1996 Chicagoland Flood

An Illinois record was set on July 17 and 18, 1996 for rainfall in a 24 hour period. A total of 16.94 inches fell on the southwestern suburbs of Chicago, including Bolingbrook. About the only time we got lucky with our house in Bolingbrook was during this flood, our lot was actually high and dry. A part of me thinks we might have been better off if the house had flooded.

The entire area around our neighborhood flooded. Only high clearance vehicles had a chance of getting out of the flood zone. Lisa made it to work with our Isuzu Trooper. I stayed home with my Honda Civic and documented some of the flood in the pictures below.

God's Acre Healing Spring

God's Acre Healing Springs

Blackville, SC

September 30, 2009.

"The water from these artisan wells is said to have mystical healing powers."

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By nature, Kellisa has mystical healing powers. You can read more about Kellisa's early days here. 

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If you look at where Kellisa started and how much she has achieved in 10+ years, it's beyond comprehension. I give Kellisa all the credit for her unrelenting determination to fight through the challenges of her life. Kellisa has always had a large circle of doctors, specialists, nurses, therapists, teachers and aides that continue to help her stay healthy (by Kellisa standards) and reach her full potential in life.

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Recently, I became interested in alternative methods that might help Kellisa. I really don't know what I'm looking for or hoping to achieve. All I know is when Kellisa does reach her potential, I want to look back without regrets. I want to know we did everything possible to help Kellisa.

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While conducting a Google search for these alternative methods, I came across Healing Springs in South Carolina. I read historical accounts as well as more recent reports of the water healing everything from poison ivy to arthritis to cancer. The springs are only four hours from Jacksonville and I decided to make a trip the next time I was working in the area. Within two days of making this decision, a customer that I hadn't had any contact with for over a year called and requested a jobsite inspection in Myrtle Beach, SC. I would be within one hour of the springs...was it meant to be?

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Would this water help Kellisa? Myself? I must admit having parents die early scares a person about their own life expectancy. Based on my parents, I would have less than 15 years left to live. I figure I could use all the help I can get. And Lisa? Would this water help heal her nagging ankle and/or chronic back pain from lifting Kellisa? What do we do with this water? Drink it? Wash with it?

4' 10" AND You Need to Walk?

Fastcar Raceway

Golfland-Sunsplash

Roseville, CA

March 25, 2017

It is both a blessing and curse to live within walking distance of a waterpark, arcade, mini golf, laser tag, and a go cart track. The curse is that it can be seen just about every time we leave the house and 7-year-olds think we can just stop by at anytime for a quick visit. It was easy to avoid the park the last few months with all the rain, but the weather is finally getting nice and Laurel has been very anxious to try the go carts.

Lisa took Laurel go carting a few times last summer, but Laurel wasn't tall enough to drive. She had to be a passenger while Lisa drove. Laurel was convinced that she was finally tall enough to drive and a quick measurement at home confirmed that she was in fact just over 4' 10" tall. 

Kellisa has been a passenger in go carts over the years and loves the speed and wind in her face, but she's never gone around our "home" track. We decided that I would drive Kellisa while Laurel drives her own car. This would leave Lisa to take the pictures in this post from the viewing area.

From 80F to -20F in 11 Hours

Sometimes highlights just happen, they can't be planned because they can't be imagined. This was the case when we ended our stay in Hawaii with watching the sun set (top 3 pictures) from Waikiki Beach with hundreds of other tourists. We missed the sun setting the previous four nights for various reasons and didn't want to leave the island without watching this magical event.

After the sun set, we raced to the airport for a quick dinner before boarding a red eye flight to Anchorage. With little rest, we landed in our 50th state in the dark early morning hours. We loaded the rental car in the cold darkness and started driving to Denali National Park- the location for our hike in Alaska. I drove several hours while everyone rested with varying degrees of success. 

I was too excited to fall asleep while driving in complete darkness. I was busy picturing the end of our quest to hike in all 50 United States and how I couldn't think of a more epic way to finish than in winter in Alaska on a trail in Denali National Park. I was also flooded with memories of the other 49 states and the amazing times spent with my girls on the trails. 

