Dear Travelers and Friends
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Dear Travelers and Friends, Thank you for your interest in our vacations for 2017 and the first half of 2018. This is Able Trek Tours’ 26th year of providing vacations for people with special needs. We feel so fortunate to be a part of these positive travel experiences. We’ve traveled extensively throughout the United States and experienced the unique cultures of many international destinations. We‘ve marveled at some of the planets most picturesque settings and seen some of the most entertaining shows in the world. However, all of these vacation experiences pale in comparison to you, our Travelers. Our staff members thoroughly enjoy being a part of sharing the world of travel with our Customers. Our vacations are designed to enlighten and expand each Traveler’s view, to encourage Travelers to discover and pursue leisure interests, to increase Traveler’s self-confidence, and of course to HAVE FUN! Our vacations are also designed to promote independence and choice, with safety as our number one priority. We take very seriously the fact that Travelers work tirelessly for, and look so forward to, our vacations. We will continue to work very hard to make each vacation special for each and every Traveler. We hope you will join us again, or for your first time, as we experience what we feel is an essential part of a well-rounded life…….VACATIONS. Sincerely, Don Douglas Founder/Director ABLE TREK TOURS, INC. **************************************** WHO ARE ABLE TREK TRAVELERS? Individuals who need assistance vacationing are encouraged and welcome to travel with Able Trek Tours. This includes individuals with developmental disabilities, the elderly, individuals with a mental health condition, and others. Most Travelers are individuals with mild to moderate developmental disabilities. Travelers must exhibit good social behavior, have no major medical concerns, be at least 16 years old, and display appropriate behavior toward property, themselves and others. Typical staff to Traveler ratio is 1:3 or 1:4. If a Traveler requires more assistance and/or supervision we MUST be informed of such needs ahead of time. TRIP FEES INCLUDE Staff supervision, transportation from pick-up/drop-off sites, listed attractions, lodging, taxes, an Able Trek t-shirt or hat, a group photo, and many meals are included in the trip fee. Almost every trip includes breakfast and the evening meal each day. 1 TRAVELERS USING WHEELCHAIRS: We have accommodations for up to two Travelers who use wheelchairs on most trips. It is our experience that nearly all Travelers who use a wheelchair require Traveler specific, “specialized” care. Their caregivers must be both physically capable of and trained in the techniques of transferring and lifting. In addition, most Travelers who utilize wheelchairs have very individual and specific personal care needs – needs that can only be properly met by a caregiver who has experience with that Traveler. In order to properly and safely accommodate Travelers who use wheelchairs, we have adopted the following policy: 1) We require that Travelers who require a wheelchair to ambulate bring their own (1:1) personal aid with them on trips. To help make this policy more affordable, the personal caregiver will travel at ½ the cost. The Traveler will pay the regular rate (double or single occupancy – see #2) and their aid will be 50% of that rate. 2) Travelers who require fully accessible lodging accommodations (roll-in showers, wide door entrances, grab bars in bathroom, etc.) are “generally” required to pay the “Single/ADA” rate. The reason for this policy is that most hotel’s ADA accessible rooms have only one bed. We do our best to find hotels with ADA rooms that have two beds. If a Traveler who uses a wheelchair and their own personal caregiver choose to share a bed they can base the price of the trip on the “Double” rate. On the rare occasion where we can find accessible rooms with two beds we will adjust the rate accordingly. Please contact us with any questions about this policy. STAFFING ON TOURS All vacations are supervised by our owner, Don Douglas, and/or at least one Tour Leader employed by Able Trek Tours. Before establishing Able Trek Tours in 1992, Don was the Executive Director of Wisconsin Badger Camp, an organization that offers recreational camping/outdoor experiences to people with developmental disabilities. All other staff members are carefully screened and selected volunteers and/or qualified paid staff. Many of our staff are social workers, teachers, group home staffers, and other qualified and experienced people. Typical staff to Traveler ratio is 1:3 or 1:4. If a Traveler requires more assistance and/or supervision we MUST be informed of this need ahead of time. Please be aware that care/supervision on