Beyond the Wheelchair: Discovering Manzanita with a Track Chair

Today we spent the afternoon at Manzanita where I had the opportunity to use another track chair.

They are referred to as “A tank with a chair on top, literally”. It was another new experience. This chair was not a Stander but it was a beast.

We picked it up at the Manzanita Visitors Center and had it for a couple of hours.

We headed down a kinda steep hill in soft sand but it was no problem. We traveled south down the beach with the wind, which was fairly strong, at our backs. Glad we brought sweatshirts.

We spent about 45 minutes going down the beach. The battery charge was a little over half, so we decided to head back. This return was against the wind, the very cold wind. About 2/3 of the way back, I became worried. I started to think the batteries didn’t have enough charge. Would we make it all the way back? I didn’t factor in the headwind.

We reached the exit point. Then, we chose to exit the beach on the ramp across from where we entered. I really didn’t think it was going to have the juice to make it up the hill. The controls showed the battery was nearly empty. It also periodically flashed a warning icon.

I made it up the hill but realized there was about a 1 foot drop off. I veered to the side and went down the bank instead. That was when I realized my mind was thinking wheelchair and not tank. IT WAS A TANK. I reclined the seat slightly. This compensated for the hill. I then plowed on down like I was in a tank. SO COOL! I managed to make it the 2 blocks back to the Visitors Center to return it. So Very Cool.

DavidsChair.org is an amazing organization and I am so thankful for the service they give. It has taken going to the beach for me to another level. What a great day.

I have another one reserved in 2 weeks at Netarts.