, this is the second lowest (behind Florida) of the 50 state highpoints. It was cold, but we completed our assault on the summit before the snow started to fall.

A few statistics from the record setting blizzard of December 2009:

1. The most snow (2 feet) in any 24 hour period in Washington DC.

2. In Philadelphia, the most snow (23.2 inches) from a single storm in December.

3. The storm was 500 miles wide and hit 14 states.

Counting what was already on the ground, drifts, and higher elevations, we were surrounded by 2-3 feet of snow in every direction for hundreds of miles.

Pushing Where Wheels Weren't Meant To Go

Colorado - September 2004

While Hurricane Francis was hitting our home in NE Florida (we lost some tree limbs and gutters), we were hiking a rugged trail in the mountains of Colorado. This was Kellisa's second hike on a trail not meant for wheelchairs. The hike was extra special because we were hiking with some of Kellisa's aunts, uncles, and cousins. We gained invaluable experience and confidence on this hike. 

Photo on right by Cindy Bucher

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Everglades Winter

We spent a couple of days in January 2009 exploring Everglades National Park

Long Weekend in New England

June 2009

New States for Kellisa:

New Hampshire

Vermont

Massachusetts

Connecticut

Rhode Island

Highpoints:

Mount Washington (NH)

Mount Greylock (MA)

Jerimoth Hill (RI)

Our first objective for this trip was the top of Massachusetts. We had two options to reach the summit, an auto road and a cog railroad. Since Kellisa loves trains, the decision was an easy one. Kellisa (Right) wheeling around with Mount Washington in the background as we wait for the cog railroad.