Synchronised scooters: Red Wheelies hit the road

Thanks to Rhonda for this delightful video!

There's no one else quite like the Red Wheelies - the world's first Mobility Scooter Formation Display Team. These delightful scooties are raising awareness of Multiple Sclerosis.

"Mom, wait! You're going too fast!"

From Jennifer:

Thank you! Yes, the plugging in the lithium ion battery in the proper order was my problem. Once I corrected that, I was ready to go!

I can’t believe how much independence I’ve gained!! I am so grateful to Hardy for inventing this, and sharing the scoot with the rest of us. I have already had several adventures! And I completely agree with you about feeling the breeze-zooming is the best! I’ve gone to two outdoor shopping places, around my neighborhood, and am excited to go to an outdoor farmer’s market soon! I’m working towards taking my large dog for a walk with the scoot; he’s very exuberant when he sees something he wants to chase, and is much stronger than I am. I am going to take my kids to the zoo next weekend.

I’m a reading teacher, so my first stop in the outdoor shopping center was a Barnes and Noble, a favorite spot. I was so excited that I could browse, and carry my items without any problem. Usually I struggle with my cane, any purchases I’m considering, as well as what I’m looking through. And I have to be mindful of how far I have to walk, and how much I can carry. Not this time! It was a delicious luxury! In the past, I had to limit my trip to one small section of the store. This time, I could spend as much time as I wanted wherever I wanted to.

One of the very best parts of my first adventure was hearing my boys (13 and 15) yell, "Mom, wait! You’re going too fast!" That was something I NEVER heard. Not now!

Thank you so very much for your encouragement and sharing my excitement. As my boys would say, "Freedom rocks!!"

Kay's Lunchtime Cupcake Adventure

My sister Kay has had her TravelScoot for several months now and uses it mostly to travel from the ferry to her office building in New York City. Today she decided to go on an adventure at lunchtime. She rode by the World Trade Center site, Trinity Church, Century 21 department store, AND she bought cupcakes from Crumbs. They even have an Elvis cupcake!

A Gambling TravelScoot

These are some fun pictures of Rhonda's scoot on our recent cruise to Cozumel. THIS is what happens when everyone gets off in Progresso and Melissa and I have the run of the ship. This was the only day I managed to use up all the charge in my double size lithium ion battery.

(And yes, Rhonda's scoot was not only smoking, it was trying to get ON the Craps' table!)

Battery Information from Hardy Huber

Hardy Huber, if there's anyone here who doesn't know who he is, is the genius who invented the TravelScoot. Hardy recommends that you print out this page to take with you when you travel by air with your lithium ion battery in case there are any problems.

http://safetravel.dot.gov/larger_batt.html

Hardy says when he is asked what battery it is, his answer is always non-spillable and so far it makes them always satisfied.

In the picture above, the green battery is an SLA and the smaller gold one underneath it is the single size lithium ion.

The TrolleyBasket and Alice.com

(Click here for more posts about using the TrolleyBasket with the TravelScoot. 

I'd also like for everyone reading to know that Cynth wasn't compensated by Alice.com or the TrolleyBasket folks, and I do not receive compensation from TravelScoot for anything I post on this blog.  We're passing this information on to you because we found it helpful and think you might too.  --Elizabeth)

From Cynth:

Hi Elizabeth,

Hope things are going well for you, looks like your cruse was wonderful. I really enjoyed the pictures.

I tried an order at Alice.com for cleaning products and other items they had that I normally buy that are "big" and take up my TrolleyBasket space when shopping. I thought others may benefit from knowing about Alice.com

Alice.com is an online shopping site that has a fairly good selection of products. There are not a lot of grocery items but there is a nice variety of cleaning supplies, laundry, bathroom, kitchen and pantry items. Their site is growing with products so I have high hopes of a wider selection of different products in the future.

Alice.com offers "free" UPS shipping on all your orders. The prices were comparable to some of my local stores, maybe a few cents higher. I'm sure that is to help cover shipping costs. Coupons and discounts are offered on some products. Once you set up an account you pick out products to add to your shopping cart and to "your products". You are asked questions that help them setup a "Your Products" page where you select the usual items you buy.

Once you are looking at products and you select one to add to your cart or your products you are asked to select a time span on each product and they will remind you when it is time to purchase it again. So its like a shopping list with a reminder. If you buy dish soap every 2 months you set the reminder for 2 months, easy peasy.

I just received my 1st order from Alice this morning and the packaging was very nice. All the liquid products were in ziplock bags and the easy open liquid containers were taped shut to avoid spilling even though they were in a ziplock bag. The top of the box was filled with "air bags" to hold everything in place.

