The Lure of the Open Road

Virginia Tech University has been working with the National Federation of the Blind to develop a vehicle which can be driven by someone who is blind. From a prototype in 2009 to driving the Daytona Speedway in January of this year, it’s truly amazing to watch.

The Today Show did a feature this past weekend on the car and the driver, and if you didn’t know better, you’d swear the driver was not blind.

Here is a YouTube video that explains the technology behind the vehicle.



And here is an article that appeared in Collegiate Times

When Ashley finds out about this she will be pestering me to get her one!! She is my child who would love to jump in the car and go driving everywhere. She is also the one who would probably get a speeding ticket within the first week of driving.

But the child I want to convince to learn to drive is Ronnie. He’s not blind, but he believes that he cannot ever drive because of his spina bifida and the fact that he uses a wheelchair. I tell him all the time that there are special hand controls for cars, and he just signs, “silly, no there aren’t.”

So where does a person that needs to use hand controls for a car learn to drive? Perhaps if I could show him such a place, he would believe me. Confidence and belief in his abilities are not his strongest points, but I aim to change that!

Oh, and one more thought, how would a blind person get a driver’s license if they can’t pass the eye test given at DMV???

Where Am I?

I used to travel a lot for work and I always had recurring nightmares about being in a strange city, walking around, and getting horribly lost. Those nightmares would keep me from exploring some really fantastic places, and now I regret that. If only IPhones and IPads and such had been around then...

Google has announced two new apps, specifically targeted for people who are blind and who must find their way around a city. Think GPS for the walking crowd...

The apps are called WalkyTalky and Intersection Explorer.

WalkyTalky reads out not only the directions as you walk, but also the intersecting streets that you pass by. Not only will it help with your bearings, but it'll give you a greater understanding of the city—the next time someone mentions meeting on Maple Street, for example, you may well remember passing it previously.

Intersection Explorer isn't quite as useful, but I imagine it would help steel my nerves about my upcoming journey before even leaving the house. You can virtually walk through Google Maps, with the app reading out the directions of the proposed journey ahead.

It's great that someone was thinking about the Blind when these apps were developed, but honestly, I think everyone, disabled or not, could benefit.

Now let me go talk to the only two people in my house who have an Idevice - my two teenage sons - and see if they can download the apps!

Baltimore - Day 3

As day three of our long weekend dawned, we all slowly got up and enjoyed the free breakfast at the Homewood Suites hotel in which we spent the night. All you can eat, free breakfasts is great when you are traveling with three teenage boys!

We were all pretty worn out but decided to stop by Ikea on the way home. We had never been to Ikea, but I have heard so many good things that I was anxious to check it out. It didn’t disappoint!

I found about a 100 things that I loved, but only a few that I decided to buy. I did see some chairs that I like, but I will need to take the van back up there to get them. One of my favorite areas was their little food section. Lots of Swedish delicacies were available, and we stocked up on cookies, blueberry jam and pear soda.

After Ikea, we opted for lunch at Famous Dave’s Barbecue. The food was great but the facilities were not. The tables were so close together that it was almost impossible to get Ronnie’s wheelchair to our table. He finally decided to transfer to a regular chair and asked the waiter to store his wheelchair somewhere out of the way. That worked and we all enjoyed our last meal of the mini-vacation.



I enjoyed the trip tremendously but getting home was wonderful also. I was seriously in need of some Ashley-time, and although the hotel beds were great, they just couldn’t compare to my own bed.

Bedtime came early as did time to go to work the next morning. I am now looking forward to this coming long holiday weekend and a little more rest at home!

Baltimore - Day 2

Day two in Baltimore saw us checking out of the marvelous Hilton Hotel after one of the best buffet breakfasts I’ve ever seen (I don’t think I have ever had a better croissant in my life!) Oh, how I didn’t want to leave the air conditioning for the 100 + degrees of heat, but we did and headed to Camden yards for a tour. For a mere $9 per person, we and approximately 10 other people were lead through the bowels of the stadium, stopping to ooh and ahh over the press box, the party rooms, and the private boxes.







The boys got to sit in the dugout. We learned all the ins and outs of the stadium design. We heard how delicate the turf is and how water will seep right through it, thus keeping the need to cover the field during rain showers to a minimum. We saw the double decker warm up areas (I know there is a more technical name for this, but I forget what it is), and saw the turf farm area, a place where replacement grass grows to fix divots in the field.





We learned that ALL the seats in the stadium are power washed TWICE after each game. Do you know why? Because of all the peanut shells. Peanut shells, we were told, are the hardest things to clean up. It made me a little guilty about eating peanuts at the game later that day.

