Medford Leas: Out and About: Test Drive

I'ts a long story; this is the short version, followed by photos.

Sally, who uses an electric wheelchair, asked for a Nature Walk for people like herself, one where scooters and wheelchairs could be used. Okay. So o I scouted the route on Wednesday, March 28. My planned route would avoid the two trees that were so close together that a scooter cannot pass. I took photos, some of them are shown below.

Having planned a workable route, I was confident that today's test drive would go well. It did start well. Up the macadam path, past the sculptures and the bat house. The cherry trees were no longer in full bloom but the tea crab apples were. Cathedral Trail was great. But then, somehow, we were at the two trees too close together. Oh oh!, I did something wrong! Okay, we'll just cut across the grass toward the road. Everything was going well -- until -- I had the bright idea of taking a photo of Sally up close to the beehives. Very bad idea. No problem getting there, but... after the photo shoot the wheelchair was stuck. Really stuck. It had sunk down into the pine needles and the wheels would spin like a car stuck on snow. After about 10 minutes of struggle -- trying to lift, trying to put sticks under the wheels to get traction, Sally was ready to call for help. But not me. Sally patiently waited while I continued to try one thing and then another (here's where the story could very get long). Finally reason prevailed -- at least one of us was reasonable. Sally phoned the desk, explained our situation and location, and within a few minutes Wolosin and his sidekick were there. Jim picked up the extremely heavy wheelchair; he moved it around and we were free! I should have taken pictures of that . It was HEAVY!

Fearlessly (or foolishly), I intend to revisit the route. Plan it again and have another test drive, this time with a resident driving a scooter. Sally thinks I should also bring along a strong man who can lift.