“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” -Helen Keller

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Crab Apple

This weekend I took my 11 year old niece for her belated Birthday present - a day of White Water rafting! Her birthday was in May but with my busy walking schedule I hadn't had a chance earlier to go.....not to mention I was a teeny bit afraid that I would manage to hurt myself right before the 3Day and then what would I do?! Of course, I didn't tell her parents, or the grandparents, this thought as that would have caused needless worry for Haley's safety....and I knew we'd both be safe! Turns out I was correct as we both came back in 1 piece and had a GREAT time.....not in small part to the amazing rafting company!

We went for a full day of rafting out in western Mass complete with a picnic lunch. Haley REALLY enjoyed the homemade brownies and the roast beef sandwiches (in that order). She was also like a fish in water and a little dare-devil on the raft, sitting up front the entire time, loving the rapids, and a real pro throwing her bucket of water during the water fight!

Crab Apple is a family owned business and it was truly one of the best customer service experiences I've encountered in years. From the parking attendants in the small lot giving us all the info we needed before even exiting our cars to the amazing Guides on the trip, every person we encountered was friendly, knowledgeable and went out of their way to make sure each customer was having a great time. On the school bus ride to the starting point of the trip, each of the guides sought out the people from their boat and spent their time chatting with us. This continued during lunch, and throughout the entire raft trip. Ben, our wonderful guide, was full of fun stories and historical facts about the area and rafting. He entertained us (and especially the kids) with riddles and magic tricks. When you looked at other rafts in our group you could see the all of the Guides were engaging their group to the same degree. Clearly Crab Apple works hard to hire a First Class staff.

Since Friday I've been thinking all of those wonderful thoughts about our experience with Crab Apple, and especially our guide Ben. I didn't think my opinion could get any higher of this amazing company when I was blown away today with what happened....
Crab Apple sent a thank you note for going on the trip this weekend. When I opened it I was shocked to see there was a hand written note from our Guide Ben addressed to Haley and I. The note clearly wasn't a "form" letter as it made specific references to our day. Honestly, I don't think my personal Thank You notes are as well written and thoughtful as our note from the now-infamous Ben. SO, if you're thinking of going on a rafting trip in Mass, Vermont or Maine I HIGHLY recommend you check out Crab Apple!!!

3 comments:

Sarah G said...

I went on a trip at Crabapple back in high school with a big group - at least 20 or so of us - and we had a great time. They took really good care of us and made sure that we had a blast!

Anonymous said...

Amy that sounds like so much fun! Thanks for sharing the name of that great company. :)

Anonymous said...

I will keep that company in mind because I have always wanted to go myself and now I would have to bring all the boys. When they are old enough we will definitely check it out.