swalker
Very helpful member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2014
- Messages
- 1,576
- Reason
- DX MND
- Diagnosis
- 07/2014
- Country
- US
- State
- CO
- City
- Vail
We have been back from our spring trip to Yellowstone for a few weeks and I am finally getting around to writing a trip report to share with you some of the adventures we had.
I will break this story up into several posts in this thread. There is simply too much to report to put it all into one post.
Unfortunately, the storage on my cell phone became corrupted and I lost all the pictures I took with the phone during the trip. I do have some pictures I took with my main camera and will attach a few of those.
The trip was wonderful. We camped at the Madison campground in Yellowstone National Park for 29 nights. We were in our trailer, which we have now had for 20 months. It still feels new to me and I am still learning about the ins and outs of trailer maintenance.
We travel with two vehicles. I drove an SUV towing the trailer and my wife drove the wheelchair van hauling two wheelchairs and our cat.
We left in the midst of a high wind warning. We broke the drive up into two relatively short days and the wind was howling for both days. The drive was an adventure all by itself. I was really glad when we finally pulled into the campground. I slept until about 2 the next day.
We were able to spend quite a bit of time in the Upper Geyser Basin and met up with numerous geyser gazers we have become friends with over the years. The thermal activity was a bit different this year, which was very interesting to observe.
On our second day in the park, we arrived at the Upper Geyser Basin just as the indicator geyser for Beehive geyser started going. Beehive is one of my favorite geysers. So, I unloaded the wheelchair and raced over to watch it. I kept a close eye on the wind to make sure my wheelchair would not get hit by the geyser's spray. Unfortunately, just as the geyser erupted the wind shifted and the wheelchair and I got it.
I thought all was OK with the wheelchair, but an hour later it started acting up. I carefully made my way along the one-mile path back to the car. I called NuMotion and they called Permobil. After an hour of conversation, they all agreed that the only course of action was to let the controls dry out and hope for the best.
By the time the wheelchair was in the van, it completely stopped working.
We returned to the campsite and fired up the generator so I could use my wife's hair dryer to try and dry out the controls. We spent the next 2 days with the wheelchair in the van driving around the park with the heat on high. After 3 days, the wheelchair returned to normal operation. Whew!
During this period, the weather was pretty bad. We had persistent rain with temperatures below freezing every night. We had a pretty substantial snow as well. Most of the roads in the park were closed due to weather at some times, but we still managed to see a lot.
One of the main roads was closed for our first 2 weeks (as expected) because they had not yet finished plowing it. Another major road was closed for the first 2 weeks due to an unexpected repair. Another major road was closed due to the snow storm. The final major road had 30 minute closures due to construction.
Once the wheelchair was operational, we decided to spend a long day in the Upper Geyser Basin. That kind of day usually has me going about 15 miles in the wheelchair. I had noticed before the trip that the wheelchair range was starting to be diminished, but did not think it would be an issue on the trip.
Unfortunately, I was wrong! On that day I went about 10 miles and the wheelchair charge was at an alarmingly low state. I barely (and I do mean barely) made it back to the van. The battery lasted 11 miles.
By the end of our Yellowstone trip, a full battery charge would only last 8 miles. I am now in the process or getting a new set of batteries.
I think that is enough for now. I tried to attach some pictures, but that failed. I have reported the failure and hopefully will be able to post some in the future.
Steve
I will break this story up into several posts in this thread. There is simply too much to report to put it all into one post.
Unfortunately, the storage on my cell phone became corrupted and I lost all the pictures I took with the phone during the trip. I do have some pictures I took with my main camera and will attach a few of those.
The trip was wonderful. We camped at the Madison campground in Yellowstone National Park for 29 nights. We were in our trailer, which we have now had for 20 months. It still feels new to me and I am still learning about the ins and outs of trailer maintenance.
We travel with two vehicles. I drove an SUV towing the trailer and my wife drove the wheelchair van hauling two wheelchairs and our cat.
We left in the midst of a high wind warning. We broke the drive up into two relatively short days and the wind was howling for both days. The drive was an adventure all by itself. I was really glad when we finally pulled into the campground. I slept until about 2 the next day.
We were able to spend quite a bit of time in the Upper Geyser Basin and met up with numerous geyser gazers we have become friends with over the years. The thermal activity was a bit different this year, which was very interesting to observe.
On our second day in the park, we arrived at the Upper Geyser Basin just as the indicator geyser for Beehive geyser started going. Beehive is one of my favorite geysers. So, I unloaded the wheelchair and raced over to watch it. I kept a close eye on the wind to make sure my wheelchair would not get hit by the geyser's spray. Unfortunately, just as the geyser erupted the wind shifted and the wheelchair and I got it.
I thought all was OK with the wheelchair, but an hour later it started acting up. I carefully made my way along the one-mile path back to the car. I called NuMotion and they called Permobil. After an hour of conversation, they all agreed that the only course of action was to let the controls dry out and hope for the best.
By the time the wheelchair was in the van, it completely stopped working.
We returned to the campsite and fired up the generator so I could use my wife's hair dryer to try and dry out the controls. We spent the next 2 days with the wheelchair in the van driving around the park with the heat on high. After 3 days, the wheelchair returned to normal operation. Whew!
During this period, the weather was pretty bad. We had persistent rain with temperatures below freezing every night. We had a pretty substantial snow as well. Most of the roads in the park were closed due to weather at some times, but we still managed to see a lot.
One of the main roads was closed for our first 2 weeks (as expected) because they had not yet finished plowing it. Another major road was closed for the first 2 weeks due to an unexpected repair. Another major road was closed due to the snow storm. The final major road had 30 minute closures due to construction.
Once the wheelchair was operational, we decided to spend a long day in the Upper Geyser Basin. That kind of day usually has me going about 15 miles in the wheelchair. I had noticed before the trip that the wheelchair range was starting to be diminished, but did not think it would be an issue on the trip.
Unfortunately, I was wrong! On that day I went about 10 miles and the wheelchair charge was at an alarmingly low state. I barely (and I do mean barely) made it back to the van. The battery lasted 11 miles.
By the end of our Yellowstone trip, a full battery charge would only last 8 miles. I am now in the process or getting a new set of batteries.
I think that is enough for now. I tried to attach some pictures, but that failed. I have reported the failure and hopefully will be able to post some in the future.
Steve