April 2026
by Mira Hudson
We traveled from Oregon to Florida and got to experience the warm, tropical side of the U.S. One of the highlights was visiting the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where we got to feed a tortoise, watch dolphins play, and even feed a parrot.
We also spent time swimming every day and enjoying the sunshine, which was a nice break from the cold back home. Overall, it was a great trip and a fun change of scenery.
I think the most memorable part was just being able to explore, be warm, go swimming, and really check out what Florida looks like because I’ve never been!
This adventure gave me a chance to step away from my normal routine and experience something completely different.
It reminded me how much a change in environment can impact your mood and energy. Being somewhere warm, active, and outdoors made a noticeable difference. It really uplifted my winter Blues!
I think my favorite part was the aquarium! I loved getting to feed tortoises as I have grown up loving turtles and tortoises and how cute they are.!
There were a couple accessibility challenges that we faced. It seemed that our ADA room thought everything needed to be very low.
So, our bed was low and our toilet was low. We were able to fix it because Emily sent us a toilet riser within minutes of me reaching out. The bed was too low, but we were able to stack another mattress on top of it to make it accessible to me.
Good thing is I was able to get in and out of most cars decently easily with the help of my friend. And my foldable wheelchair fit in the back of all the cars. I was not able to go on the beach because they were out of beach wheelchairs in a very highly populated tourist area. They only had 2 that were rentable, so that was a bummer. But we made do and I still got to see the beach even if I didn’t get to lay on it. For the most part, everywhere in Florida that we went was accessible and we didn’t have many issues with me not being able to go in places because there was elevators and Decent sidewalks.
I really appreciate you guys and letting me go on this adventure. It brought me so much joy.
