Make winter dreams a reality at Suncadia
A number of years ago, as the family digested our Thanksgiving feast, my Aunt Lila made a little speech.
Her thesis was this: Christmas was out of control. It took a lot of money, nobody needed anything new, the celebration that day was a trying production, and so on.
My grandmother, possessor of an impish sense of humor, sat quietly through all this. When Lila wrapped up her address, Grandma raised one question:
“Can we at least have a thin soup?”
As it turned out, we took the middle path.
Some of us – you might be one of them – have higher celebratory expectations. Proper observation of the occasion may require such Martha Stewart perfections as place cards fashioned out of handmade paper, individual sugar cookies in the shape of each guest’s profile, hand-dipped candles and the like.
Pushing the envelope still further, you might go in for an entire team of professionals devoted entirely to your holiday happiness.
You’ve got it.
Suncadia, a mountain resort near Roslyn, Wash., invites you to its third annual Winterfest through Jan 2. It proposes to “make everyone’s holiday wishes come true.”
It’s a tall order. Here’s their plan:
Step 1 – Stroll down Snowman Lane. All comers can build “snow” men from any number of “non-snow” materials.
You may rightly ask, “What?!”
I’d love to tell you more, but organizers are playing their forged flakes close to the vest. Maybe they’re mashed potatoes. Maybe they’re marshmallows. You’ll find out when you pick up your snowman kit ($10/$5). Your creations will appear at a silent auction in the Discovery Center of The Lodge at Suncadia. Proceeds benefit area food banks.
Step 2 – Let those sleigh bells jingle and ring, ting tingle. Weather permitting, Three Peaks Outfitters will take you out for a ride around on the resort’s 6,400-acre grounds on Dec. 6, 12, 20, 24 or 27.
Step 3 – Loose the hounds. Perhaps you don’t care for horse-drawn conveyance and if that’s the case, you must have non-snow materials where your heart should be.
Even so, you have an option every Saturday in December.
Teams of four to six card-carrying members of the Northwest Sled Dog Association are prepared to take you on a free excursion through the actual snow.
Step 4 – Head for iceland. What better way to welcome 2009 than flat on your cold keister? Suncadia’s New Year’s Eve Family Ice Skate and Celebration provides the perfect venue for your legendary toe loop and triple axel
Step 5 – Load on the extras. Winterfest’s treats include breakfast with the Clauses (Santa and the missus; $15/$7), elf tuck-ins for children ($25 or so), holiday hot toddies for their older companions, Jack Frost Storytime, Santa’s workshop, Campcadia programs for kids from 4 to 12 ($70/$40), and an abundance of spa treatments.
“A New Year, A New You” will tune you up for 2009 for a mere $465. That’ll get you such things as the “Anti-Oxidant Body Wrap with Organic Mud,” the “Beyond Botox Facial’ and a “Relaxation Massage.”
Boy. There must’ve really been something wrong with the Old You.
For weirder ministrations, consider the “Tangerine Truffle Experience” for $50 to $115. That comes with “White Chocolate Manicure or Pedicure, a Touch of Tangerine Facial, Tangerine Truffle Massage, and the Sugar and Tangerine Scrub.”
There’s more, of course. Try www.suncadia.com for the spa menu along with a complete listing of Winterfest events and activities. Or call (866) 904-6301.
Suncadia’s Winterfest rates start at $169.
Regional events
•Drop and Shop, Dec. 13-14, Great Falls. Send your little ones off for three hours of activities just for them at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center while you finish your holiday duties. ( www.fs.fed.us/r1/lewisclark /lcic/ or 406-727-8733).
•Yellowstone Association Institute, winter courses through March 24, Yellowstone National Park. This nonprofit field school offers in-depth knowledge to help you better understand and enjoy all the park has to offer. (www.yellowstone association.org/institute/ or 307-344-2293).
•Northwest Asian American Film Festival, Feb. 26 to March 1, Seattle. It’s just like it sounds. Categories include short, experimental, documentary and narrative films. ( www.nwaaff.org).