mt. rainier and a few upcomings...

 

 

So, yesterday was Labor Day...no therapies due to the holiday.

Ben and I had looked at weather the day before and saw that it was to be nice and decided that we would head up to Mt. Rainier before the bad weather hit up there! Ben had not been up there since the accident and before then it had been some time because we were living in GA.

I had also looked up Sunday afternoon for some cabins but I should have known that they would all be booked due to the three day holiday! After thinking about this adventure a bit and fully knowing that there might be hills involved, if there were even any accessible trails for a wheelchair, I text one of my sisters Monday morning and asked if she wanted to join! Of course I asked them for just more then an extra set of hands! She and her kids were game because they were literally going to do labor at home and do chores! We had a good excuse to get them out of that, let's get Ben to Mt. Rainier!

 

We took off early afternoon because she said they did want to get a few things done and Ben and I needed a few extra minutes to get ready! She picked us up and we were off!

We drove all the way up to Paradise! Pretty much the highest point you can drive up to. We went into the Inn and asked what the best trails for a wheelchair were. The lady pointed to a trail head right close to where we were parked and said follow the signs to Myrtle Falls. She said it was a perfect lil trail that was paved and had a few (hand motions were lil ups and downs to form slopes) lil ups and downs. Well we started off...on an incline! I am so glad I didn't do a workout that morning because I def got it pushing! These were no lil hills...they were INCLINES and almost all uphill with hills in between! My sister and I took turns and at most points had to do it together! Of course in stead of offering to help people just laughed with us as we pushed Ben up and our bodies were pretty much parallel to the ground! It didn't help that we were laughing because it made it worse. Oh note to y'all who don't have to push people in wheelchairs...PLEASE don't walk right in front of the person being pushed and PLEASE don't stop directly in front of us...especially on a hill!! We asked Ben along the way, which clearly we shouldn't have, and his response was, "I am great because you guys are doing all the work!" Of course that was followed by, "if I could walk this on my own you know I would!"

 

We got to the top, at Myrtle Falls and it was definetley worth it! It was a beautiful view of the mountain, water, flowers and valleys! God's amazing creation! I looked at that mountain and was just amazed that Ben had climbed and peaked it 2 times before! When you look at it your like oh that doesn't look to bad of a climb but when you LOOK at it you say there is no way! But to know my man did it 3 times and wanted many more was amazing in itself!

 

We hung up there for a bit and met a great couple from England who now live in Seattle. The were older then us and had pushed their dad up in a wheelchair. I figured if they could do it us young (yes were still young) bucks could do it as well. We took each other photos and got to chatting a bit. The lady had a spinal cord injury and she never thought that she could make it. It took alot for her and she avoided some stairs because of balance issues but she made it. Ben shared a little of his story and they were able to encourage each other. It was a cool moment!

 

Going down this trail we were on! Ha, I truly wished we had taken video of it all! We had to be a sorry sight for sure! On the say down my sister and I literally each had one hand on the handle and the other holding on to the back of the seat. We were in the sitting position and literally pulling ben back as we tried not to run down the hill from his chair and weight pulling us down! People did actually ask if we needed help then...again, a sight for sore eyes! Ha!

 

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon! Of course we hit alot of traffic on the way home but we survived that and made it home safely! Ben especially was a happy man, I am sure it was the fresh mountain air that helped!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The upcomings...

 

So, we have alot coming up and I am sure that there will be things that I will forget to list! Bear with me!

 

1. We are going to San Diego in the next few weeks! Ben got accepted into a VA sports camp that they offer every year! They do kyacking, sailing, biking, track, surfing...and whatever else they are going to offer! It will be a jam packed schedule of sports and fun! It will be our first adventure flying on our own but thankfully it is a short flight and so it should be fine! We are super excited for this adventure!

 

2. Ben has his first official orthodontist appointment tomorrow. They will be checking out his teeth, taking impressions and hopefully getting a good treatment plan in line. We are praying that it will only entail one surgery in this process but there might be two. Prayerfully we will get the answers we need...but we are dealing with the Army here! :)

 

3. Towards the end of the month I get to go with my mom and sisters on a lil weekend (much deserved for all of us) trip. It will be tons of fun for all of us! Ben will be hanging out with his nurse and dad...good time for them to get alot of football in!

 

4. October will be a bittersweet month for us. That month Ben will transition out of the Army. He has now been in for a lil over 13 years and has served his country well. We are praying for a smooth transition but there is alot that needs to happen. We have some amazing people working with us and that has been a huge blessing.

 

5. During the time of Bens transition we will be meeting with new docs and new people we will be working on from then on out. I have a long list of questions, referrals, needs and so on that I have to present to them! Ha, watch out! Hey, it's all for Ben and I will fight for him to get the best! Please be praying that all of this goes well...

 

6. October 27th marks our 5th wedding anniversary! I cannot believe it will be 5 years! Anyways we are trying to decide what we might do to make it special...we shall see!

 

7. Towards the beginning of November we will be heading down to Texas! Ben has been asked by his good buddy to be his best man and his finace has asked me to be her bridesmaid! We are so honored that we can be there for them! We will be in southern texas on the beach! Super excited about this!

 

8. The end of November we will be having a retirement ceremony/party for Ben. We are having to wait a little longer for Ranger reasons. More planning!

 

That is all I can think of right now! So, as you can see there is alot of planning, doing, task lists, issues to solve, things to do, travel arrangements to be made, things to check off the list(s), and so many other things...this of course doesn't include the things that we have going on a daily basis and things that I just have to do around the house and get things done! Lord help me! :)

 

We will for sure keep you updated on these things. Im not giving out dates for safety reasons but of course I will be taking hundreds of photos of the things that were doing!!