I know I said I was going to post about my trip, but I seem to have a hard time putting it all into words. I am going to give you all some of the highlights of each section. I hope I can do it justice because this has been an amazing trip so far.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island was my first stop to attend a Paradox Mile Fundraiser at Rock Spot Climbing in South Kingstown. Fortunately Sandy was able to make it to this stop with me and unfortunately she couldn’t continue on. Work and life gets in the way sometimes. Without her though I couldn’t do what I am doing so I am very grateful for that.
Getting There
We had a day to travel the 4 hours to the hotel so that made it super easy to get there. The next day was the event but we got up early and headed into Newport to check out the historic mansions. We also had heard about the cliff walk trail and wanted to check that out too.
Newport Rhode Island
Newport is an absolutely breathtaking town with many gigantic homes from days gone by. There are tours you can take if you would like to pay but most of the homes are not all that accessible. That was not unexpected since they were built long before that ADA was ever conceived. We did enjoy walking along the streets taking pictures from the outside though and the weather was perfect. I just love history so seeing all of these homes and reading the history behind them was a definite highlight of the day.
Cliff Walk
After checking out some of the homes we ventured off to the Cliff Walk starting at Easton’s Beach. We had done some research so we knew that this end was the most accessible for the longest distance. The view of the ocean was spectacular and the trail was definitely doable from a wheelchair.Unfortunately all the mansions had hedges growing along the trail so it was tough to see. Of course I get it, who wants people staring at them all day. We eventually came to the point of the trail called 40 steps. This is a sort of monument area that actually has 40 steps leading down to the beach. Beyond this area is a bunch of stair cases with trail in between. We debated for awhile if we wanted to keep going and try that section before I finally approached a couple who had just come from that direction. The man told me that there was about 5 of those staircases before getting to the rocky section of the trail. With that information we decided to drive to the other end where I knew it was accessible for a little ways and try that part.
My Bad Decision at Cliff Walk
Well the accessible section was not all that long before we came to the infamous rock section. It consisted of probably a half mile of big rocks placed so that people could easily walk across. In a wheelchair however it was not so easy. I looked at it and contemplated the possibility of trying it for a good 10 minutes before I uttered those infamous words “It looks doable!” . I would live to regret that haha. Sandy being the supportive person she is went along for the ride, carrying my wheelchair across gaps too far to cross giving me a boost when the gap was passable, and standing and waiting for instruction when I came to a point that I wasn’t quite sure about. About two thirds of the way across I started realizing that this may have been a bad idea. I was getting overheated in the sun, dehydrated and generally feeling horrible. Of course I am two thirds of the way across so turning back didn’t make sense. For the rest of the rock section I uttered to myself you are an idiot, this was a bad idea, next time do not do this. You will see i didn’t stick to that in an upcoming blog haha.
Rescued By Sandy
Once we finally finished that section we made it to a place where the trail met a road and Sandy went on ahead to get the van while I rested. I figured out if I put my hands up above the fence around the mansion I was next to I could get a little breeze which helped immensely. I also realized I still had a presentation to give and was not feeling up to it.
As soon as Sandy showed up with the van we went straight back to the hotel so I could recuperate. I managed to start feeling ok again luckily.
Speaking at Rock Spot Climbing
After arriving at Rock Spot Climbing I met Heather Disantis and she showed me around the gym. It is a really cool gym in an old mill industrial area. They happened to be having a climbing competition that night. It was awesome to watch the young people push themselves climbing super hard grades up to 5.13. They have some amazing talent amongst their community. After the competition it was my turn to inspire people to push their limits and join the Paradox Mile Fundraiser. We had some technical difficulties with the sound when I tried to play my movie. It also turned out to be my fault. I checked one volume on my computer but not another. So much for that computer degree I have haha. I felt pretty stupid but we got it sorted out and the event was amazing. There were so many good questions after and I think nearly everyone signed up. If you would like to support the climbers and give them some monetary motivation while also helping Paradox Sports check out the link: Paradox Mile Rock Spot Climbing
Saying Goodbye
The next day was the toughest so far. I had to drop off Sandy so she could take the bus home to Maine. We got there about an hour early so we had some time to wait I think that may have made it tougher than just dropping her off. There have been so many times along this trip, I have thought I wish Sandy was here.
Stay tuned for more highlights from the road like someone trying to scam me out of money on Beale Street or my bad decision to drive across Nevada past Area 51!
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