Pneumonia and a Crash yet were still here!!!!

So my dad was involved in a horrible wheelchair crash last week which threw him out of the chair and launched him 6 feet face down on the road into oncoming traffic. This was the single most horrifying event I have ever witnessed in my life. We also discovered after a little bit that he had pneumonia which seems was brought on by the intensity of the crash, though we are not really sure. We had a scare on weds and we were told my dad might not make and possibly may have only a few hours to live. By a miraculous turn of events he pulled through and is on the road to recovery!! I couldn't be more thankful and thrilled. We have all been under so much stress dealing with this so to finally have good news was such a relief. I know we missed some days of dispatches on the blog so I thought I would share some uplifting pictures from when the trip was going well. We will probably not be continuing on at this point but we are talking of rescheduling when James is all healed up.He sustained fractures on both knees and his left arm so those will take months to heal and he needs to be in tip top shape for a road journey as crazy as ours. Thanks for all the support! Stay tuned for more info soon.

Ben~

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Hills, hills and more hills.

Hey Everyone,
We just barely got internet to be able to send our first post from the open road. Yesterday was day 1 of the journey. We started in Blaine,WA and the weather was pretty decent, yet fairly overcast. Just as we were about 4 miles outside of Blaine we were surprised by Jeremy a reporter for The Northern Lites newspaper,  taking our picture and asking if he could interview us for a moment. Our route so far has been on a lot of backroads which took us on some very steep hills. They definitely made our legs burn and the wheelchair groan. We were making some really good time until the temperatures dropped considerably and the winds picked up. We luckily missed the rain until we actually got to camp and then it proceeded to rain the whole night. There was a few scary moments along the way for sure. Due to the seriously steep hills on a downward descent James wheelchair was ran into a curb by the heavy trailer he was carrying . The weight caused his chair to be thrown into the curb, luckily he was ok so he dusted himself off and wheeled on. When we were on the outskirts of Bellingham we were greeted by a woman at Fred Meyers with her two children who asked about our trip and then wanted a photo taken with us. Her and her husband own a bike shop in Seattle and she told us to stop in when passing through. It's always nice being greeted by people as we pass through. We are just about to leave camp and start day 2 of the trip.It looks like we will be riding in a little drizzle this morning. Thank you for all your continued support! We will update more tonight.

Ben~

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Tic Toc...

Wow its almost time to go. I want to give a little recap for those who have not read all of the old posts. My name is James Barnett, I am 50 years old and am wheelchair bound as a result of a neuromuscular disease known as muscular dystrophy. My two sons, Ben and Joel will be riding bikes along the side of my wheelchair as we ride the coastal highways fro Canada to Mexico. We have been thinking about this for some time. The time is now, its time to live and not just exist. We all need to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, so for us this is it. Please join us by following our journey, just knowing there are people who care enough to share their encouragement gives me the strength to attempt this .... thank you. As we started planning this event, we realized  there are other wheelbound adventurers out there that need an opportunity like this to give them a renewed hope; thus "Wheelbound Adventures" was born. It is our desire to use this trip as a springboard to launch this nonprofit organization. We desire to share future journeys with our wheelbound friends. If you would like help support this dream, please free to donate your time and or resources. Together we can attempt to Leave no adventurer behind.
                                              - James Barnett

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That's a Wrap!!

We would like to thank one of my good friends Mike Tankersley at Signs 2 U Boise for setting us up with a partial wrap on our van. When we were first told Mike of our journey he was eager to be involved in our project. We recently approached Mike with our artwork and logos that we wanted on our support vehicle and he is now in the processes of putting it all together. Thank you so much for all your support. If anyone needs a vehicle wrap or any sign work done we would highly recommend Mike's company.

Ben Barnett

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Clean Getaway!

We would like to express our thanks and gratitude to Utility Trailer Sales of Idaho. We went to go get our support vehicle washed and detailed for the journey. While we were in the process of having the van cleaned we were approached by the owner of Utility and he offered there services for free because he had heard of our trip and wanted to be apart of it! We are so amazed by the wonderful people we have come in contact with while preparing for this trip.

Ben and Jim Barnett

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Go Pro Hero HD 1080 cameras!!!

So Dad and I picked up a couple Go Pro Hero Helmet cameras yesterday and today. We have messed around with them a little bit and we are loving them so far. It is amazing all the mounts they come with. I tested mine today on my bike ride home from work and it turned out great. I really like the angles you can get from the handlebar and seat post mounts. Look for uploaded videos soon from our new cameras!



Ben~

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We Got Hitched

On Wednesday we stopped over at Yanke Fabrication to see if we could get a hitch made for the B.O.B Trailer to attach to my wheelchair. We were greeted by Dennis who immediately assessed the situation and came up with a design plan. Dennis took the design plan to Ron. The two of them worked on the hitch for about 45 minutes. When it was completed it was so much more than we had expected. The engineering design was perfect, it worked like a champ. We would like to offer a special Thank You to these two gentlemen and the entire Yanke crew. When we tried to offer payment for this amazing job, it was kindly refused and they offered us well wishes for our coming journey. We consider the folks at Yanke a part of our team.

~James Barnett

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