WHAT DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND!!!

What don't they get? My husband and I went up to Flagstaff for a few days to cool off. We stayed in a lovely hotel called Little America RIGHT IN THE PINE TREES. I asked for a wheelchair accessible room with a roll in shower. I made it very clear when I made the reservation that I could not walk and use a power wheelchair. We got up to Flagstaff and the hotel was lovely. Lots of accessible parking, accessible ramps to get into the hotel, accessible dining room and gift shop. We checked in and went to our room. The room was large with a King size bed. The bathroom was large, however… the accessible shower was a disappointment. There was no fold-down seat, only a small plastic shower bench. When I tried to use it, it was very wobbly and unstable. There was one grab bar on the far side of the shower, which was slippery and not easy to grab hold of. There was no place near the shower to hang a towel and no shelf or area to put soap, shampoo or conditioner. I understand that people who are not in a wheelchair or do not live with someone who uses a wheelchair really don't understand the needs of a person with a disability. However, I feel that they should ask. What an idea! Surely there are people that can go in and test a room to see if it really is accessible. I did okay. We had a delightful time, it was cool and I love the smell of pine trees. Yes we had some rain but after living in the desert that was okay too. I JUST GET SO FRUSTRATED!

WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE ISREAL In March 2012 my husband and I took a long awaited tour to Israel. Only issue was that I use a wheelchair full time. Not a problem. I found a tour company (Israel4all.com) that specializes in tours for people with special needs. Best of all the owner/Operator Eli Meiri knew where all the wheelchair accessible bathrooms were! It was a small group, seven strangers who soon became like family. The tour bus was an oversized van with a lift in the back, individual seats on each side and space in the middle to tie down wheelchairs. We spent 10 incredible days eploring all of Israel; The Jewish sites, the Christian sites and the Roman sites. Our room in Tel Aviv was large and had a very large accessible bathroom. The hotel in Jerusalem was also very user friendly. Friends tried to tell us not to go because of all the political unrest there. However, be assured there are not soldiers with machine guns at ever corner and we NEVER felt threatened in any way. Accessibility varied among the tourist sites we visited, but generally was pretty good. The Israeli government is trying very hard to make things accessible for people with disabilities without destroying the ancient sites they came to see. We found good accessibility at sites such as The Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem, which has an accessible route developed by the Jewish Quarter’s Center for Tourists with Disabilities. At Masada, where Jewish rebels made an epic stand against the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago, we took an accessible cable car to the top of the Fortress and accessible pathways led us around the site as our guide explained the history. It was an incredible sight to see. Traveling with a group of people in wheelchairs was, for me, very empowering. I didn’t have to worry about keeping up with the group or being embarrassed about using special eating utensils. Unlike most standard tours, we usually began our day a little later to give us the extra morning time we needed .Our tour guide, Eli, was sensitive to our needs and flexible enough that if the day was getting too long for us, we could rearrange the schedule to push something off until the next day. It was a trip of a lifetime and something I will never forget. Did I say the food was wonderful!!!!!!