vacations is typically more intensive or demanding than in the home setting. We will do our best to accommodate a Traveler’s needs in excess of our normal staff supervision. However, if a Traveler requires 1:2 or 1:1 supervision an extra fee will be required. In some instances we will require that Travelers bring their own staff. As stated previously, this is the policy with most Travelers who use a wheelchair to ambulate. PERSONAL ESCORTS At times Travelers and caregivers simply do not feel comfortable attending a vacation without a familiar face along. This situation has been common for Travelers who may need more assistance than our normal 1:3/4 ratios and many Travelers who use wheelchairs. We welcome, encourage, and will at times require that personal escorts join us. The cost for such an arrangement (for BOTH participants) is typically 150% or 1 ½ times the cost of the indicated rate. For example, the Door County & Green Bay trip (May 30 – June 2, 2017) would cost $1,387.50 ($925 X 1.5) for DOUBLE accommodations. Please call for guaranteed prices. 2 FREE WORKING VACATION OPPORTUNITY – Group home staff, caregivers, case managers, etc. if you sign three or more people up for a trip you can go for free as a chaperone. Contact Able Trek Tours for more information. PICK-UP/DROP-OFF LOCATIONS Virtually every vacation offers pick-up and drop-off sites in Dubuque, IA, Platteville, Madison, Milwaukee, Stevens Point, Allenton, Waupaca, Appleton, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Wisconsin Dells. Additional common rendezvous sites include: La Crosse, Beloit, Tomah, East Troy, Johnson Creek and Rockford, IL. Pick-up/drop-off sites are indicated in italics in each tour description. Refer to the list below for a pick-up abbreviation index. Travelers can also be met at locations enroute to our destinations. Other arrangements can be made but may require an additional fee. Able Trek does its best to be flexible and accommodating with travel arrangements (see Bus/Airport Greeter section that follows). PICK-UP/DROP-OFF ABBREVIATION INDEX: App - Appleton, WI Mil - Milwaukee, WI Blt - Beloit, WI Osh - Oshkosh, WI Dells - Wisconsin Dells, WI Portage - Portage, WI Dbq - Dubuque, IA Pville - Platteville, WI Fndlac - Fond du Lac, WI Rckfd - Rockford, IL MtHrb - Mt. Horeb, WI Jhn Crk – Johnson Creek, WI StPoint - Stevens Point, WI Wapca – Waupaca, WI Lax - LaCrosse, WI Tomah - Tomah, WI Mad - Madison, WI Allton - Allenton, WI E.Troy - East Troy, WI SPECIAL PICK-UP OPTION A special pick-up of six or more people may be provided for a community or area not listed in our regular route. To arrange for this option the request MUST be made at least 45 days prior to the trip start date. This option may or may not require an additional fee (call our office) and IS NOT available for one-day tours. BUS/AIRPORT GREETER OPTION Travel arrangements to and from the Able Trek pick-up/drop-off sites can be difficult to arrange. We will work with Travelers and caregivers to arrange for our staff to meet participants at the Madison Greyhound Depot and/or Airport or at the Wisconsin Dells Greyhound or Amtrak Depot. We may also be able to assist with accommodations and staffing the day before or the day after trips. Since all Travelers do not need these services an additional charge may be required. TRAVEL/CANCELLATION INSURANCE COVERAGE Travel insurance, for an additional fee, is available for all tours. Contact Able Trek Tours to request travel protection information. We can send you the information via US mail, email, or you can download the information from our website. Coverage includes: trip cancellation, emergency medical/dental, and more. Rates start as low as $20.40 per trip. PAYMENT PLANS AND PRE-PAYMENT To help make our vacations more financially feasible for Travelers, we offer interest free payment plans for most tours. At least 70% of the trip fee must be paid prior to the trip. The remaining balance can be made in monthly installments of $50 to $100. This can help make vacationing affordable for many. All payment plans must be pre-approved by Able Trek Tours. Payments can be in the form of checks, money orders or by credit card. SPEND DOWN – Not sure of the exact trip you want to take? You can send payment(s) in advance and decide on a trip later. 3 HOW TO SIGN UP FOR TRIPS Sign up anytime, 24–hours a day, 7-day a week. Log onto our website www.abletrektours.com , click on the “Special Needs Tours” link at the top of the page, and then click on the “Sign Up Information” tab. Follow the directions from there – it’s easy. Or contact us by: PHONE: (608) 524-3021 or 1-800-205-6713 FAX: (608) 524-8302 MAIL: Able Trek Tours, P.O. Box 384, Reedsburg, WI 53959 E-MAIL: [email protected] Let us know which trip(s) you are interested in and we will send you detailed itinerary and any necessary application materials.