TSA Incident #1

Baltimore/Washington International Airport

BWI

August 2, 2010 

Kellisa and I were flying home from Baltimore after a quick weekend trip to bag three highpoints when I came close to getting arrested by TSA government employees at the airport. Why close? Because Lisa did not make this trip with us and I barely showed restraint at the last second out of concern for Kellisa.

Here's what happened: Most airports have a line for flight crews and wheelchairs. Not Baltimore's airport. OK, so we zigzag through the long line like everyone else without a complaint. After 15 minutes, we are probably halfway through the line. All of a sudden from behind, two airport workers are making their way through the zigzags pushing two people in airport wheelchairs. As they pass us, I follow them to the front of the line...assuming this is the "wheelchair procedure" in Baltimore.

I was wrong. TSA workers allowed the two wheelchairs to go directly to the front, but stopped Kellisa. I was told to take Kellisa and go back to the end of the line. I explained that I didn't understand the process. I was told that the other wheelchairs were escorted by airport workers and since Kellisa did not have this "escort", we would not be allowed to move to the front of the line. I tried to reason by explaining that Kellisa could not walk at all and out of the three wheelchairs, Kellisa's was the only "real" wheelchair.

While we are having this "discussion", the guy in the first wheelchair gets up, walks through the metal detector and starts gathering his bags, all while standing. I wasn't ready to explode, but my temperature was rising fast. Then I look over at the other line and see the little girl in the other wheelchair getting up and actually running through the metal detector. The TSA workers made her go back and asked her to walk slowly through the metal detector for a second time.

I was done talking and began yelling at the TSA workers. I pointed to the guy as he was still standing holding three bags without any assistance while he waited for his wife. He looked at me and then acted like he couldn't hear me as he started to walk away. Yes, walk away without his airport wheelchair and escort while holding three bags.

Then I pointed to the mother of the running daughter and accused her of having her daughter fake a disability just to get through the line faster. I told her I would apologize if she told me what caused her daughter to need an airport wheelchair while allowing her to run through the metal detectors. The mother turned away, dropped her head and proceeded through the metal detectors. Her daughter was probably 5 or 6 and unaware of what was happening because she was doing a little dance next to the wheelchair before running towards the gates while leaving her chair and escort behind. I told the mother and the man that I'd love to talk to them once they let us through security.

At this point, I was being surrounded by additional TSA workers who were all talking into their little radios. Several had guns drawn and a couple grabbed my arms. Kellisa had been giggling with all the attention, but at this point, she became visibly scared and nervous. I believe she could sense the situation becoming very serious for us. Looking at Kellisa's face, I actually settled down a little. I realized that I probably made a threat and I couldn't afford to get arrested because I didn't have anyone who could watch Kellisa.

During this moment of calm, the TSA supervisor approached through the crowd that was now gathered around us. She asked if I was OK and explained that the airport's policy was to let all escorted wheelchairs proceed to the front of the line without questioning if the people were disabled or not. I assume she was listening to the entire incident and possibly even watched the beginning on a monitor in a back room somewhere. Before I could argue my point, she offered to let us go through the metal detectors without going to the back of the line if I agreed not to continue the incident with the mother/daughter or the other guy. In hind's sight, I'm thankful that I agreed to her reasonable offer. We made it past security without further incident.

I'll admit to looking for the disability fakers as I pushed Kellisa through the terminal to our gate. I didn't see them. I would have liked to give them something specific to think about while hoping it would prevent them from ever faking a disability again.

To the man, I would have said, "I bet you wouldn't last a day in real wheelchair" and "what you are doing is like stealing a benefit granted to people with disabilities and it's a small concession when you are really disabled".

To the mother, I would have said, "do you realize what you are teaching your daughter" and "you should be thankful every day that your daughter can run through an airport because kids like Kellisa will never be able to even walk".

Grand Island National Recreation Area

Grand Island National Recreation Area

Michigan

September 2011

The idea for a backpacking trip on Grand Island formed when I read an article about a trail race held on Grand Island. From the pictures and race descriptions, I knew the trails would be ideal for pushing Kellisa. The highlights include hiking on top of 300 foot high sandstone cliffs with long ranging views over Lake Superior, long sandy beaches, deep North Woods and two inland lakes. Grand Island is a primitive wilderness about a 1/2 mile from the mainland of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The island has abundant wildlife, including a healthy black bear population. 

The remoteness of the island and the black bears had me a little nervous to hike and camp alone with Kellisa. I invited our cousin Matt to join us on this adventure to the far north of America. He gladly accepted and it helped to make up for a cancelled trip we had planned for the summer. We were scheduled to do some hiking and camping in Colorado with Matt, but had to cancel because Kellisa had two surgeries over the summer followed by some complications that required weekly visits to the doctor. The doctor did not like the idea of Kellisa being far from a hospital while we were dealing with the post surgery issues. Trusting the doctor, it was an easy decision to cancel the trip. However, it was still difficult to think an entire summer would pass without an adventure.

Kellisa was finally cleared to travel and I scrambled to book a trip to Grand Island. I originally wanted to spend 4 days and 3 nights on the island. Due to Kellisa's school schedule, we had to settle for 2 half days and 1 night. Our basic philosophy was a short trip was better than no trip.

