Heaven on the beach!

It has been a solid week since we returned from our trip to Orcas Island and I must tell you I was a fabulous trip. The weather we perfect and sunny allowing for spectacular sunsets and starry sky's over the fire pit. Beach Haven is a wonderfully secluded gem that has had a loyal following for over 70 years. Families have literally been booking trips out to this rustic resort for decades, and I myself can say I my family will be joining those ranks (we booked for next year on our last day so we can say we will be back). While I have nothing but a glowing feeling toward this place I will say it is not for everyone. If you are addicted to your cellphone and the Internet, I am sorry to say it may not be for you (although you might just like to be unplugged from the web). Cell phone reception is spotty and most Internet providers do not have a data plan for out here. Also there are no televisions, you can bring one but I guarantee you you won't watch it. W

hat it lacks in cell reception it makes up for in the sheer tranquility of the area. So you can't play on Facebook. You can have a conversation with people over a fire pit, or game board.

Lets get to some specifics about the resort and the area. The accommodations we stayed in was the lodge (although they have a larger cabin that is accessible and sleeps 10). This was like renting a small house, there was three beds many couches and several tables that were tall enough to get your legs under if you are in a wheelchair. The doors were wide enough to get my 30 inch wheel through and there is a ramp entry way in the cabin that takes you into the kitchen via a covered porch. The cabin has an open floor plan and hardwood floors as is usual in a cabin built int he 40's were spacious and very accessible even thought the buildings are back to the 40s.

The staff are amazing, helpful, friendly, and what you want to find in a resort. Every question or suggestion for easy improvements were met with a warm smile and open minded curiosity. They went out of their way when I was trying to get specifics about the cabin measurements, and I continue to get great service from them even now when I had to call about a question I had. Best service I have ever had at a resort. They told us about a few places on island that we could get food, some places of interest that would be accessible with a little work from me and my family (adventurous is what they called it, and they were right). They even let us in on some local secrets (which I won't share because I don't want to be shunned).

Some concerns. If you are in a wheelchair the beach will be very difficult for you to navigate. It is a steep and pebble filled north west beach that isn't kind to the small casters of a standard chair. As always if you want to do it you can access the beach from an area near the larger cabin. I myself was perfectly happy sitting on the large deck (approximately 20 feet from the water) or hanging by the fire pit (same distance) star gazing. As my son discovered this wasn't Hawaii and the water here is cold. There are plenty of hard packed roads that go into the natural setting of the resort so you don't feel like you are missing anything. The town of Eastsound is an older town and do their best to give the disabled the ability to move around within reason. There are areas with no side walks so you may have to use the road.

 

Orcas Island offers a multitude of beauty to see, you just have to research it a little and you can probably find something you will want to do. I personally cannot wait to get back to the cabin onthe beach and roast some more hot dogs over the fire.

Even More Travel Bug Bites

After having such a wonderful trip to Disneyland with my wife and son, we decided that we couldn't wait until next year to have another travel adventure. We wanted to book a vacation a little closer to home and just a little bit more relaxing.

So we have booked a fall get away to the San Juan Islands of Washington State. My wife and a co worker were discussing family trips when she (the co worker) mentioned their annual trip to Orcas Island. Her children (who are now adults) have amazing memories going out every year and meeting up with newly made friends.  They stayed in very nice waterfront cabins that are completely cut off from the internet. This may scare some of you but there is an appeal to not being reachable by every website on the universe.

After some quick looking around we discovered that they have an accessible cabin that sleeps 10, and also an apartment attached to their lodge. Unlike most accessible rooms these are both waterfront. After contacting them on Friday asking them about the accessibility of the apartment (door width, is there a ramp, how wheelchair friendly are the grounds) and getting a reply on Easter Sunday (cheerful and full of major details including an offer to move some furniture and creating a make shift ramp),  we booked the apartment as we do not need room for ten. I will share what I find about the area in future posts but let me just say that I am very much looking forward to cooking some seafood, Riding my handcycle, taking some pictures, and hanging out in a beach chair watching my kid play in the cold water of the Puget Sound.

Not that I don't love my Disneyland vacation but it will be very nice to connect to nature again.

We Now Return. . . .

After a very long pause in my blogging status, I have returned to chat about accessible travel with a twist. While I was away I had some major life events happen. After several years we finalized our adoption of a beautiful baby boy. This led to me revamping my travels to kid friendly day trips, zoos, children's museums, and the like, that I didn't think would be that interesting. I needed to wrap my head around what this blog was going to become. I decided that I want to continue to focus on travels that are accessible, but also that are adult and family friendly. Now a year after my wife returned with our son we have decided to do a trip and teach our son the wonders of traveling. We are taking our boy to Hawaii.

We decided that we could all use a return to the beautiful island of Kauai. We have both been there before and really loved it. We started scouring the internet, talking to our travel agents, and talking to people who had stayed there before with kids. This is something new for us. We have always had to think about wheelchair friendly, but now we need kid friendly, and easy going too.

My wife who sparked this wonderful idea works with a woman who turned us onto the website Vacation Rental by Owners. It is a global network of home and condo owners who, as the website states, rent their properties out. We plugged in our requirements: wheelchair friendly (their term), kid friendly, and multi-room. There were many returns for our query. You have to be careful when going through them. You must know the measurements of your chair, what you are physically capable of doing, and most important look at the area. Figure out what is important to be around (i.e. grocery stores, resorts, beaches, or trails). Then start your search.

We were able to find several condos, and finally settled on a wheelchair friendly 3 bedroom home which sets us back a whole $175.00 per night. It is in a nice neighborhood, has a gas BBQ, beach toys and is 5 minutes from the beach. All for less than you can get a hotel in most cities.

We are less than 2 months from our trip and I will tell more soon about some very cool family friendly and accesssible tips as we find them.