A long list of things happened yesterday. That’s why I am starting now to write about yesterday before I get to describing today. Yesterday was supposed to be just a trip up to Gatineau Park for pictures of the autumn colours and then a few little stops on the way back for things we needed along the way. It all depended upon the weather as to how the day would proceed.
At 6:00 AM yesterday, the sky was overcast and looking like it would rain. There would be no sense of going out on a rainy day for pictures. Instead, I wound up going to the local spa for a seventy dollar session. Ha! Nothing like spoiling myself when all else fails to materialize as we had planned.
By about noon, we were finished at the spa and headed out around the countryside because the weather had improved significantly. The destination eventually became Mer Bleu Bogs, a local hiking park that preserved a large area of land with glacial history. We drove around for an hour before landing at the park.
Mer Bleu features hiking trails that start off with loose gravel walkways and then proceeded across the bogs on elevated plank walkways. I had trouble moving around on my two hundred and fifty pound electric wheelchair because the gravel walkways were simply too rough to travel on. I saw a little trail leading off into the wooded area that came out at the central picnic gazebo.
At first the little trail was smooth with a cushioning layer of fallen leaves. I rolled along on my electric wheelchair, easily avoiding the partially hidden tree roots that lay across the path above the ground level. There were only a few obstacles that the electric wheelchair couldn’t cross over on the easily negotiable ten foot wide walking trail.
We went through the high land area of the park and enjoyed the scenic autumn setting. We even went down a long slope to the level of the elevated wooden plank walkways. I went a short distance before I had enough bumps and stopped. We turned around and made our way back to the grand gazebo to rest.
So far the photography expedition was going as well as we could have expected. The digital camera battery was nearly depleted and we had seen a considerable vista of wonderful autumn colours. We were happy and carefree, tired and chilled by the cool air of the partially cloudy day.
At about 2:30 PM we decided to return home. I wanted to avoid the gravel walkway back to the parking lot and the wheelchair capable van. The leaf covered walking trail was a bit longer distance wise, but it was so much smoother for my ride on the electric wheelchair. We started off on the hiking trail, stopping occasionally to take select pictures. About half way along the hiking trail I decided to go a little faster.
I was going along at about my best speed on the hiking trail. I could easily avoid rougher looking parts of the ground where exposed tree roots were evident. I have to admit that my mind was occupied mostly with viewing the vividly coloured flora surrounding the hiking trail rather than watching for obstacles that the electric wheelchair would not negotiate.
One moment I was going along at a good clip and then the next moment was whacked by the sound of metal hitting wood with considerable force. The electric wheelchair stopped dead on the hiking trail while my momentum carried me forward on my loose seat cushion until I came up against the electric wheelchair’s left control arm. My left arm took the energy of my momentum which in turn bent the left control arm support.
I sat for a few moments in shock. I knew I had hit something with the electric wheelchair, but I hadn’t expected such a violent stop. The next thing I began to think about was to back up away from what had stopped me. The electric wheelchair was way out of it’s usual position and I had to stretch to reach the little control knob. I straightened out the control arm and backed the electric wheelchair away from the solid obstacle I had hit.
It was only after I backed away from the solid object that I could see a small tree stump about four inches in diameter and rising up above the fallen leaves on the hiking trail about three inches. The little tree stump was difficult to see, partially hidden by a covering of fallen leaves. I could see that the little tree stump was not damaged by the impact of the electric wheelchair. And I presumed that the electric wheelchair had also survived the accident without damage.
I had backed up a short distance without any trouble. So, I turned the electric wheelchair and started off again, this time in a circle around the solid little tree stump. I didn’t go very far before I realized that there was something very wrong. Something was dragging on the ground so that it was very difficult to move the electric wheelchair.
The initial surveying for damage to the electric wheelchair involved tipping it over enough to see what was wrong underneath. A bundle of dirt, leaves, and twigs had jammed up against the low frame of the electric wheelchair. I wiggled the jammed debris away from the bottom of the electric wheelchair and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But, something had moved or dropped down significantly enough to drag on the ground.
We didn’t quite know what was actually wrong as a result of the little tree stump accident. We simply kept going a short distance before we would clear away collected debris from under the electric wheelchair. We were plowing a trail of our own through the fallen leaves and into the ground about an inch deep and about ten inches wide.
It took over half an hour for us to work our way along the hiking trail back to the van in the parking lot. We left a clear strip plowed into the ground all along the way to mark where we went. I was grateful that the electric wheelchair could move at all under it’s own power. It would have been almost impossible for us to move the electric wheelchair without it’s own power of movement.
The drive from Mer Bleu bogs was depressed and quiet. There was no way of knowing what damage had been done or of how much the repair cost would be. I couldn’t consider being without the electric wheelchair about as much as I could consider paying for any major repair bill. I resolved myself to go to the repair depot and see about what could be arranged for what was wrong with the electric wheelchair.
Our arrival at the repair depot was insignificant enough. We were in a parking lot that had a number of wheelchair capable vehicles of all sizes and a half full lot of parked cars. Soon, we were directed to go to the side loading entrance where we were met by two service technicians. It took the combined efforts of three men to move the electric wheelchair inside to the repair shop.
I sat quietly inside the van while comforting heat dissipated. About fifteen minutes later, Peter zipped out of the repair depot on the electric wheelchair. He was smiling ear to ear while he loaded the electric wheelchair and hooked up the anchoring straps to it. Peter talked all the while, telling me quite a story about what had happened.
The service technicians had looked at the old style electric wheelchair and couldn’t believe the condition it was in. Whatever had happened to reduce the old electric wheelchair to it’s present state of disrepair. The two service technicians were trained that old electric wheelchairs should be treated with hesitant care because they were known to become brittle with age and easily damaged. New style electric wheelchairs on the other hand, were almost indestructible and could survive significant amounts of abuse.
Peter told the amazing story of what had happened to the electric wheelchair at Mer Bleu Bogs. The two service technicians worked away at dismantling the old electric wheelchair. Quickly the problem was discovered and the old electric wheelchair was reassembled. It took longer to clean up the shovelful of dirt, leaves, and twigs than it did to put the old electric wheelchair back together.
The lead service technician talked as he worked, teaching Peter about what there was to know about the construction of the old electric wheelchair. The service technicians had never seen any electric wheelchair in such a condition before. All of the components simply clipped together and despite the woefully apparent condition, there was no damage done.
The two service technicians had been amazed at the sight of the old electric wheelchair as much as Peter was amazed at the assembling of the electric wheelchair. Peter told a complete story of what had happened to cause the condition of the electric wheelchair and the two service technicians verified the story by reassembling the electric wheelchair and cleaning up the mess it had created.
The electric wheelchair was repaired and the mess was cleaned up when it was time to talk about the cost of the repair. The lead technician had never seen an electric wheelchair in such condition or heard such a story about it. In deference to payment, the lead service technician remarked, “Oh, just get out of here before I change my mind.” Peter was quick to take up the que and departed in haste.
Peter told me what had gone on inside the repair depot as he loaded the electric wheelchair into the van. I laughed to hear what he said. He laughed while telling the story. As soon as the electric wheelchair was loaded and the anchor straps were hooked into place, Peter took hos place and we left in great haste. The big blue van roared down the street and we were on our way home.
