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| This is me at the Baltimore Royal Sonata hotel, preparing to hit the harbor! |
From reader and fellow TravelScooter JeanMarie
Hi Elizabeth,
I love reading the stories of TravelScooters on the road and wished I had something to write about. I’ve had my scooter for about a year and a half but haven’t done much beyond regular life stuff. Don’t ge me wrong, by my estimate, the scooter has paid for itself, but still, nothing to write about until this summer when I took my first trip since B.T. (“Before Travelscoot”). I get a little wordy so feel free to edit this!
In July I went to Baltimore for a family event. It was held at a beautiful hotel right across from the harbor. Mom and I checked in on Friday night and went across the street to have dinner and walk around a bit. It was so much fun to be able to ride along the water front and SEE the lights and boats. The main event was Sat. evening so our plan was to take the Baltimore Water Taxi during the day to see as much of the harbor as we could.
It rained hard in the morning but when it subsided we hit the road. The first boat water taxi we took was a commuter run across the widest part of the harbor. Mom and I took seats under the awning and inside the plastic windows. My scoot sat out on the open part at the front of the boat in the spray and mist but did just fine and didn’t move. The boat had a short ramp which I walked up and they carried the scooter. After we completed the commuter circle, we went about 100 feet to the next pickup point to take the taxi with the more tourist route but there was no ramp from the harbor. It was a flimsy portable, hollow plastic 2 step ladder. I tried but there was no way. The steps were too high and I didn’t even fit between the aluminum handrails. So mom went and I saw the rest of the harbor we hadn’t seen. Even in the mist and rain it was fun. My mother, on her cane, with one artificial knee and another painful knee, refuses to use the scooter. She’s afraid of it. If I had gone on the second boat with her, I would have missed seeing what I did.
Yesterday mom and I went to the NC State Fair. She rented the traditional scooter. I had my travel scoot. When I first got the scooter and was learning to ride, I hit a curb or something too hard and bent the metal part that holds the front wheel. Since then (with replacement) I’ve been more careful about surfaces. But today I put my scooter to the test! Parking was on grass. There was a lot of graveled areas, some I was able to navigate, some I couldn’t. Even the paved areas were full of rocks. The worst part was getting from the parking across the avenue and through the gate to the scooter rental place. In the fair itself there was uneven ground, more rocks, holes, hills, electrical wires covered by tape on the midway, huge crowds that don’t pay attention to where they’re going. Not by choice, but I think I hit just about every road hazard possible today. But me and the scooter made it! Whew!
The rent-a-scooter, being heavier, with electric reverse and more material around the rider, worked better for mom. She’s a nervous and timid scooter, (slow too). Although, the rental did take her up a hill I had to walk, it’s all good. There is no one-size fits all. After the fair, I think I can say that being on a TravelScoot is not for sissies! But I led the way through the crowds for both us, having fun the whole way!
Tally ho fellow scooters!
JeanMarie
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