Winter can be a tough time of year for my daughter with disabilities. There’s a greater chance for her to catch a cold because of increased illnesses going around. And with snow and ice on the ground, it makes it more difficult and dangerous for her to get around. For these reasons, we tend to spend a lot of time indoors. This can lead to decreased activity level and less time spent with friends and family. The winter season can take a toll on the whole family.
Needless to say, I was thrilled when we got a break in the wintry weather. The sunshine and warmer temperatures beckoned for us to come out and play. We took advantage of this and paid a visit to one of the local metro parks. Stony Creek Metro Park is 4,000+ acres of dense woods, wide open green spaces and sandy beaches, located about an hour north of Detroit. It’s an ideal spot to enjoy the outdoors.
A six-mile paved trail encircles Stony Creek lake, a glistening 500 acre lake in the center of the park. The trail is popular for those traveling by wheels, feet and paws. There are many other trails in the park which have been voted by locals to be among the top hiking/biking trails in the area.
One trail I really like is the Fit Trail. Starting at Eastwood Beach, the first half of the 1.9 mile trail is smooth and mostly flat pavement. The other half of the trail ducks into the woods and is packed dirt, mostly flat but with slight inclines in some spots. We were rolling Caitlin in her WIKE trailer which could handle a lot of different terrain. But we decided to stay on the paved part of the trail not knowing what the conditions would be like in the woods. There was still snow on the ground and the recent warm temps could make for muddy conditions. We weren’t up for trekking through mud on this day!
What’s neat about the Fit trail are the 20 exercise stations that are dotted along the trail. There are instructions at each station on how to do various exercises and stretches. This really adds an energy boost to your hike if you choose to do them. My husband and I really didn’t need to do any more exercises since pushing the trailer and walking Dakota were work outs as it is!
Being close to the lake was a bit windy. Caitlin stayed warm in the trailer with her cat blanket and snuggling with her plush cats (we never leave the house without them!). She reluctantly left her cozy cocoon to take a few steps on the trail and again when we arrived back at the beach. The lake was frozen over and some daring people were walking and playing on it. I didn’t think that was such a great idea, but Caitlin did! It took a bit of coaxing to convince her that it was not safe to walk on the ice.
It felt great to be outside! Soaking up the up the sun and taking deep breaths of fresh air were just what we needed to break the monotony of winter.
Do you have any suggestions to beat the winter blues?
JoAnn’s journey as a parent and caregiver to an individual with disabilities started when her daughter was born pre-maturely with multiple health issues resulting in cognitive, physical and speech disabilities. Over the years, JoAnn discovered that recreation, travel and social experiences can bring happiness and relief to a life that is often stressful and frustrating. She loves to seek out adaptive, accessible and fun activities for her daughter and the whole family to enjoy. She started the blog www.OurSpecialFunOasis.com to share her uplifting stories and positive ideas to help and to inspire others.