KANAWHA FALLS - West Virgina

DESCRIPTION:  Kanawha Falls is located in an unincorporated community in Fayette County West Virginia.  The Falls is on the Kanawha River, 2 miles south of Gauley Bridge.

The Falls are a mere 15 feet high, but very wide.

  

ACCESSIBILITY:  A walking path leads to the old mill that sits on the edge of the Fall. Handicap fishing is available directly off of the parking lot which is positioned in front of the Falls.

TYPE: 
            Tiered: Water drops in a series of distinct steps or falls.







 
 
DIRECTIONS:  The Falls are right along US60. Drive south on US 60 for 21 miles; one-mile past Gauley Bridge. The red Kanawha Falls sign is well marked on the left; however, during the "rainy" season, you may sidetracked by the  small waterfalls on the left of the road (driving south). Be aware, you may fly right by the parking lot to Kanawha Falls.

 

 

FALLING WATERS, OZARKS NATIONAL FOREST-ARKANSAS

DESCRIPTION: This beautiful little waterfall is conveniently located right next to the road, so you don't even have to get out of your car to see it. A narrow dirt path leads to a nice big pool that the falls spill into, and it is a popular swimming hole in the summer.

DIRECTIONS:  At the junction of Scenic 7 Byway and Ark. 16 at Pelsor, turn east on Ark. 16 to Ben Hur, then go south about 1.5 miles until you reach Forest Service Road 1205. Turn east on this road and remain on it for approximately 3 to 4 miles. You'll be following Falling Water Creek and will come upon the falls to your right. They are easily visible from your vehicle.

ACCESSIBILITY:  The falls can be seen from your car directly off the side of the road. A small pull-off area is available with a narrow dirt path leading to the pool that the falls spill into. Getting to the pool would be difficult without assistance.

WATERFALL TYPE: Plunge-descends vertically, losing contact with the bedrock surface.

GRAND FALLS - JOPLIN, MISSOURI

http://www.visitmo.com/grand-falls.aspx Grand Falls in Joplin Missouri is the largest continuously flowing waterfall in Missouri. Grand Falls normally plunges 25 feet over a ledge; however, the day of this photo session was a day after severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and flooding, hence the muddy waters and higher waters.

DIRECTIONS:  Off I-44, exit 6; south on Route 86 two blocks; west on Glendale Road 1.5 miles; south on Jackson across the low-water bridge; immediately west on Riverside Drive two miles; Grand Falls is on the right. 5400 S. Riverside Drive Joplin, MO 64804 Phone: 800-657-2534 Dawn-dusk. ACCESSIBILITY:  The waterfalls are directly off the side of the road.  There is a pull-off parking area that allows you to see the falls from your car or move closer over a gravel area.

BRIGGS WOODS COUNTY PARK - Webster City, Iowa

Briggs Woods Park is located at 2490 Briggs Woods Trail in Hamilton County, Iowa, two and one-half miles south of Webster City off of Highway 17. The park is 550 acres and is easily accessible by wheelchair, strollers, or bikes.  However, the path to the falls is a grassy steep path. I made it to the falls only by the strength of my husband. If you have a motorized wheelchair, you'll be good to go by yourself, otherwise, waterfall access is difficult. Highway 20 offers clear access to the east and west, while Interstate 35 is located about 12 miles east of highway 17.

FALL TYPE:  Briggs Woods Falls has three tiers cascading over rock formations.

McARTHUR-BURNEY FALLS STATE PARK - Burney, California

Over a million years ago, volcanic activity created Burney Falls and its landscape. 100 million gallons of water flow through Burney Falls everyday.

The 129-foot Burney Falls was named after Samuel Burney. McArthurs settled in the area in the late 1800s. Then descendants of the McArthur's saved the waterfalls and area from development and donated it to California state in 1920.

Address: McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, 24898 State Highway89, Burney, CA 96013 * (530) 335-2777

The upper falls overlook is directly off of the parking area. A short paved path leads to a stone wall that overlooks the massive waterfall.  There are two options to get to the bottom of the waterfall.  Option one is to take a paved curvy path that consists of steps and smooth walkways.  Option two is a 1.2 round trip smooth dirt hiking path that starts at Lake Britton.  It follows the lake and stream that leads from the falls. A wheelchair, stroller, or challenged walker can easily take this path to the lower falls.

MCCLOUD RIVER FALLS - McCloud, California

Indian tribes came to McCloud River Falls to fish for Rainbow Trout, hunt Elk, eat acorns, pine nuts, wild onions, wild plums, mushrooms, elderberries, make baskets from Native plant materials, and use plants for medicine, tools, clothes, and temporary houses

ACCESSIBILITY: McCloud River Falls consists of three impressive waterfalls: Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls. The Upper and Lower Falls are easily accessible by a paved walking path directly off of the parking area. The Lower Falls are within an earshot of the parking area. The Middle Falls are hard to find and are found along a rough trail. The overlook for the Upper Falls is only a few steps from the parking lot - just past the bathrooms and picnic area.


















