Barrier Free Travels

May 29, 2006

An Innovative Solution

One of the great things about traveling around the world is that I get to see a wide variety of innovative access solutions. Some are good, while others are not quite ready for prime time. Fortunately this trip is filled with the former rather than the latter.

For example, yesterday while I was in Saranac Lake (NY), I found a great solution to the roll-in shower "flood the bathroom" problem. We’ve all seen it in action – you take a shower in a level threshold roll-in shower and open the shower curtain to find Lake Superior in the bathroom when you are done.

Most of the time it’s due to incorrect installation of the roll-in shower or improper grading of the bathroom floor. I should note that it is possible to grade the floor correctly because I’ve also seen excellent examples of "Continental showers", with nary a drainage problem. But I digress. The fact is that many of the "out of the box" pre-fab roll-in showers are just not installed correctly.

In any case, yesterday as I was doing a routine property inspection I happened across a great solution to this bothersome problem. At first glance it looked like the roll-in shower had about a 2-3 high inch lip. My stomach sank as I saw it, because although it would keep the water in, it would be a challenge for somebody in a shower chair. Apparently the manager saw the disappointment in my face, so he bent down and lifted out the whole lip section (which was also about 2-inches wide). "It’s removable," he said a matter-of-factly.

Now granted, some wheelchair-users might require assistance to remove the strip, but it’s fairly light and can also be lifted and replaced with a grabber. The point is, you can remove the lip, then roll into the shower and replace it for your shower. The result is that the water flows down the shower drain instead of out into the bathroom. What a great idea! And apparently it’s available "off the rack" in some pre-fab roll-in showers. Hopefully more manufacturers will follow this very accessible lead.

Oh, and the best part about all of this, is that I found this feature in a historic property. More and more folks are jumping on the access bandwagon these days. And that’s very good news!

Posted by Candy Harrington in Lodging at 10:24

May 26, 2006

Unexpected Layover

I often emphasize the importance of making contingency plans (I call it playing a healthy game of “what if?”) when you travel. After all, travel by it’s very nature is unpredictable, and being prepared for the unexpected comes in handy when the travel gods throw a wrench into your plans. Such was the case yesterday.

By all means it looked like a fairly easy travel day for us (which should have been our first clue –it’s the easy ones that can trip you up). Our plans were to fly from CA to Burlington, VT, with a connection in Chicago, then pick up our rental car and drive one mile to our hotel, kick back and get an early start on our drive to Lake Placid the next day. Well, things went awry in Chicago, when after our Burlington flight had been postponed by almost two hours, we sat on the runway for another three hours. Apparently there was some severe weather to the east of us and all eastbound departures were put on hold. There were about 30 or so other planes on the runway, waiting...and waiting. Then we got that dreaded announcement – the flight had been cancelled and we were returning to the terminal.

As I write this we are still in Chicago, but managed to get on a confirmed flight to Burlington via Boston today. We won’t arrive in Burlington till 8:30 PM and then we have to drive to Lake Placid. We will get there but it will be late. Others were not so lucky. Well, part of it was luck, but part of it was planning. We did have a back-up plan and came equipped with phone numbers and the resources to put that plan into action. And we gave ourselves an extra cushion day for travel since this is Memorial Day weekend.

In any case, this entry should be of high interest to those folks who tell me they only take three hours flights because that’s the longest they can go without using the bathroom. In most cases that is OK, but when you sit on the runway for three hours, then it becomes an issue.

So the moral of the story is, always have a back-up plan. You never know when you will need it!

Posted by Candy Harrington in Air Travel at 08:23

May 25, 2006

Off to the Adirondacks

Well I’m off to upstate NY and Vermont today for a little editorial research.

Thanks to the suggestion of a reader, I recently learned about John Dillon Park, which is specifically designed to accommodate wheelchair-users. Located in the heart of the Adirondacks this accessible recreation area features a small visitors center, docks, trails and a number of lean-tos (for overnight use) -- all of which are accessible. It’s not slated to officially open till next month, but I’ve arranged a special sneak peak so I can cover it for Emerging Horizons.

I’ve also found a number of other accessible lodgings and attractions in the area, so I expect it will be a very productive trip. I’ll keep you updated.

Posted by Candy Harrington in Recreation at 06:09

May 23, 2006

Tune in Today

If you are interested in learning a little bit more about accessible travel, tune in to KPFK (90.7 FM in the Los Angeles area) at 3 PM today. I will be a guest on Access Unlimited, a radio program which highlights news, events and issues of concern to the disabled community. Today’s topic is accessible travel. And they are devoting the entire hour to the subject.

And for those of you who don’t live in the Los Angeles area or can’t get to a radio at 3 PM, you can also listen to the archives on-line at www.kpfk.org.

Posted by Candy Harrington in Resources at 08:14

May 16, 2006

Raw Faith Returns

Thanks to the schooner captains in Rockland, Maine who e-mailed me to inform me that Raw Faith is up and running. They certainly do have quite a following up there!

For those of you not familiar with Raw Faith, it’s the brainchild of Captain George McKay whose goal was to be able to provide wheelchair-accessible tall ship sailing adventures to disabled children and their families. So he sold his house, solicited donations, founded Accessible Sailing Adventures and built Raw Faith.

Now granted, he did have a few technical setbacks, but such is the case with most entrepreneurs. But the great thing about Accessible Sailing Adventures is that everything is provided free to participants. And yes at times it really is an adventure -- you are out there on the open sea and it’s not a "controlled" environment. Things happen, And that’s exactly what some people like. They don’t want a safety net, they want a real adventure. And that’s what Raw Faith provides.

In any case, the Raw Faith crew does have a lot of work ahead of them, as more repairs are needed to their vessel in order to comply with Coast Guard regulations. But they seem a plucky bunch and I’m sure they will weather this storm just as they have weathered others.

So, for those of you interested in volunteering with Raw Faith, or if you just want more information on their progress and their mission, visit their website at www.RawFaith.org.

And I’m sure the maritime community up in Rockland will keep me updated on their progress. They really are a verbose bunch!

Posted by Candy Harrington in Resources at 11:39

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