I’m really good at this wheelchair thing

 

Before I start

I have been extremely poor with visiting your blogs. There is no excuse for this. You are just as busy, or more, than me. I am picking up my game in the time manage area and by doing so I will become a familiar face in your blogging world. I miss your world and I thank you for being a part of mine. As you can see, this has been bugging me. 

 

On with the show

Below is me hanging on for dear life on a London Subway. Oh the fun!!!!

I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I agreed to this trip but I knew I would have had major regrets had I stayed home. I had never traveled in a wheelchair before but sometimes you have to roll the dice and take a chance.

I knew I had made the right decision when I challenged a fellow tour member to a race. Never mind the fact that he had two strong legs, was a P.E. teacher and loved track. It was a downhill slope and I knew I had a shot.

Unfortunately for me my victory was short lived. He left me in the dust yards away from the finish line. True, I finished last, but I like to call it a solid second place. 

 

Cobblestones, Cobblestone, why do you torture me? 

I have a huge list of favorite towns in Europe. Unfortunately all of them are covered in some part with cobblestones.They were beautiful to the eyes and brutile to my chair, not to mention my back. But somehow I managed my way through even though I feared my chair and back would meet their doom.

Little kids were always a challenge. The last thing I wanted was to run over a foot or a toe, but the real challenge were the adults. Not the ones I traveled with but the strangers who passed me by.

Some of them wouldn’t move when I tried passing by in crowded areas while others stopped and stared as if I were an object instead of the real thing. Their stares would end once I smiled and said hello. It seemed that’s all it took to remind them I was real. 

Sidewalks were an unexpected challenge. An even street was clear sailing. Speed records shattered but give me an uneven one it was no telling where my chair would go. Hello streetlight!!!

 

Sometimes you just have to walk

Many of the towns did their best for people like me but in every town there was always a street that posed a challenge or a place where the only alternative was to walk. 

I have no doubt in the coming years these challenges will be erased. Store fronts will have ramps, restaurants will have elevators and Europeans who have to live in a wheelchair everyday will live a little easier. They are getting there.

For the most part my chair did a great job. Most of the people I met were helpful and kind. There is good in the world and trust me, I saw it. Sadly, as I look at my chair it is in dire need of a wash. I’m thinking pressure hose, but if I ever have to use it again I know it’ll be up for the challenge.

Can we say, Europe Part 2?