Here are some pictures so you know what to expect if you shop at Alice.com


Unopened box http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/Cynorita/AliceDotCom/?action=view&t=1Alice.jpg

Opened box http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/Cynorita/AliceDotCom/?action=view&t=2Alice.jpg

They sent a free burlap shopping bag, in the picture I had stuffed all the shipping air bags inside of it so I can use them later and so you can see what the free bag looked like.http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/Cynorita/AliceDotCom/?action=view&t=3Alice.jpg

http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/Cynorita/AliceDotCom/?action=view&t=4Alice.jpg

I am pleased with my Alice order and will shop with them again. It will save me from trying to stuff so many items into my TrolleyBasket and let me buy more groceries when I shop.

The World Mobility Problem

Rhonda emailed me a YouTube video today that I want to share with you all. I cannot imagine what it must be like to have to crawl from place to place, but I can imagine how much having wheels changes lives.

If you want to know more about PET (Personal Energy Transportation), visit their website at http://www.giftofmobility.org. You can make a donation at http://www.giftofmobility.org/donation.htm.

Like a kid on Christmas morning!

Rhonda had to make an emergency trip to Hobby Lobby today to pick up something for her son's science project. It was an unplanned and quick trip, but ended up being one of those times that she was in the right place at exactly the right time. I say that because of the lady in the picture above. The look on her face is what we call the "kid on Christmas morning" expression. It's what happens when someone tries a TravelScoot for the first time. In this case she'd never even known the TravelScoot existed. Rhonda didn't have to ask her twice if she wanted to try it. It was love at first scoot!

Fran's Winter Wonderland

From Fran R.:

(Fran sent this to me back in February. Sorry for the delay in posting!)

One of the great things about the TS is how everyone shares their experiences - it's where I learned about the Peterboro baskets. And this one is definitely a winner. It holds so much and looks so much better than the usual baskets you see on scooters.

I recently bought a golf cart to use on the grassy areas around my home. There's a pond right next to my house and I love going there to watch the ducks and geese. Plus lots of open areas where I used to be able to walk my dogs - but had to give that up when walking became more difficult. I checked on lots of heavy duty scooters but decided the golf cart would be a better option. Pretty hard to load that up in the car - so the TravelScoot remains one of the best things I've purchased. There's a huge book fair coming up next month and last year I couldn't begin to get around to look at all the books - but this year the TS will allow me to do that.

The picture is of the pond by my house and my son, Jason, on the golf cart. That's the first snow we've had in the 8 years I've live here.

Daniel's Motor Video 2

Daniel's Motor Video

This video is from Daniel and it shows someone opening the motor of his TravelScoot.

Flashing red lights on the battery charger

From Jennifer:

Hello Elizabeth,

After what seemed like an extremely long wait, my Travel Scoot is finally here! I put it together, and can’t wait to start having my own adventures!

I do have a question (already!). I am charging the battery (the li-ion) now. The battery is flashing red quickly continuously, and it is not getting hot. The sheet that came with it doesn’t say what blinking red lights mean, but I think it isn’t charging properly. Has this happened to you?

I hope you are doing well, and planning many fun adventures.

Thank you for your generous offer of help,

Jennifer

Jennifer, welcome!

I can't wait to hear about your first adventure, no matter how big or small. You're going to experience first-hand how wonderful it is to be mobile and (my favorite part) to feel the breeze in your hair as you zip around.

As for your question about battery charging, it's important that everything is plugged in in the correct order. With the lithium ion battery you plug the charger into the wall first, then plug the charger into the battery. Try that and see if it fixes the problem. When my battery is charging I've never noticed that it gets hot, so I wouldn't be concerned about that part.

If you have the same charger as I do and you have the single size lithium ion battery, when it's charging properly you will see a steady red light and one that flashes. When the battery is fully charged you'll see a green light and a red light. The steady red light is just telling you that the charger is plugged in.

If plugging it in in this order does not fix the problem, contact Tony at TravelScoot (mail@travelscoot.com) and he'll help you with it.

Happy scooting!

Elford's TravelScoot Video

From Elford:

The snow finally melted so I can get around with my scoot and inspect the neighborhood. Last winter I put scoot in the car and drove to the nearest Metro station and then go by Metro downtown.


Note from Elizabeth:  This is the first TravelScoot video I've seen where someone is shown opening a door and going through it.

From ship to shore and shopping to sightseeing

Alan took this spectacular photo when we were heading back to the ship in Cozumel.

Because of my TravelScoot I was able to get from ship to shore and go as far down this street shopping and sightseeing as time would allow. Without getting too sappy all I can say is I have pictures in my head now of things I never would have seen without it. As a lifelong lover of water--in a pool, at the beach, or on the open seas--this trip meant the world to me. Of course now I'm wanting to do it all over again, to a different destination, and maybe even try an excursion or two!

If you've been contemplating getting a TravelScoot (or some other type of scooter), but haven't been able to get past the stigma of using one, dig down deep and get past your fears. You won't regret it.