Monday, April 20, 2026
A Wheelchair Accessibility Guide to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park
Three years ago, Kellisa
and I had a week open for adventure. We decided to spend our time down in the
Palm Springs area to explore some new areas while making a return visit to
Joshua Tree National Park. Thanks to COVID, this would be Kellisa's first flight
in 50 months, by far the longest she ever went without being on an
airplane.
We had such a great time, we thought we would share our guide to the Palm Springs region again for our readers.
Kellisa and I were in Los Angeles in the summer of 2013 for a couple of days for a speaking engagement. We had a few hours and decided to drive over to Joshua Tree National Park. With our limited time, we visited the park like most people, we stopped at a visitor center, I pushed Kellisa on the short, paved trail behind the visitor center, and we drove through the northern part of the park stopping at scenic views for pictures before heading back to Los Angeles. We knew we'd be back; we just didn't realize it would take almost 10 years to return to the region.
Thanksgiving 2025 on the Bay
For the second year in a row, we made the drive
to Pier 3 in San Francisco to board a boat for a buffet style Thanksgiving
feast while cruising around the bay. The highlights included sailing under the Golden
Gate Bridge and a close pass of Alcatraz Island. The food was outstanding and
we enjoyed some after dinner music and dancing. We also took advantage of the
surroundings for several “photo shoots.” I think a tradition has taken root.
Sunday, April 19, 2026
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Swimming with Pigs
Bahamas
May 30, 2025
to
June 7, 2025
Swimming with Pigs in the Bahamas was a dream father-daughter trip for Egypt for many years and we finally made it happen in 2025. I decided to use most of my airline and hotel points to give Egypt a special trip since she had been asking for this for many years and I realize that one of these trips will be our last trip as she starts her adult life in the near future. I'll still hope for many more.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Heart-Shaped Stone
This
is the mysterious story of Kellisa’s 25th surgery which took place in
February 2025 at Suter Roseville Medical Center. The surgery lasted three
hours when the surgeon told us it should only take 60 minutes.
October 2024 – Kellisa had her first riding horse therapy session in more than 10 years and loved getting back in the saddle. Unfortunately, she started complaining of pain in her hips shortly after the ride. We took her to the doctor when the pain didn’t go away after a few days, and pain relievers weren’t helping. Tests were run and a few x-rays were taken. Nothing was obvious as far as her pain in the hip area, but in the corner of one of the x-rays, the radiologist saw something they couldn’t explain. A dark area of the stomach led them to believe a foreign object was “trapped” and would require further investigation.
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Father-Daughter Trip to the Outer Banks (OBX)
North & South Carolina
Summer 2024
For the first time, Egypt selected our destination by herself. She wanted to visit the Outer Banks (OBX) of North & South Carolina after following the adventures of the Kooks and Pogues from one of her favorite TV shows, the Outer Banks. While our trip was cut short due to weather, Tropical Storm Debby, we still managed to check off her main boxes- beach photo shoots and seeing some of the filming locations.
Thursday, November 6, 2025
Stairs and the Wheelchair
November 6, 2018
Oakmont High School
Roseville, CA
Kellisa was a student at Oakmont High School when Lisa got a call from her teacher, "Kellisa is fine, but she wheeled down a few stairs."
Kellisa was outside in the courtyard on her way to lunch when she took the opportunity when no one was looking and wheeled off from her class. Before anyone could stop her, she wheeled down 3 or 4 cement stairs. Fortunately, she went sideways and landed in the grass on her side in the wheelchair. Thankfully, she had her seatbelt on.
She was a little startled, but enjoyed the ride and found it funny. As did her classmates. The responsible teachers and aides on the other hand, weren't too thrilled. They checked her out and she appeared OK, but they wheeled her to the nurse to be sure.
Kellisa was fine and when the teacher called, she also asked, "Why would Kellisa think it was OK to wheel down the stairs?"
Friday, October 17, 2025
Kellisa Starts a New All-Inclusive Dance Class
Spotlight Studios
Roseville, CA
October 13, 2025
After taking many years of dance classes with yearly recitals in Florida, we were disappointed we couldn't find an adaptive dance studio for Kellisa in Roseville, CA. We mostly gave up when out of nowhere, Egypt's longtime singing coach expanded his business to include a dance studio and fortunate for Kellisa, he included an adaptive class where Kellisa was the first student to sign up. Kellisa wasted no time getting into the flow of dancing and loved every second with her more than awesome dance instructor. Kellisa's huge smile and endless kisses of thanks and appreciation brought tears to our eyes. We are so thankful to have this activity in place for Kellisa.
We highly recommend Spotlight Studios for music, dance, theater, and education.
Friday, September 12, 2025
A Wheelchair Guide to Potter Park Zoo
Lansing, MI
July 30, 2025
It was nice for a smaller zoo and we found it mostly accessible. A few gravel paths might be difficult or impossible for some, but we managed. Kellisa's highlights include: fun under water misters with mom, the wildlife overlook bridge, the river otters, and not surprisingly, the reptile house. Not a bad way to spend some time.
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