Tag Archive for Amtrak

My Train Adventure Continues – Sunday

Amtrak Wheel Chair Lift

It has been a couple weeks since I last talked about my train trip to North Carolina.  Don’t worry, I didn’t get lost – LOL. If you remember the trip had been great up to the point where I left off.

I woke up Sunday morning thinking to myself, “What is today going to be like?” I got dressed and went to have breakfast before we got on the road for church.  At church I got a great feeling inside. I thought of something while at church.

You know how people of color have become part of society.  They are integrated (mostly) and do things with white people? Wile sitting in church I was watching the priest who was white and the deacon who was black standing side by side leading the assembly.

That is great, but my question is, where are people with disabilities? They are probably behind or across the room. Shouldn’t we ALL be side by side leading and doing things? No one should be behind or across the room!

After church we went back to the house to get my grandpa for brunch. We went to an Irish Pub in Downtown Raleigh where we had all you can eat brunch. Surprisingly I ate 3 or 4 omelets as well as other food. To my surprise the restaurant was setup well so that I could get my wheelchair around to everything. What a great experience and I sure was full afterwards.

We went back to the house where I watched TV and relaxed until my Aunt came back from her trip. We talked until about 8 pm and then we had to head to the train station so we could head back to Ocala. We chatted until the train showed up and ready to board us. I was again boarded on the train with a nifty lift. I got on train and settled in my seat and relaxed all the way to Jacksonville.

Stay tuned to hear about the final part of my train trip. Just like the train wheels squeaked as we motored along; keep squeaking because one day we will all stand side by side!!!

Shrine Rodeo Ocala

Joel Wiesner from What’s UP Ocala (whatsupocala.com) and I were at The 29th Annual Ocala Shrine Rodeo competition which was played to a sold out crowd at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion.

Opening the festivities, Commissioner Kathy Bryant sang a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem while the local Ocala Shrine Club members performed a flag presentation for the spectators.

The Ocala Shrine Club has been able to donate over one million dollars to hospitals over the past 29 years from the proceeds they have made from the rodeos. 100% of the proceeds go to the Shriners hospitals specializing in orthopedic, burn, spinal cord injuries, cleft lip and palate treatment for children under the age of 18.

Before the rodeo started while sitting in our awesome front row seats, I got to meet Joel’s mom and the photographer for What’s Up Ocala. I went down to one of the venders to get some food and water, right before the rodeo started.

The rodeo was awesome and I was treated like anyone else in the stands. There was bareback and saddle bronco riding, steer wrestling, team roping, tie down roping, barrel racing and bull riding. The crowd was also in for a treat with the special features of trick roping and dare-devil acrobatic horseback riding. There was also a funny clown to be more entertainment.

People with disabilities need to get out and do more things in the community like a rodeo and other events. Be sure to check out the great article and video here.

We should all be equal.  Keep squeaking your wheels until we are.

North Carolina Adventure Continues – Saturday

I woke up Saturday morning ready to take on the world!

I got dressed and went down by my aunt’s house for breakfast where I had to climb steps again. (What’s up with all these steps, my legs are killing me LOL) I ate breakfast and then we all sat down to talk for a little before my aunt left for her trip.

Then back to my grandpa’s house where I was staying and watch TV and talked until around noon.

Our stomachs were starting to scream at us for food so we hopped in the car and went to an awesome Lebanese restaurant. The restaurant was setup so nice where I could get my wheelchair down the isles. A lot of restaurants pack so many tables in that my wheelchair would never work.

After lunch back to the house to drop my grandpa off.

My dad and I then decided to go to our favorite coffee shop in NC called Aversboro Coffee. I went up to the counter and they treated me like any other customer. I ordered an awesome frozen Snickers shake and continued to talk with one of the owners.

I asked him to carry my stuff to the table where he happily took it. I said thank you and rolled up to the table where I got on my laptop to check my Facebook and MoonScapes Web Solutions fan page. Wow, I had tons of messages .I checked and responded to them while I finished my awesome shake.

My trip up to now has been awesome and I could not wait to see what Sunday had in store for me.

Stay tuned to hear more of the awesome adventure I had.

Get out there and live life.  Keep squeaking those wheels.