From Georgia...
Ok, Here goes... Angeli and I made our trip into the Chicago Loop on Tuesday. We had a short distance over rough sidewalks to get to the EL. We were lucky that this El stop was equipped with an elevator for us to ascend to the boarding dock. The attendant made it as comfortable as possible for us to board. She even let me ride for free and arranged for a board for me to scoot onto the train. This train was not too busy so all went well. Because there was no elevator where we wanted to exit, we traveled to the next exit.
There we were...in the Loop, people everywhere, busy sidewalks. I had to be real precise with my acceleration and deceleration to make sure I didn't run into anyone.
We went first to the Millennium Park. There was a really neat interactive fountain where the water ran over two tall structures and came cascading over the heads of all those who took part. Next Angeli showed me the amphitheater where she will graduate next May from the Art Institute on Chicago. Then we went to the "Bean". It was fun to watch our reflections from different angles.
The real purpose of the trip was to go to the Art Museum. We ascended a really long, sloped bridge. I was fully prepared to turn around and find another entrance, but guess what? Me and Scoot made it all the way. They let me and my TravelScoot in. There I was scooting along among Renoir, Manet, and even Monet. It was wonderful. I had two "incidents" where I cut the corner too close and hit the corners of display cases. Angeli shrunk into the ground. I gave a sheepish grin. Nothing was damaged except my ego. Time was catching up on us, so out tour was brief.
We made our way back to the El stopping at Starbucks for a drink and to cool off. It was time for people to be leaving work and there was lots of traffic.. Angeli decided that since it was so busy that she would lift scoot into the train. She pushed her way into the train and gave me a good position to scoot off when we arrived at our El stop.
This is where the real problems surfaced. The elevator on this side of the tracks was out of order. here was a long two story set of steps to get to the lower level. At the bottom of the steps was a huge alligator turnstyle. No Scoot here. Our only option. We took off the batteries for me to carry down the steps. Angeli carried Scoot up two flights and over the tracks just to find another broken elevator. Finally she found one that worked.
At the end of this journey my daughter was exhausted and I was in tears because my legs and back hurt. I don't think I will attempt the El again. Despite the final problems, it was still difficult because of the people.
I WILL go to the Loop again. It was great to be able to see what before I had only heard about. Scoot and I conquered my walking problems and allowed me to be free.
Ok, Here goes... Angeli and I made our trip into the Chicago Loop on Tuesday. We had a short distance over rough sidewalks to get to the EL. We were lucky that this El stop was equipped with an elevator for us to ascend to the boarding dock. The attendant made it as comfortable as possible for us to board. She even let me ride for free and arranged for a board for me to scoot onto the train. This train was not too busy so all went well. Because there was no elevator where we wanted to exit, we traveled to the next exit.
There we were...in the Loop, people everywhere, busy sidewalks. I had to be real precise with my acceleration and deceleration to make sure I didn't run into anyone.
We went first to the Millennium Park. There was a really neat interactive fountain where the water ran over two tall structures and came cascading over the heads of all those who took part. Next Angeli showed me the amphitheater where she will graduate next May from the Art Institute on Chicago. Then we went to the "Bean". It was fun to watch our reflections from different angles.
The real purpose of the trip was to go to the Art Museum. We ascended a really long, sloped bridge. I was fully prepared to turn around and find another entrance, but guess what? Me and Scoot made it all the way. They let me and my TravelScoot in. There I was scooting along among Renoir, Manet, and even Monet. It was wonderful. I had two "incidents" where I cut the corner too close and hit the corners of display cases. Angeli shrunk into the ground. I gave a sheepish grin. Nothing was damaged except my ego. Time was catching up on us, so out tour was brief.
We made our way back to the El stopping at Starbucks for a drink and to cool off. It was time for people to be leaving work and there was lots of traffic.. Angeli decided that since it was so busy that she would lift scoot into the train. She pushed her way into the train and gave me a good position to scoot off when we arrived at our El stop.
This is where the real problems surfaced. The elevator on this side of the tracks was out of order. here was a long two story set of steps to get to the lower level. At the bottom of the steps was a huge alligator turnstyle. No Scoot here. Our only option. We took off the batteries for me to carry down the steps. Angeli carried Scoot up two flights and over the tracks just to find another broken elevator. Finally she found one that worked.
At the end of this journey my daughter was exhausted and I was in tears because my legs and back hurt. I don't think I will attempt the El again. Despite the final problems, it was still difficult because of the people.
I WILL go to the Loop again. It was great to be able to see what before I had only heard about. Scoot and I conquered my walking problems and allowed me to be free.
Posts
Georgia, this is my absolute favorite of all the pictures. You experience sounds incredible, and I'm so touched that you shared it with us.
ReplyDeleteIt's disappointing to hear about your problems with broken elevators. Was there an escalator? I would think some disability rights organization would be interested to know about the broken elevator.