Museum of Selfies

August 2019

Love for Delta Airlines

It's no secret to those who know us that we love Southwest Airlines and they love us back pretty good. We started flying Southwest years ago because of their outstanding service towards Kellisa and really the whole family. I lost track of how many segments Kellisa has flown long ago, but it's safe to say she's flown Southwest at least 400 if not 500 times and they've never let us down. Not even once in all those years and flights. If anything, they've gone beyond too many times to count.

But, this post is really about Delta Airlines. I fly Delta a decent amount for work, enough to where I get seat upgrades on probably 50% of my flights, but far from their top frequent flyer status. The most I've ever flown Delta in one year is 80 something segments. Kellisa flew Delta a few times when she was little without incident, but until recently, there was a gap of probably close to 15 years between flights. 

Flash forward to June 2019, we are working on our book and had a need to fly Delta. I booked two seats together in Economy Class as close to the front of the plane as possible, row 11. Delta allowed us to board early which is always appreciated and I requested a transfer to an aisle chair because it's too hard to carry Kellisa back to the 11th row. 

As I handed the gate agent my ticket, I heard the familiar sound of being upgraded with the printing of a new ticket. I need to sit next to Kellisa and was just about to start explaining our situation when Kellisa's ticket was scanned and she also received an upgrade. Just like that, we were both upgraded. We don't need first-class, but it sure was nice and easier than row 11. On our second flight, we were upgraded again, this time from row 22. 

Besides upgrading our seats, the gate agent also gave us a really cool tag (picture below) for Kellisa's wheelchair.

In the end, we can't speak highly enough about Delta and look forward to flying them again in the future. In fact, shortly after returning from this trip, we booked another trip on Delta!

Badwater Basin

Death Valley National Park

California

March 2019

Fitness Trail Loop

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Kentucky

June 2019

Virginia Creeper Trail

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
Virginia

June 2019

TRAILS

HOME

Husky Branch Falls

Little River Trail

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

June 2019

Max Patch

Pisgah National Forest

NC and TN

June 2019

TRACK Trail

Congaree National Park

June 2019

Okefenokee Swamp- An Old Favorite

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Chesser Island Boardwalk

Georgia

June 2019

A True Friend...Florida Trails

Fort Caroline National Memorial

Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve

Theodore Roosevelt Area

Spanish Pond Trail +

June 2019

Open Pond Trail

Open Pond Recreational Area

Conecuh National Forest

Alabama

June 2019

"Trail is ACCESSIBLE to the first overlook"

Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge

Mississippi

May 2019

There is an art to selecting trails to pushike with Kellisa and I like to think that we've gotten pretty good from so many years of experience. We've traveled long and hard only to find accessible trails, well not so accessible. We've also stumbled upon trails with no indication of accessibility and they've been beautiful to push Kellisa on. 

We like to read as many trail reports as possible looking for key words (mud, stairs, rocks, climbs, etc.) that may tip us off to research another trail. If we are confident after reports, we then carefully study pictures looking for barriers. If all checks out, we have a good success rate. We are writing the first book on pushiking to help others navigate through the process of selecting and then pushiking trails. 

The trail we selected in Mississippi had a short section at the beginning that was accessible. Because there is so much information about accessible trails as many are paved, we're not going to feature too many miles of accessible trails in the book. The trail in Mississippi went beyond the accessible portion to complete a loop. 

Little did we know that the accessible part of the trail would have a barrier almost immediately. Now we could easily navigate the obstacles and I would guess most people pushing a jog stroller or off-road mobility chair could as well, I have serious doubts that most people wheeling themselves could complete the "accessible" section of this trail. Lastly, I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure motorized wheelchairs would have no chance on the navigating the platform section at the beginning of this trail. While I'm thankful Kellisa and I were able to complete the loop, I can't help but think about those who might travel to this trail only to be turned around before really even getting started. 

Fontainebleau State Park

Louisiana

May 2019

Pushiking Book - Completed States

Britton Hill, FL

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