The day before our trip to the island was filled with rain and high winds. Below, Grand Island from the mainland:

A pontoon boat ferries visitors to Grand Island and runs on a published schedule of three round trips daily for the days we would need the service. We planned on taking the noon ferry to the island. Matt and I don't wear watches and were trusting the clock in the rental car. We lost track of the fact that we rented the car in Minneapolis in the Central Time Zone and Michigan is in the Eastern Time Zone. Matt realized our error in time and we had to race to catch the ferry. As we pulled into the parking lot, we could see the ferry already departed for the island. The next ferry wasn't until 3pm. Since we already had a short trip planned for the island, the thought of losing three hours was difficult. I ran inside the office to plead our case and I was assured that the ferry would return in a few minutes and would take us to the island, but we had to be ready. 

  Being ready quickly is not easy with Kellisa. Especially since we camped the night before at Bay Furnace campground and didn't really organize our gear because of the rush to catch the ferry. Matt and I just started throwing gear out of the car and loading it into our backpacks. I got Kellisa's chair ready and made a last check for diapers, tube feeding supplies and her medicine. I figured we could survive 24 hours on the island as long as we had Kellisa's basic needs met. We did pretty well and I think the only thing we forgot were a few water bottles.

Kellisa enjoying the boat ride to Grand Island:

Traditional photo:

Relieved to finally be on the island, we took a few minutes to organize and settle our packs for the upcoming hike. Our goal was a campsite approximately four miles from the dock. Not a great distance, but we wanted to take some time to sight see along the trails. Also, you can't reserve the campsites, so you could find them taken upon arrival causing you to continue until you found a vacant campsite. Matt spotted an eagle as soon as we started on the trail. We were hoping that was the start of some great wildlife viewing opportunities.  

I could not ask for more perfect trails (wide and free from large rocks and roots) to hike with Kellisa:

After 3.8 miles, our campsite of choice was vacant:

Kellisa and I would share a tent:

Matt would build a primitive shelter (Survivorman style):

Enjoying a campfire in the early evening:

Matt returning from securing our food in the bear locker (green box just to the right of Matt's head):

Matt emerging from his shelter:

Inside Matt's shelter:

Matt returning with filtered Lake Superior water:

Campsite panorama (tent, fire ring, GAWK, and almost hidden on the far right, Matt's shelter):

Kellisa enjoying her time at the campsite:

The beauty of an Ipod, Kellisa was able to listen to Hannah Montana:

Feeding tubes and medicine in the backcountry:

Decent facilities were provided at the campsite, at least compared to digging a hole and burying it:

Hiking to Echo Lake after setting up our camp:

Echo Lake:

Island Scenery:

We caught the noon ferry the next day. Thankfully, it was completely accessible:

Kellisa enjoying the boat ride back to the mainland:

The trip was short and a complete success. Unfortunately, we did not see or hear any bears while on the island. Did they see and hear us? Probably. We would leave with a small taste of what the island has to offer and I was already thinking about a return trip before we even left the island.

Spending time with Matt allowed us to discuss adventures that would be possible to accomplish with Kellisa. I won't mention our ideas at this time, but I can say that I believe Kellisa would be the first person pushed to some of the places on our list.

I saved the best part of the trip for last. Kellisa's teacher gave me a list of words to work with Kellisa while on our trip. It was a coincidence that the list included the words: small, town, big and lake. We spent most of our time within view of one of the biggest lakes in the world and drove through countless small towns to and from the big lake. The teacher was working with Kellisa to identify these words by sight when presented to her. I took it a step further and wanted Kellisa to learn how to say the words in addition to just recognizing the words.

Kellisa learned to say all the words while on our trip. I video taped several sessions of Kellisa talking to send to school to show the teacher what Kellisa learned. Hopefully, the school will now push Kellisa because my videos clearly show her vocal potential. However, I do worry that Kellisa won't perform on our next trip due to the fear of being worked hard at school when I teach her new things. In a few days, we accomplished what would normally take several months in speech therapy, if ever. My success at getting Kellisa to say new words left me with a few questions I need to have answered: Was it the magical location of Lake Superior and the North Woods? Wanting to impress dad and Matt? Something else? All I know is that we triggered something inside Kellisa's complicated brain and we need to continue down this "out of the school" educational path.  

Photos 3-4-5-6-7-20-22-23-24-27 taken by Matt. All others from the Hurrikains collection. 

An Accessible Visit to Congaree National Park

 July 2006

We decided to spend the 4th of July long weekend in South Carolina. While searching for wheelchair friendly trails, I found a 2.4 mile boardwalk trail in Congaree National Park, making this an easy choice for a short trip.

It was beyond hot the whole weekend and to make matters worse, I was suffering from an allergic reaction. I was sick and miserable, but we completed the boardwalk trail. It would be nice to visit under better circumstances someday.

Congaree National Park preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. The lush trees growing in this floodplain forest are some of the tallest in the Eastern U.S., forming one of the highest natural canopies remaining in the world.

The park was originally called Congaree Swamp National Monument before becoming a National Park on November 10, 2003. The word swamp was dropped in hopes of sounding less mysterious and attracting more visitors to this underdeveloped park.

We were staying in Columbia, SC: home of the world's largest fire hydrant. This work of art stands at 39 feet tall, easily beating the competition in Beaumont, TX (24.5 ft.) and Elk Creek, Manitoba (29.5 ft.).

NATIONAL PARKS

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