Then it happened- the sun began illuminating the upper slopes of Denali, at 20,310 feet above sea level, it's the highest peak in North America. As the sun was working it's way down the mountainside, I drove by a viewing area (lower picture) to better observe Denali. After a quick u-turn, I pulled into the parking area. We were the only car in the lot that was covered by thick ice hidden under fresh snow. Everyone woke up to marvel at the beauty as I jumped out to snap a few pictures. 

It was and still is hard to comprehend that we watched the sunset from a beach in 80F weather and a mere 11 hours later, we were watching it rise 3,000 miles away in -20F weather. This might surprise some, but not me. If we could only go back to Alaska or Hawaii...we would all pick another trip to Alaska!

I'm not sure EPIC is a big enough word to describe our experience.

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Complete Pineapple Experience

Dole Plantation

Wahiawa, HI

November 2016

Kellisa has always loved riding on a train and Laurel also shares the passion for riding the rails. We are always on the lookout for a train ride and found one at the Dole Plantation on Oahu.

The plantation was so much more than just a train ride. Who knew there was so much to learn about pineapples and how much fun could be had? The pineapple ice cream was out of this world! Both girls enjoyed the world's largest maze with eight secret stations. Laurel enjoyed getting a spray-on tattoo.

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. 

March 25th

Cerebral Palsy is one of the things Kellisa has been diagnosed with in her early years. In fact, with hydrocephalus, it has the greatest impact on Kellisa's life. It's the reason her lower body is so weak and she can't walk. Her brain has the ability to tell her legs what to do and it's our understanding that this connection in kids like Kellisa is rare. We had a lot of hope in the early years that Kellisa would some day walk, even with equipment and/or assistance. 

Paul Gross, in the Pacific Northwest is going beyond his part to raise awareness and improve treatment options. 

Please check out the Cerebral Palsy Research Network.

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Alyeska Resort

Girdwood, AK

November 24, 2016

We spent an amazing Thanksgiving evening at Alyeska Resort just outside of Anchorage, AK. The resort is a short drive down the beautiful Seward Highway. We didn't let the freezing cold prevent us from enjoying the scenery (mountains rising straight up from the frigid water) and riding the tramway for top of the world views. We saw a couple of moose grazing on the mountainside from inside the tram. Hot chocolate helped extend our visit along the walkways high on the mountain. 

We didn't plan ahead for Thanksgiving dinner and got lucky when there was a cancellation of a party of four at the 8pm sitting in the resort dining room. It was an all you can eat traditional Thanksgiving feast and after a few days of adventure in Alaska...we got our money's worth. We would have been OK with dinner from McDonald's (like we did for Thanksgiving 2010 in Las Vegas when we weren't willing to pay $65 for each kid when Laurel was a baby and Kellisa with her usual petite appetite), but it was nice to enjoy a fancy dinner for the holiday.

The Alaska Zoo

Anchorage, AK

November 25, 2016

In late November, it's almost always dark in the final frontier state making it difficult to tell the time of day when outside. Our visit to The Alaska Zoo was in the evening, from 8 until 10pm to enjoy the start of the Holiday Lights season. It was just a few degrees below zero with a constant, but slight wind blowing which edged the wind chill factor to -12F.

In addition to the holiday light display, The Alaska Zoo is home to one of the state's most famous native residents which happens to also be Laurel's long time favorite animal- the polar bear. Finding the polar bear exhibit in the dark with falling snow at an unknown zoo was more difficult than we would have ever imagined. We wandered around through the natural setting of the zoo for nearly 30 minutes before we finally found the polar bear exhibit.

We were more excited than the bear who we found fast asleep. The sleeping bear didn't disappoint either girl as they withstood the freezing nighttime air to quietly observe the sleeping giant. Close to 10 minutes passed and neither girl would budge from their observing positions. We were the only ones watching the polar bear sleep. I tried to tell them that the bear would probably sleep until the morning, but we stayed a few more minutes anyway. Just as we they were ready to leave, the polar bear raised his head and looked right at us for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I only had my camera phone and wasn't able to snap a quality picture. The lights were nice as was the complimentary hot chocolate (which we found shortly after our visit with the polar bear), but the polar bear was by far the highlight of our evening visit to The Alaska Zoo.

Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge