Beginning in July and officially ending in November of this year, the longest advocacy tour of Wheel Me On… covered seven states in the United States of America and six countries in the Southeastern Americas, but that's not all! Road wheels loaned us the ability to reach out to other states between New England and the State of Florida, a very interesting and provocative journey that provided knowledge of persons with disabilities (PWD) who have indeed increased tourism.

Granted, many properties and areas were not accessible to wheeler's who use mobility devices as a daily means of living, but we were relentless and overcame the obstacles! Sometimes, one just has to persevere instead of give up. In the USA all public accommodations must adhere to the Federal law under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and this includes older properties, so long as they are readily achievable and feasible, but the federal law does not necessarily include specific military properties and we were very pleased to discover much has changed within this perimeter as long as a person has a purpose and the proper credentials - the gates might open!

Our coordinator in Maryland oversaw the ability to see and visit several lighthouses. Then traveling through Maryland, I visited the Historic Ships of Baltimore - Military Ships of the past and now in present; waiting to share their secrets with tourists, automated lifts and ramps for PWD using wheels; getting up front and center to other vessels and the 7-foot Knoll Lighthouse, on my way out of the state.

Our coordinator for New England had six states waiting beginning in the State of Massachusetts and moving onward to Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and the State of Vermont, where time began to run out for a lighthouse search considering the distance, so we headed for a few "Covered Bridges" instead and while we sought "Covered Brides, many of you asked, "Why lighthouses?"

The answer quite simple, lighthouses provide history of our very beginnings; many were involved with early wars; still have forts, and continue to serve our maritime. Most important, they continue providing education whether you can climb the stairs to the observation deck or not and one of the most amazing sights is seeing other PWD visiting the lighthouses. New England, and probably other Northern States with lighthouses, may be difficult to visit given their opening and closing dates: Summertime is always the best time!

Closing out our program for "In Search of Lighthouses…", we headed to Florida for a cruise to visit six ports and adding another five to the eight countries of our list in the Americas with Antigua, Barbados, Eleuthera, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts, and another return to Saint Thomas, for a total of thirteen countries not including return visits. At every port of call, we saw an increased amount of PWD traveling with their wheels and learned tourism with PWD on wheels had tripled within less than the past couple of years proving advocacy is working!

In the weeks ahead, new web pages will share stories about Historic Military Vessels, In Search of Lighthouses 2010, and our extraordinary travel to "safe ports' within the Caribbean and Bermuda. Don't forget to use our search engine on the homepage for the Web and WMO - you will probably discover something you have not seen or known about!

Wheeling...

Julia Hollenbeck
President/CEO

Did you know the eagle knows when a storm is approaching, long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to a high spot, and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, the eagle sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up, lifting it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it. The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher, and rises on the winds that bring the storm. When the storms of life come upon us, we can also rise above them, and ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure, and disappointment in our lives. The storms do not have to overcome us. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down; it is how we handle those burdens, to soar above the storm.

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