Thanks to an adventurous friend, I recently discovered several beautiful parks near Wilmington Delaware. I found irony in it, though. For the past two decades we ventured to that area, south of Pennsylvania, for the girls' appointments at DuPont Hospital for Children. The drive is about an hour for us. We typically high-tailed it home after doctor appointments. We found it funny to willingly head south along I-95 for Wilmington, Delaware. Nevertheless, on an overcast day we set off to check out Alapocas State Park and the Can Do Playground. We planned lunch along the Christina River and a stop at the Russell Peterson Wildlife Refuge. *I should note that this was during Covid-19 precautions. Immediately the forest at Alapocas beckoned us in. Just as quickly, we also found ourselves a bit lost! The most stressful part of our day was, in fact, finding parking at an accessible entrance to the Alapocas Park trails. We started by heading to the Can Do Playground completely underestimating the size of this state park. Fortunately, all was not lost when we found the Continue Reading
Getting the wheelchairs to mountain tops (in the Lehigh Valley PA Appalachian region)
High atop Hawk Mountain You know by now the girls are driven to be out and going. And conversely, they are NOT pleased to be home and sitting still. This Pandemic is just a magnifier of that struggle. We continue to look for out of doors areas to visit. I don't know all the latest "facts and figures" but it SEEMS safest to be outside. But that is not always the easiest way to go with power, or even manual, wheelchairs. The two recent flash floods didn't add to our convenience, either. So when the girls wanted a field trip to send a caregiver off to college with style, I found something new to do about an hour drive from us. As is currently normal, you need to grab your masks for public areas. Map to Cabelas in Hamburg PA If you are from the North East you are probably already familiar with Cabelas sporting store in Hamburg Pa. Some people enjoy the store as a field trip destination in itself. They have different backgrounds in the store of large and small game that have been preserved among a faux backdrop of the great outdoors. As one of the largest Continue Reading
Our unexpected Disney Isolation Vacation needed some imagination!
Isolation vacation using imagination This SHOULD be the post I write as we spend our last day at the beach before our return trip home from Florida. During the social distancing and stay home orders due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, you have most likely answered "what day is this?" often. But I know that THIS week the girls are not looking for an answer like "Sunday". What they are looking for is something like "the day at Animal Kingdom". I thought it was bad being asked for the day of the week, this is just that much sadder. We are anxious to give the plans another whirl WHENEVER the Disney parks reopen. In the meantime, please go along with us for our homemade day in Disney...or as we call it, our Disney Isolation Vacation! It is funny how imagination works. And music. And laughter. There were a few moment where things actually felt magical, just in a different way. https://www.facebook.com/smallBeginningscoffee/videos/1194590297547096/ Our Disney Isolation Vacation Continue Reading
How we would improve our stay in National Harbor, Maryland, the next time. (And I do believe there will be a next time!)
The Gaylord National Harbor Hotel and Resort overlooking the Potomac River. If you are like me, you are picturing Baltimore Harbor right now. Let's get this cleared right up: this is a completely different place. One we didn't even know existed! That is possibly because this area was developed just over a decade ago. National Harbor, Maryland, is a 300 acre waterfront development along the Potomac River. Busy town center The site has a convention center, six hotels, restaurants, shops, and condominiums.[13] National Harbor hosted Cirque du Soleil in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 and also features outdoor activities such as a culinary festival and outdoor concerts by military bands, an outdoor movie screen facing the river, an annual ice sculpture exhibition, and a Peeps Day with a Peeps eating contest. The national spelling bee competition is held there. The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, with 2,000 rooms, is the largest hotel between New Jersey and Florida, and the largest in the Washington area. The site includes a beachfront walking path Continue Reading
9 National Parks we visited free with our disability Access passes and where to get yours.
Path through the Rocky Mountain National Park A decade ago we took advantage of the National Parks Free Access program. We were making a family trip "out west" as we called it. There are two ways to get a Free National Park Access Pass: in person at a participating National Park or sending for it by mail. Current Access Card of 2019 First stop: Grand Canyon. Since the Grand Canyon is a participating site that issues the passes, we obtained ours right then and there. You can find a list of the parks that will issue your pass Here. Another option is to mail this application HERE *Note that if you mail your application you must include a $10 fee to cover the processing. The process for the Free Access Pass is relatively simple. First, be sure to bring a photo ID to prove American citizenship or permanent residency. And second, proof of a permanent disability that severely limits life activities. That seems a little vague, but I found a better explanation: Some examples of acceptable documentation include:Statement by a licensed Continue Reading
