Special Olympics

St. Johns County Summer Games

Menendez High School

 

March 7, 2015

 

 
 

We can now say that Kellisa is a Special Olympian after she participated in the 2015 St. Johns County Summer Games. Kellisa trains with her friends from school and her amazing teacher. She was entered in two events, the 50M Assisted Wheelchair Race and Tennis Ball Throw. She came in first in both events. It did help that she was the only one entered in both events, but we'll take the 1st Place finishes just the same as it allows her to participate in the "Area" Summer Games.

 

Videos of Kellisa's Two Events

West Lake Boardwalk Trail

 Everglades National Park 

March 2015

 

I knew from previous visits to Everglades National Park that our best chance to see the threatened American Crocodile was at West Lake.  Kellisa stayed in the air conditioned car listening to music while Laurel and I investigated the water around the boat ramp. We were immediately rewarded when we saw this little guy in the water. It's estimated that only 500-1,200 crocodiles remain wild in south Florida and we had one swimming in front of us:

 

 

I told Laurel that the momma crocodile was probably close and she started looking for her. It didn't take long to find the mother:

 

After a couple of minutes, the mother swam off into the lake:

 

This is a cool picture because there's a crocodile on the left and an American alligator on the right:

 

I thought I could take a picture of Laurel centered between the crocodile and alligator, but you can only see the alligator:

 

We hiked the West Lake Trail:

 

Kellisa did a great job of wheeling herself on the boardwalk trail:

 

 

We found this bird watching over our car after our little hike. Laurel "talked" to the bird for close to an hour:

 

TRAILS

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No, I'll Take the Room I Reserved, Thank You

Kellisa at Abilities Expo- Atlanta 2013

 

 

I was recently asked to write an article for Abilities.com, the premiere resource for the disabled community. I've become very familiar with this organization since I attended their 2013 Abilities Expo in Atlanta with Kellisa and Laurel. I did not hesitate to agree to submit an article. I was given the opportunity to submit anything for consideration as long as it somehow pertained to the disability community. I had already shared my thoughts on the importance of getting first floor hotel rooms when traveling with Kellisa on this website, but I still feel strongly about this subject, especially since most ADA hotel rooms are NOT on the first floor. I reworked and expanded my initial thoughts for the article I submitted. I was honored when Abilities.com agreed to run the article because I knew it would not only reach a lot more people, but it would reach my target audience. Thank you!

 

The full article with pictures can be found (here). 

 

 

 



Sometimes the Difficult Path is the Right Path...

 

 

 



Bayard Conservation Area

 

 12 Miles South of Jacksonville, FL

 

February 2015

 

 

Laurel and I had a rare few hours to ourselves and she wanted to go for a hike (heart stops to melt moment), so we went to Bayard Conservation Area. Bayard is my favorite place to hike within 30 minutes of home. It's a huge protected area with many miles of trails offering countless loop and out & back hiking options through several different forest types and one trail even ends at the banks of the St. Johns River. Since we didn't have Kellisa, I was able to take Laurel on a trail that features a very cool, but too narrow for any kind of mobility chair, boardwalk. The rest of the trails are wide, flat and usually free from mud. We didn't see any wildlife, but Laurel was ready to learn how to follow a trail using painted blazes on trees. (More pictures)

Hiking to the St. Johns River at Bayard with Kellisa (Nov. 2012)