DIRECTIONS: Use Highway 89 for 15 miles east of the I-5/89 junction and 5 miles east of McCloud and turn south on Road 40N44. (Look for a Fowlers Camp/McCloud Falls sign.) Go right at .6 mile (a left here takes you to overlooks of Middle Falls and Upper Falls) Continue another .7 mile past the campground and park at the picnic area at the Lower Falls. Follow your ears toward Lower Falls and the beginning of the trail.

Roads are not plowed during winter. For road and waterfall accessibility, call McCloud Ranger Station, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, P.O. Box 1620, McCloud, CA 96057; (530) 964-2184.

WITCHITA FALLS, TEXAS

The original Wichita Falls in Wichita Falls, Texas washed away in a flood in the 1800's; however, a 54-foot man-made waterfall was built in 1987 on the south bank of Wichita River. A concrete walkway leads to the falls, which makes the one-mile walk to the falls easily accessible by wheelchair, stroller, or bike.

Davis, Oklahoma - Turner Falls

Turner Falls, located in Davis, Oklahoma, is one of the two tallest waterfalls in Oklahoma. The 77-foot waterfall in the Arbukle Mountains; the oldest known formation in the United States. Parking is close to the falls; however, a concrete pathway about two blocks long leads visitors directly in front of the falls, which makes accessibility easy.

An abandoned rock castle built in the 1930's by Dr. Ellsworth Collins, Dean of Education at Oklahoma University sits beside the waterfall. It served as a summer home and the headquarters for "The Bar C Ranch".

Week Four

Today is the end of week four after my surgery to improve my blood flow in my jugular veins. Before my surgery, the doctor told me that the increased blood flow will alleviate my cold hands and feet. Also, my MS is affected by heat and cold. I completely melt (I'm unable to lift my body parts) in extreme heat, and shiver uncontrollably in the cold. The doctor said that my body is unable to sweat, which is the human's form of air conditioning. He said this will change after the surgery.

Boy was he right. I sweat like crazy, which is a good thing, because Oregon's dry desert heat used to incapacitate me to the point that I haven't been outside much during the summer months in years. My skin is so white, it glares on the eyes brightly. The glare makes it hard to see :-)

Muscle building still is not progressing as fast as I want. I'll hang in there though.

Today is week three...

Looking at my week from the outside in as a therapist, I can say things are fine; however, most of you know me as an athlete, and I still have that athlete mentality. Gaining strength should be easy and improvement should be quick. But, it's not going quite that quickly.

Walking is tiring! :-/ I not only have been in a wheelchair for the majority of six years, I've also had an ankle brace on my leg that supported my foot from dragging on the ground, which would make me trip and fall. I took the brace off on Saturday and haven't put it back on, even though, I really really wanted to, I didn't. I figured the only way to strengthen my ankle and calf muscle is to give them no support.

I started doing laps in my house. :-) I can do three full laps in 15 minutes with the walker. Bob did ten full laps in five. I'll get there.

ONE YEAR

It has been one year since Bob has been home from his 10 1/2 month hospital stay. My how time flies. The past year flew by faster than the year before. Bob had a one year checkup on Friday. His CT Scan shows no blood on the brain and no pressure. All of his blood work is normal. His blood pressure good. The doctor advised him to lose weight. Which Dr. hasn't? Anyway, if he loses weight, his blood pressure problem may go away. He is on a very small dose of blood pressure medicine, so exercise may correct that. I told Bob that he has no more excuses for not exercising or eating right or being forgetful. I still look back at what all of the medical professional said. Their doubts of Bob's recovery were "for the birds". I never doubted Bob's recovery for one minute. Call it denial or what you want, but Bob is here; that's what I know!

Coffee, the miracle liquid...

After Bob's stroke, his personality has become very mellow. He doesn't take any medications that slow him down. People are misinterpreting Bob's mellowness for not being "with" it.

Bob drank an entire pot of coffee before his stroke, but after his stroke he'd drink maybe one or two in the morning. I don't drink coffee, so I don't know the "real" effects that it has on the body. I can only observe the increased speed in the drinker's movements and speech. However, I believe it is a under-estimated drug. A friend of ours suggested giving Bob an entire pot of coffee again to see if that would wind Bob up. So, I did that very thing everyday this week. And, amazingly enough, it worked. Bob was thinking and talking normally. He wasn't as mellow.

Concrete vs. Abstract...

As I study to become a commodities broker, I'm finding that there are more details that will drive me insane, if nothing else. I'm finding that I'm a severely logical person. I am concrete. There is nothing abstract about my thinking whatsoever. I remember at one point in my college career, I took a personality survey. The result said I am a concrete sequential thinker. My guess would be that a commodities broker would not be on the list of potential careers for me. ;-)

Bob tries to explain things to me. He does a great job; however, trading is not a science, so any kind of explanation doesn't penetrate my logical brain. He just grins and says positively, "You'll get it."

Physically and mentally, Bob gets stronger everyday. When I look back at last Christmas, Bob is 300% better. He's such a miracle.

