In an unparalleled act of courage and grace, Linda and Ron Letnes this month packed up an SUV full of Colorado grandchildren and headed out for a Big West adventure. It all went very well, Stan's sister Linda now reports. The retired schoolteacher is back in Minnesota awaiting the arrival of another grandbaby.Here's her note and photos from the Family Vacation.
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Dear Stan,
As I had mentioned before, we were met with big smiles and hugs when we arrived in Fort Collins on the 16th. Right on schedule, the next morning, we piled into the Expedition with its eight seatbelts for the eight of us.
Our first stop was in Vail where the sculptures captured our attention. We spent each night in a motel with a swimming pool as we discovered the kids would swim day or night. Besides the pools, the kids had a ball in Pagosa Springs in the hot springs . Memmo and Antonio are pictured in the shower there.
Arches National Park was followed by Canyonlands National Park, both in Utah. Lots of short hikes, but the Rimwalk in Canyonlands was the hands down favorite of the Huertas. By the time we had gotten to Durango on our drive back to Fort Collins, the Huertas were planning their next family trip...Mesa Verde National Park. They will do that one on their own. Everywhere we went the whole family was interested in the displays, the walks, films, you name it. The word bored wasn't part of the vocabulary, never heard it. We stopped in Fairplay for a visit with Prunes, a mining burro, and then headed for the Colorado Historical Museum in downtown Denver. That held their interest for hours while Ron and I looked up old friends.
There was a glorious reunion with their pets when we returned to Fort Collins. We have taken the kids to Disneyland, Disney World, the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and multiple trips between MN and CO. They have loved these trips and rarely caused a moment of trouble as they are great travelers. But this is the trip that each child quietly confessed was the absolute best and for the same reason: " Our whole family is here." Made the whole thing awfully special.
I wondered how it would be with eight of us, most of our trips are with two kids at a time. Before we left I picked up $100 in one dollar bills. Each morning the kids were doled out $5 with the admonition that any adult could ask them to return a dollar to Grandma for any infraction deemed worthy of a dollar. The best behaved child would get the pot at the end of the trip. Amazingly, only $10 was collected over the tour. Nina was our winner. The weather was perfect, yes, 70's.
We travel well together and are planning another spring break, next time a drive through Monument Valley and a visit to the Grand Canyon. Corey and Alyssa are the parents of Nina, 13; Emillio, 12; Antonio, who turned 11 on the trip and wore his "Utah Rocks" birthday sweatshirt constantly; Memmo, 9.
We are back in Minneapolis awaiting Anja's new baby sister who can arrive tonight or in the next few weeks. The only thing we know is that her middle name will be Letnes as Anja's is. Life is precious and good.
Love, Linda