We saw the television studios and the miles and miles of HD cables. We learned that only special mud from a secret place in Georgia is used to rough up the baseballs, and we saw the World Series trophies that the Orioles had won.





The list just goes on and on, and now you may understand why $9 per person seems like a great deal, at least to people who are baseball-obsessed like my family.

After the tour, we had a few hours to kill, and did so by going to the Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. Rooms full of very old comic books – toys from the early 1900’s – TV shows like I Love Lucy and Howdy Doody – and of course, the newer things like Iron Man, Superman, and other super heroes. I love the museum – we had been there the year before also – but I always leave feeling a tad bit older because I recognize, and in some instances, even played with things similar to what is displayed in the their ‘old’ toy room.



After the museum, we stood in line waiting for the gates to Camden yard to open – just us and 40,000 of our closest friends. By the time we finally got to our seats, I think at least 15% of my body mass had melted from the heat. But not to worry, we quickly replenished with hots dogs, fries, ice cream, and lots and lots of beverages. We were also quite blessed to have our seats in the shade, even though shade when the temperature is 102 and the humidity is 98% doesn’t make a huge difference.

One really positive thing about Camden Yards is that they do not isolate people with disabilities. Our local baseball stadium, for example, has a disabled section. It is the only place wheelchairs can go. At Camden yards, the wheelchair seats are fully integrated with the regular seats. Kudos to the stadium designers for that!

The game was long but very good. The Nationals led for a while and then the Orioles made a comeback. There was enough action for fans of both teams. After the game, we made our way to the car and through the traffic and headed back to the Virginia side of the beltway battle.



Just as dark settled in, we checked into the Alexandria Homewood Suites, into a room that was the size of a small apartment, and just took it easy until bedtime. Day three had us heading home, but with a quick stop at Ikea first. More on that tomorrow….

Baltimore - Day 1

When we set off for Baltimore last week, I was curious to see what our travel experience was going to be like. Though we have traveled with Ashley and her wheelchair in the past, Ashley is capable of walking short distances. If we couldn’t find a curb cut, it wasn’t a big deal – Ashley could just stand up, step down the curb and then get back in her chair. But with Ronnie, there is no standing – it’s the chair all the time.

The first area we visited was Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The boys had their hearts set on having lunch at ESPN Zone, so you can imagine the disappointment when we arrived and discovered the restaurant was no longer there. We settled for Hard Rock Café.

The Hard Rock Café had little to offer a deaf teenager, but I think Ronnie was quite happy when he realized I was going to let him order an ice cream sundae for lunch! We finished lunch – I took the requisite tourist picture – and we headed out to the Inner Harbor.



The line at the aquarium was much too long to wait in considering the temperature was pushing 100 degrees, so we explored some shops and watched some high school dancers in the plaza. Locating the handicapped entrances to the buildings was a bit of a challenge, but once inside, we were always able to find an elevator.

We were even able to find Ronnie a pair of Converse shoes to use as pool shoes. Since he has no feeling in his legs, it’s very important to protect his feet when he swims. Otherwise they could get all scraped and cut without him even knowing it.



After lunch and a little exploring, we headed to our hotel to check in. It was a lovely Hilton right in the heart of Baltimore. It was contemporary and quite impressive, and the rooms that Chip had booked for us overlooked Camden Yards. But the most important thing about the rooms? The delicious air conditioning!!

After getting settled into the room, Corey and Ronnie decided to check out the pool. Imagine my surprise when I saw the lift at the end of the pool. Although we didn’t need it, I was impressed that the hotel folks had been aware and considerate enough to realize the need.



Here are a few pictures from the swimming experience:







After a good dinner in what we thought was a restaurant but what turned out to be more of a bar, we settled into the hotel rooms to await the start of the Baltimore Orioles/Washington Nationals baseball game. While we couldn’t see the whole field, we were able to watch the game simultaneously on TV.



I think the boys had a great time in their own room, and everyone was looking forward to actually going to the game the next day. More later…..

Friday and Saturday

FRIDAY:

Ashley's MRI went ok. She's been having these every 6 months for the past three years, and I hoped that over time she would get used to the hospital, the people, and the procedure. She seems to have done that to some degree.

The first couple of years, she was so anxious when we arrived at the hospital that she was given a medicine to relax her prior to the actual anesthesia. That worked well except for one thing. When she had that medicine in combination with the anesthesia, she was really, really slow at waking up. That scared me to death.

But the last time (prior to Friday's visit), she seemed relaxed enough to skip the first medication. We still have a bit of a struggle getting her onto the stretcher, but after the procedure, she woke up quickly and was ready to go home. She was almost back to her normal, happy self by the time we arrived home.

