Jerad Davis, Grand County Operation Vacation Mission

Jerad Davis

Jerad and Alaina Davis looked snug and relaxed as they sat on the couch with their feet up, watching TV shows on a flat screen television. The living room’s sliding door led outside to the patio, where thick snowflakes were creating a white blanket on the Jacuzzi cover.

“I can’t wait to get into that,” Alaina said, her eyes wide. Jerad nodded, glancing up at the TV screen now and then.

“We don’t have a TV, or a Jacuzzi at home. Now we have both,” she added, grinning. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Jerad, 23, and Alaina, 21, were spending the weekend in a condo at Slopestyle Village, located in Old Town Winter Park. Their visit is courtesy of Destinations West and Operation Vacation, a nonprofit organization that began in Glenwood Springs and provides military families with free vacations in mountain communities.

Every month since July of last year, DiAnn Butler, Grand County coordinator of Operation Vacation and owner of Destinations West property management, has arranged for a military couple or family to spend a weekend in Grand County. The soldiers chosen for the free getaway are stationed in Fort Carson, near Pueblo, and Butler helps arrange their itinerary and lodging through Destinations West and local sponsors.

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