Some thoughts from kids, parents, and grandparents...

Kids said...

• Thank you so much for taking me to Colorado. I loved all the hiking and going around town. I even got to make better friends. I loved the combinations of all the stuff, how it fits together. I'm actually a little sad that I'm not in Colorado any more. I just loved being in Colorado, a place I now love with my friends. Thank you for all the work you did to put this great trip together.
• Thank you so much for taking me on this wonderful experience. This was one of my favorite trips. I loved geocaching and all the cool things we did around town and hope that someday I can go visit those places again - starting my morning at the Southeast Waffle Company.  I enjoyed spending time with you and the other leaders.
  

• Thank you so much for the wonderful experience of traveling through all of the amazing places in Europe. I loved eating all of the great meals. I had quite the adventure in Austria hiking in the Alps. Thank you so much for this wonderful adventure.
  

• Thanks so much for taking me on the trip. I had the best time out west! I really enjoyed going rafting in the Yellowstone River and walking around in Jackson Hole. I also loved traveling through Yellowstone National Park. It was a blast! I had a great and memorable time. One last thing...I also loved going geocaching.
  

• Thank you for taking me to Wyoming. It was a great experience, and I had the best time! Thanks also for the photos.
  

• I had such a wonderful time on all of your trips, and it’s great to be able to relive the fun I had during those three summers. Looking through the photos from the Colorado, Wyoming, and Europe trips sure brought back numerous fond memories.
  

• Thanks for making our awesome experience possible!
  

• You have really made a great impact on my life and I hope to spend more time with you in the future.

Parents and Grandparents said...

• I'm having so much fun on your blog and pic site! Your co-leaders, counselors, assistants etc. are surely capable and well-delegated! Whew! Thank you so very much for all the EXTRA effort and energy you put into this amazing communication vehicle. Other parents, I'm sure, feel the same way. This way we really can be a "fly on the wall" 
  
• Our grandsons had such a grand time on your western trip.  They both light up every time it is mentioned. You have been a wonderful teacher, mentor, and friend. (From a grandmother.)
  Good luck with your new school adventure.
• Thanks for helping to make this trip possible!  I'm so grateful my son has this opportunity for adventure.
  
• I am thrilled with every aspect of your well-organized adventure!  We can tell in the pictures that our son is having a good time.
  
• Thanks for keeping us posted during the trip: we are diligently checking the blog and photos and it is SO wonderful and appreciated! Dad in particular is very jealous, as he has never been to Yellowstone himself! (And our son's  grandmother has said she would like to go on a Mindstretch adventure herself!). 
  
• Actually, from a grandmother: Thank you so much for an update each day, I enjoy reading what you and the gang are doing. I can hardly wait to get home to get to your website. I am very comfortable that you keep everything safe. My grandson is enjoying the trip, this is the first one by himself so I was a little worried he would get homesick. Thank you again for all the hard work you do to make it such a  success. When are you going to do one for seniors?
• You can be sure that our son has committed his traveling experiences and images of far away places to memory for a lifetime. He loved traveling with you and found your guidance, trust, and personality to be the perfect companion. He has definitely caught the travel bug for life, which is a wonderful thing. Please know that you have made invaluable experiences and exposures possible that otherwise would not have occurred. 
  

• Our son has had a blast traveling with you over the years.
  

• Thank you so much for the wonderful memories. Our son will treasure his travels forever!
  

• All I can say is thank you for this trip, for your kindness, and your overall zest for adventure!!  He had an incredible time.
  

• He had so much fun with you on this trip! Thank you for all your efforts before, during, and after the trip. It is amazing how much he absorbed. We can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for the boys. We can tell from the pictures that it has been an awesome trip! We look forward to hearing more stories! 
  

• From all accounts, our son had a wonderful time (in his words, Alaska was "wondrous").  He started talking about the trip in the car, continued at the dinner table, and on into bed. He learned a lot, enjoyed it immensely, made new friends, and wants to do it again! 
  

• I wish you could have heard what our son had to say before he crashed for 13 hours! I told him: I know you are tired. Just one question. How would you rate your trip from 1 - 100? He said: 100 trillion! In fact, I wish I were still there! Today we looked at flickr pics together. They made a great starting point for great stories. Sounds like it really was the trip of a lifetime. So from all of us, thank you for being a great leader, and creating special memories that he will have forever.
  

• Thanks for all the great updates and the time and energy you have devoted to these boys on this great adventure.
  

• We are amazed and grateful for the wonderful trip you gave all the boys. I know it was work to communicate with and send pictures to all us parents, but we truly appreciated it. We were so relaxed and confident that our son was fine. Thank you for that! He loved the trip. We can’t thank you enough for encouraging us to send him. Thank you for planning and executing such a great adventure for boys.
  

• Our son had a wonderful time on the trip and has shared many fun stories already. He said, You know, Mr. Levin has a great sense of humor and is a lot of fun. I could have told him that without sending him to Alaska!! Thanks again for taking on this grand adventure and including our son on the trip.
  

• Thank you so much for all you did for all the boys. I could tell from the pictures that they had a fabulous adventure and we can’t wait to hear the stories.
  

• Thank you so much for taking our son to Europe with you. He had a smile on his face from ear to ear and did not stop talking about the trip for three days. What an experience!

• Thank you so very much for your years of doing these special trips. It has given my boys something to talk about and now their younger brother will get to experience the same adventures.

• Thank you for taking the boys to Colorado!! I know it was a fabulous trip. Our son had a ball. You are most kind, fun-loving, easy-going, and level-headed--a perfect leader and teacher.
  

• Our son had such a great time with you in Europe. He learned so much, not only about the places you visited but about traveling in a group, packing light, being self-responsible, and making decisions as a group. That trip was probably the most exciting experience in his life! He enjoyed getting to know you better, and also made friends with some kids he otherwise would never have had the opportunity to get to know. And, I think he really matured.
  

• Wonderful times and experiences for our son and I thank you for that! He certainly changed (grew up) over his three trips. 
  

• Your trips meant a lot to our son – and to us. We so much appreciate your enthusiasm and guidance over the years.

On an overlook on a Linville Falls hike in 2019.