Well it's about time I resurrected the old blog. I've been writing for other magazines for a while and neglected this place. There was something cool lately that will open my world, and I'm thrilled.
I used to have a 4x4 wheelchair, and lost it in our house fire. The mobility of an off road chair has been missed, but was put on the back burner for now. Being 61yrs old, I'm aware that time is ticking, so if there's anything I want to do, let's do it!
On a recent trip to Arizona, Super Dave and I were at a flea market looking at multitudes of landfiller, but didn't see any fleas. Suddenly a chair zooms by, a 4 wheel drive electric atv-type unit, and I immediately recognize it as a Terrain Hopper.
Terrain Hopper makes a 4wd unit powered by lipo batteries that looks like a cross between an atv and a wheelchair. I've been secretly drooling over these and wanting to see one close-up for years, but they are rare and expensive.
I look around, it was nowhere in sight. I believe that the universe gives and makes things line up, so I made an intentional thought. "Universe, bring that unit back for me to see."
A few seconds later, as if on cue, the Terrain Hopper zooms up, stops right beside me, and the rider starts chatting with somebody else. I smile, look skyward, silently give thanks, and inspect the unit. It looks incredible. It's sporty, rugged, and quite fast. I wait my turn and chat with the owner. It turns out he is a corn farmer, escaping the snow. He loves his Hopper far more than his power wheelchair, and can get around the farm anywhere in it. He had driven it to the flea market 3-4 miles that day and says it is much more fun than a vehicle to drive. I was sold on it, and knew my life would be drastically changed by owning one, but couldn't afford one.
The idea of owning one rolled around in my coconut on once again for a few weeks, as it has been a recurring idea for years. Terry and I have talked about building a nature trail around the quarter section for years with bird feeders, deer feeders, and benches. Building a wheelchair accessible trail is very expensive, but a Hopper-friendly trail would be easy! Universe, if it's a good idea for me to get one, line it up. And I left it like that.
Last week, things unexpectedly started to happen. A used Hopper popped up on Facebook Marketplace. I've never seen one there before. I started dealing on it right away and thought it might actually come together. It was the right unit, color was ok, low hours, price was less than new by a fair bit, but no joystick control. After investigating it appears the joystick upgrade is 3g or so, and has to be done in Arizona, so that was the end of that.
I once again threw the project in the air. I then decided to contact the owner of the company, who I have chatted with a few times many years ago, just to see what the price of a new one is. What was his name? Searching my emails, there was nothing. I looked in Messenger, nada. Then tried my text messages, came up dry. I couldn't find his contact anywhere. I clicked on my Facebook window and heard a 'ding', a notification received. I open the notifications and its the Birthday of one Todd Lemay, now who is that I wondered? Checking his profile I see ... he is the Terrain Hopper CEO that I was searching for! I smile, look up, and give thanks once again. I text and chat, and Todd sends me a quote. After is see what they're worth, I tell him that I'll need to find funding. Todd gave me a link to hoppersforheroes.org, a non-profit organization that gives grants towards the purchase of these units. I didn't think there was a snowball's chance of success, as most US organizations don't fund Canadians, but I tried.
I told them in an email that I'm a quad, a Canadian and love the outdoors. I mentioned that I've written a few articles and could write about my adventures with the Terrain Hopper. They asked for links to my stories and I thought ... hey ... wow ... they didn't reject me yet! I sent them some links, they read my stories, and a few days later I was approved for 5G's!!! I smiled, looked up and gave thanks ... again.
I still wasn't sure about it, I went online comparing off road wheelchairs. Terrain Hopper looked the best of the bunch to me, but I couldn't pull the trigger and commit. Then a friend that I haven't spoke with for a year or so sends a message about an all-terrain wheelchair that I was just looking at! The universe just keeps presenting the idea. I look up and smile, give thanks, and proceed to order a new Terrain Hopper. Summer's going to be a blast! Sometimes things just line up!