On Friday, the staff moved quickly, and we didn't have to wait long. Because of that, I decided to skip the first medication again. She was fine until she saw the stretcher. There was no way she was going to get on it.

I tried bribing her with the nurse's watch. I tried my sweet mommy voice. I tried my stern mommy voice. Those things were all a waste of time because Ashley was NOT going to get on the stretcher.

Keep in mind that Ashley is 15 years old and as strong as a WWF wrestler. Even though I tried to physically get her on the stretcher, it was a task that was doomed to failure. At that point, the anesthesiologist suggested we try a different kind of medication - Ketamine. He said it was a shot and would start to work in about 3 minutes. I agreed, and at exactly 3 minutes, Ashley got loopy. It still took the anesthesiologist holding her top half and Chip, my 19 year old son, holding her bottom half to get her on the stretcher, but finally she was there and nodding off.

I worried that she might have a tough time waking in the recovery room after the Ketamine. She woke up pretty quickly but she was loopy for almost the rest of the day. Like a drunken sailor....

Chip and I got her home and she spent the rest of the day on the couch. I'm not sure how I feel about the Ketamine though. I may have to do some research before agreeing to use it again. I really didn't like seeing Ashley so out of it for so long..

SATURDAY:

We couldn't have picked a worse day to go to Busch Gardens. I figured it was early enough in the season that it wouldn't be crowded yet. What I didn't take into account were the thousands of middle school music students from across Virginia who were there to do something musical....Not sure what, but really sure that it was super crowded.

Each school district had their students in matching teeshirts. I stopped counting the different colors of teeshirts the students were wearing, but it was like a giant rainbow had vomited all over the park.

Now I like middle school students, but I have decided that I only like them in small numbers - less than 100, for example. It was really difficult pushing two wheelchairs through the crowds, and the lines at all the rides were just too long to wait in. Add to that the 85 degree temperature, and our first visit of the season was a disaster.

We have season tickets, so we will be going back frequently. But, since this was Ronnie's first visit, he was not very happy. He wanted to stay and do more, and no amount of reassuring him that we would be back would work.

Hopefully he will forgive me, and maybe, just maybe, I will spring him from school early one day and we will go without the crowds!

Pulling the Plugs

I always wonder during a thunderstorm if the lightning is finally going to hit our house because we have so many electrical ‘things’. There are of course, the lights, the TVs, the video games, and the stereo. I’ve lost count of the computers we have – ones from school, my son’s computer for college, his computer for home, his ‘old’ computer that he has set up as a server in the house, my home computer, my work computer. And we can’t forget the cell phones and the IPods and the kitchen small appliances.

See, we probably do suck way more than the average amount of electricity. But all that is going to change for a week in December.

As a family Christmas gift this year, we are UNPLUGGING our life. We have rented a cabin in the mountains, a cabin with no TV, no computers, and no cell phone service. The cabin is on the edge of a forest, and we are hoping that our neighbors will be bears and deer, instead of garbage trucks in the morning and motorcycles in the night. We will go to bed when we feel like it – get up when we feel like it – go for hikes in the woods – walk beside the lake on a freezing winter morning. We will cook soups and stews and sit around in flannel while we eat it. My boys will learn to light a fire in the fireplace, and how to set it up to keep warm during the night.

We will play card games and board games and maybe, just maybe, will sit around and talk!

And….I will not be blogging for that week - the week between Christmas and New Years. My commitment to my blog has been to always write every Monday through Friday, and I have done that for three years now. I think it is high time for a vacation!

Don’t you?

Today I am thankful for the technology that delivers electricity to our home, and for the ability to shut it all off!

Harvesting

Saturday was cool and rainy but it was also the day we had scheduled to drive to Carter Mountain Orchard. The apples and pumpkins didn't care about the weather so we didn't either!

Carter Mountain is near Charlottesville, Virginia. It is a family tradition to drive up early in October and stock up on apples and hot apple doughnuts (my primary reason for wanting to go!). Although traffic was heavy in the Charlottesville area due to a University of Virginia football game that day, we arrived early at the orchard and beat most of the crowd.

We first made our way to the pumpkin patch, and Chip and Ashley did a fine job of surveying all the options before making the perfect selection. We then had to explore the colorful gourds and all the varieties of apples before purchasing our dozen warm apple doughnuts. We enjoyed them at a picnic table while listening to a live bluegrass band. The adults in the group even sampled some of the orchard's signature wines.

Finally, we loaded our purchases into the car and started the trip down the mountain. All in all, it was a wonderful start to yet another Autumn!




Today I am thankful for my down comforter. It was nice to snuggle under it last night.