Growth on the Trails

 Before we were going where wheels weren't meant to go, we were carrying Kellisa in our arms, over my shoulder, and in chest and back carriers. When Kellisa got too big to carry, we got her first chair. Since she uses her wheelchair everyday, it takes a beating and gets replaced every five years. In the early days, I pushed Kellisa on ADA trails and a few we had no business being on with a wheelchair. When Kellisa was maybe 5, we purchased the largest jog stroller we could find on a store shelf and we started pushing our abilities on real trails. As Kellisa was outgrowing her jog stroller, I spent many hours researching jog strollers for disabled children and young adults. We've purchased and outgrown many jog strollers and even broken a few on some pretty intense trails. As the market caught up to our activities, we purchased our first true off-road chair for real trails. Kellisa has even gone through several travel wheelchairs (easy to fold and only a few hundred dollars) over the years and each one has found its way out on a trail. 

Below is a visual history of some of her wheelchairs and all of her jog strollers (as of May 12, 2021):

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Hale Nalu 1

Wai'anae, HI

November 2016

We booked our trip to Hawaii (state #49) for the beginning of Thanksgiving week at the end of September. With such late planning, I didn't have any options to use hotel points I earn while traveling for my job. In addition, I didn't really want to pay high hotel prices during a holiday week when all we really do is sleep and shower in our rooms. I also knew that Lisa would not want to spend her trip to Hawaii camping. 

I decided to give Airbnb a try and quickly found a nice looking duplex close to a beach, but far from Waikiki. It seemed like the best option available, so I booked. We were a little nervous when we struggled to find the place (confusing street numbers), but we called the owners who were able to direct us to the property. It was approximately 45 minutes from Waikiki Beach, but only a few houses from a beach.

When we walked down to the beach, we were the only ones on the sand for the entire afternoon. We are not exactly a beach family, but we found our own little paradise without any complaints. It was nice to step out the front door, walk two minutes and be all alone on a secluded beach. Maybe even more nice was the fact that we walked back and were able to hose off without every getting in a car or walking through a room. The duplex we rented is called Hale Nalu 1 and we would recommend the property if you are looking to get away from all the tourists and have your own private beach. 

A Perfect Father's Day

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Father's Day 2016 started with a morning 3.35 mile walk on the trail system behind our house with Kellisa:

The morning was already hot and sunny, so Kellisa was a little tired and stayed home while Laurel got to go to Sunsplash Waterpark. It's a good thing that Kellisa stayed home because she ended up having a sun related seizure. Sunsplash is Laurel's reason for loving her new house. In the parking lot picture below left, you can see a row of houses (center right) in the distance, that's our neighborhood less than a mile away and Laurel is beyond exstatic to be living so close.

After an easy (no cook) dinner of shrimp and rolls, we enjoyed the end of our day making and eating S'mores:

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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

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) 

Trembling Earth Nature Trail

Stephen C. Foster State Park

Georgia

 

January 2015

 

After our animal encounters afternoon, we still wanted to get a nice little hike in, so we headed to Stephen C. Foster State Park in the southwestern portion of the Okefenokee Swamp.

I love this picture of Laurel. When she's not pushing Kellisa, she's usually leading the way. The boardwalk portion of Trembling Earth Nature Trail abruptly ended in the swamp- leading to Laurel's "confused" hand gesture. We were only able to hike 1.04 miles of the usual 2.5 mile trail. We still enjoyed the boardwalk, trail, and swamp as the sun was setting fast on this crisp January afternoon.

We ended our visit by walking an additional .43 of a mile along the park road looking for alligators. Surprisingly, we didn't see any and both girls were disappointed. I had to remind them that they got to pet an alligator earlier in the day. That fact didn't help as much as seeing the family of deer feeding on the roadside grass as we were leaving the park.

 

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)

 

 



Congaree National Park

South Carolina

December 2014

 

 

The 2.4 mile Boardwalk Trail is a must for anyone looking for a top rated accessible trail into a wilderness area. Unfortunately, part of the boardwalk was closed for our visit, but we didn't let that or a good rainstorm prevent us from having a nice little hike.

 

(More Pictures Here)

 

 

 



Crowders Mountain State Park

Fern and Lake Trails

North Carolina

 

December 2014

 

 

 

We rarely allow the weather to stop a hike, so we didn't mind the cold and eventual light rain when we visited Crowders Mountain State Park. I usually scout out the trails online as much as possible before our arrival at a trailhead. When possible, I will talk to rangers and other hikers about trail conditions. This hike was no different as we stopped at the visitor center with a few questions. I asked if the trails were wide enough for Kellisa's Hippocampe.  The ranger told us that we couldn't hike the Fern and Lake Trails because they weren't accessible. I asked him to explain the conditions and he said it was filled with mud, roots and stairs. I followed with my original question about the width and all he said was, "Probably" to which I replied, "Thank you" and off we went to  successfully hike the Fern and Lake Trails.

 

(More pictures from the trails) 

 



Driftwood Beach

Jekyll Island

GA

 

November 2014 

 
 

 

Both girls had a blast exploring Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island. With the Hippocampe, we were able to navigate over, under and around the driftwood as we weaved in and out of the ocean. Laurel really enjoyed being the leader as she looked for the best path for Kellisa.

 

(More pictures from Driftwood Beach)

Clam Creek Picnic Area

Jekyll Island, GA

November 2014

We spent an afternoon on the very accessible Jekyll Island, one of Georgia's Golden Isles. The island has many miles of paved trails to explore, but we headed to the Clam Creek Picnic Area on the northern end of the island. We walked the North Loop Trail which was fully paved with a few rough spots in need of repair. After or little hike, both girls enjoyed exploring the very accessible fishing pier.

 

 

 

 

I would think most wheelchairs could navigate the few rough areas on the paved trail:

 

Egypt investigating scat:

 

It was relaxing to walk while hearing the waves from the ocean, just beyond this tree:

We walked the entire length of the out and back paved trail:

 

A short break to refuel back at the Pilot:

 

Both girls were excited to explore the accessible fishing pier:

 

Sidney Lanier Bridge:

 

We walked a total of 3.32 miles at Clam Creek Picnic Area:

 

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