Introduction

“Emergency” and “Dad come quick”. In an instant, I went from a deep sleep to running around a dark, unfamiliar hotel room. Usually, when my five-year-old daughter Laurel screams emergency, it means that her 15-year-old sister, Kellisa is having a seizure. However, this emergency was Laurel waking up in the middle of the night with a stomach illness. If the bathroom would have been a few feet closer to her bed it would have been a minor emergency instead of the four alarm kind with considerable cleanup. I desperately wanted more sleep, but I had to shower Laurel and find the laundry room to start a load of wash. I felt bad for Laurel as she struggled to fall back asleep. As I cleaned and washed, I kept telling myself, (Read the entire Introduction to Embrace the Exceptional here).

 

 

Embrace the Exceptional

 

 

We are excited to announce a companion website dedicated to our book, Embrace the Exceptional. The site is in it's infancy with just a brief summary of the book along with a few pictures. However, we will be adding the Introduction, Chapter Summaries, Short Stories, Pictures and more on a regular basis.

 

This website (Kellisa's Path) will continue without any changes except for new links to our Embrace the Exceptional website. You can sign up to receive email updates from both websites on the home pages.

 

(Click here to go to Embrace the Exceptional)

 



Losco Regional Park

Jacksonville, FL

 

October 2014

 

 

Kellisa and I had a rare few hours alone and took the opportunity to hike the new trail system at Losco Regional Park. The park opened in 2004 only 2.5 miles from our previous home. I was anxiously awaiting Phase Two when they added the trails. Unfortunately, they didn't create the trails until we moved 16.5 miles away.

 

Anyway, we were still excited to try the trails and were greatly rewarded. The trails were mostly root free, wide, flat, and almost sand free. The one small section of sand was easy to navigate. The only real obstacle was a creek crossing between two of the loop trails. Not the easiest to cross (twice), but doable and Kellisa thought it was hilarious. The trails are not at all ADA compliant, but they are completely accessible with the Hippocampe. You won't find peace and quiet since the park is surrounded by expressways on two sides, but we found solitude as we only saw one trail runner during our hour on the trails.

 

(More pictures from Losco Regional Park)

 



Visited States

Laurel: 26

2014 Additions: Oregon - Arizona - Colorado - Louisiana - Connecticut - Rhode Island

Kellisa: 39

Muir Woods National Monument

California

 

July 2014

 

Our last hike of the trip was at Muir Woods National Monument. Even though it was well over 100 degrees and early on a Friday afternoon, the road leading to the park had cars parked on both shoulders for miles. I knew I couldn't walk a great distance with both girls on such a narrow road with so many cars coming and going. With doubt that we could visit the park, we pressed on hoping for a disabled spot close to the visitor center. As we approached, I realized that there was an entire parking lot for disabled parking. Of course it was full, but we got lucky, a car was backing out as we arrived. I know all about hidden disabilities, but Kellisa was the only wheelchair we saw. For every one hidden disability, I bet there's 10 people abusing the disabled parking card...if not more.

 

Anyway, we found the trail to be fully accessible and easy as we hiked through our last redwood forest for the trip. Laurel again insisted on pushing Kellisa for most of the trail. We saw more people on this trail than all of our other hikes on this trip combined. The count wouldn't even be close, but the golden rule of hiking definitely applied to this trail. As soon as we were about a mile from the trailhead, we almost had the trail to ourselves. At 1.5 miles away, we were by ourselves. I dreaded turning back and fighting the crowds. But, an ice cream awaited us at the park café on this hot summer afternoon making the return trek tolerable.

 

(More pictures from Muir Woods)

 



Earthquake Trail

Point Reyes National Seashore

CA

July 2014

 

 

We were disappointed to only have a half day at the end of our trip to spend exploring Point Reyes National Seashore. It ended up working out OK because it was blazing hot. Even though we were there in the morning, the temperature reading in our car said it was 105 degrees outside. The kids enjoyed the displays and movie at the visitor center. With limited time and the heat to consider, we hiked the short (.6 mile) fully accessible Earthquake Trail. Nothing too exciting about the required short, paved trail next to the visitor center. We look forward to returning to this oceanside park to spend a couple of days hiking the unpaved trails deep into the wilderness.

 



TRAILS

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Confusion Hill

Leggett, CA

 

July 2014

 

 

 

 

We stopped at the roadside attraction, Confusion Hill to ride the mountain train. It was disappointing to learn that the entire attraction was not at all accessible, including the gift store. The girls could hear the train in the distance and were excited to be there. The only way to ride the train was to ascend steep, narrow and twisting steps up a hillside. We were determined to figure out a way to make it work...

 

(More pictures, plus videos and a detailed trip report)

 



Rockefeller Loop Trail

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

CA

 

July 2014

 

 

The Rockefeller Loop Trail in Humboldt Redwoods State Park was accessible, short and beautiful beyond words. We had the entire trail to ourselves. Laurel insisted on pushing Kellisa the entire length of the trail which allowed me to play full time photographer while watching my girls enjoy themselves in another magical forest.

 

(More Rockefeller Loop Trail Pictures)

 



                                     

                                     

Prairie Creek Trail

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

CA

 

July 2014

 

 

 

Yes, another accessible trail through a redwood forest. This time we found the trail in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park to be a little steep and narrow, leading me to believe we may have made a wrong turn somewhere. It's hard to tell because trails crisscrossed and the trail signs were confusing. None the less, we had a nice hike.

 

(More Prairie Creek Trail Pictures)

Trees of Mystery

 Klamath, CA 

July 2014

 

It's funny how we hiked many trails through the redwoods and most of the time we were the only ones hiking, then we stop at the Trees of Mystery, a roadside attraction in Klamath, CA., and the trails are crowded. The main reason for stopping was to ride a gondola through and above soaring redwoods. The gondola started about half way up a mountainside. The park was very accessible, they offered rides in a golf cart type vehicle for the disabled to the start of the gondola. We opted to hike the wide, steep trial to the gondola. The gondola ride was also accessible. Kellisa's Hippocampe barely fit even after I took off the push bar. A regular wheelchair would fit easily. Once on the summit, boardwalks led to some amazing views. Trees of Mystery was a bit crowded, but well worth the stop and highly recommended for anyone who uses a wheelchair.

GONDOLAS, LIFTS, & TRAMS

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