A liitle reminder of a few months ago...

Today was not a good day for Bob. I feel like he took a few months step back today. He sat in his wheelchair all day. He slept most of the day in his wheelchair. When he was awake, he wasn't "with it". He seemed confused about a lot of things. He didn't have very good bladder control, either. One time during the day, Bob got so angry that he showed a mean side of him that I've never seen before. Scary...

I watched him like a hawk. His behavior was making me nervous. He kept telling me things were fine. It was rainy and cloudy; maybe he had a little "blues"

Bob and I are alike in more ways...

As I read a national MS (Multiple Sclerosis) magazine today, I realized that Bob and I are "in the same boat" on some health issues. Bob had an attack on his brain, and MS attacks parts of the brain that prohibits signals to go to the muscles. For example, he has a neurological health problem and so do I. Sometimes, cognitively, our brains don't work well. Bob's is slow on memory, and my memory to come up with words sometimes doesn't work well either. My memory isn't as extensive as his, but it's similar.

We both get tired easily. At times, I'd like to contribute that to age, however, I'm not even 50 yet. I get tired, because I have to work so hard to get my muscles to move. Bob has to work hard too, because he laid for so long, and he has drop-foot, which requires him to lift his left leg higher when he walks.

Woo-hoo!!!...

I had the crap scared out of me today. Bob and I were going through our normal morning routine of, "Where do we live?" "What state do we live in?" "Where is that in the US?"... Usually, on the first question, Bob answers "Roseburg" after a long, digging deep in his brain pause. Then, I follow up with the remainder of the questions. This morning he answered, "Roseburg, 2147 SE Lois Drive, Roseburg, OR 97470." I asked him, "Where'd you come up with that?" (because he always needs coaxed to give the full addressed) He responded, "Well, that's where we live!"

Boy, did that moment feel so weird, but wonderful at the same time. Isn't it funny how memory fools the one with memory loss and the one who deals with another's memory loss.

Bob has another day of silence. I still have laryngitis. His hearing is being challenged now. So far so good.

Silence is golden sometimes...

I woke up this morning with laryngitis. My kids love it, but they miss me yelling. See, it's the small things that mean the most.

There was no yelling in the Lakes Trading office either. Anytime I felt my t mess up or he refused to do something, I couldn't raise my voice; it just squeaked. The only thing I could do was jut my bottom jaw/teeth out, wrinkle my brow, and give a little snarl.

I believe I had a "light bulb" moment. I think some of Bob's slow thinking problem has to do with self-confidence. He has been well aware of his lack of short-term memory. He doesn't want to answer questions or have many conversations for fear of being wrong. Maybe it's partially my fault for correcting him so many times. I've been answering for him for a year and a half. It's become a habit. I keep picturing myself as a little old bitty that won't let her husband stand up for himself. That's not a vision I want to portray.

A glimpse to reality...

Bob is recovering miraculously. He survived an event that most people don't live through to talk about. Funny thing is, Bob lived through it, but can't talk about it either. :-/

Even though I've portrayed things as being back to normal, let me give you some downsides. I keep saying Bob's memory is getting better each day. Well, it is; however, he can't remember to take his medicine each day; he doesn't remember where our bedroom is (most days); he doesn't remember where the bathroom is (he asks where it is just about every time.); he hasn't remembered our address, and he doesn't remember how to do basic tasks. I need to retrain him on how to do things; which is ok, I can train him how I want things done, and he doesn't question me or give me a suggestion on how to do the task differently. (I bet all the females reading this are jealous!) He calls Zachary "Joe or Isaac", and sometimes thinks my son is visiting for the weekend.

Bob doesn't remember most of our conversation, though, the conversations are educated and nice while they are going. Bob knows he doesn't remember. He tries so hard and is determined to remember; he just can't. It will come. I know it will. I haven't given up. You know me- Will I give up? No.

Challenge...

Who's up for a challenge? Our challenge is to just exercise on a continuous basis. Bob and I, once again, attempted the wii fit. This time we both made it to 10 minutes. That's four more minutes than the last time. This time we worked more towards a well-rounded workout. We incorporated aerobics, strength, and balance. You would never guess Bob had a musical background while he attempted aerobics. He got better as time went on. I guess that's part of the fun. :-)

We're getting fit! We have a long way to go, but we've put one foot forward.

Travels to Chicago...

Bob and I are in the middle of traveling from Oregon to Chicago. Going through the airport checkpoint was quite interesting. I've been through the process before; however, new regulations started yesterday.

This time I had to take my shoes off, and my belt. Now, can't they see that in order to take my belt off, I have to stand up, as well as have some sort of balance. They don't care. "Take it off!" We had to take coats off too.

Bob got away with not having to take his shoes off. I told them that he couldn't do that. It is way too difficult.

My wheelchair needed disassembled and checked for explosives. I could have told them I shipped my last supply by mail yesterday. :-)

Next time we fly, I'm going to go to the airport in my pjs and then get dressed before boarding the plane.