The Pomeroy Recreation & Rehabilitation Center

We had a nonstop stream of riders for the next five hours, and it was hard to tell who enjoyed it more, the riders or our team of intrepid pushmonkeys. In addition to the Rockinghorseguy and Gal, we were joined by two volunteer pushmonkeys: Chris Perry and Niya Fihn. Together, we gave rides to a beautiful bunch of folks with a wide array of significant disabilities. Braces, wheelchairs, blindness, Autism, Down's Syndrome, stroke,  traumatic brain injury...it did not matter. Everyone who wanted a ride got one.  We lifted folks out of wheelchairs, rode with them and did whatever it took to meet the specialized needs of each individual.


The giggles and squeals will never leave us. These special individuals have the most loving open hearts, and I'm honestly not sure who had the best time, us or them. It may well have been an even match. Every smile will stay with us. The sheer exuberance  of the riders we were fortunate enough to meet is positively infectious.  One gentleman with the most beautiful blue eyes we've ever seen (and a personality more bubbly than champagne) wants us to come back in four months for his 87th birthday. Another gave Vlad a big kiss and told us to be sure and feed him plenty of apples and carrots as he was sure to be hungry after giving so many rides.

Huge thank yous go out to the warm and dedicated staff of the Pomeroy center, to our wonderful volunteer pushmponkeys, and most of all, to the clients who so greatly enriched our lives with their warmth and generous affection.  You guys are why we do what we do.


Providing experiences like these are exactly the reason we wanted to do this tour. We can't wait to do this again, and again, and again...

Our second tour stop was at the Pomeroy Center in San Francisco California. We arrived a bit earlier than scheduled and got Vlad unloaded and set up right outside the front door. Immediately we were greeted with excitement, several of the center clients telling us how much they had been looking forward to our coming.