This was a sponsored post on behalf of Grand Ridge Plaza in Issaquah Washington and Regency Centers for the Nix the List Sweepstakes and as always the thoughts and ideas in the post are my own- the winners were drawn but I’ve kept the post up just in case you’re headed to Suncadia and are curious what it’s all about in the wintertime.
So what is it like to go to Suncadia Resort in the wintertime?
My family was invited by Grand Ridge Plaza to visit Suncadia and see what a vacation there would be like. We went ages ago when the kids were really small and this trip to Suncadia actually inspired us to build our mountain home in Snoqualmie Pass. The Suncadia Resort is only about an hour from Issaquah and maybe an hour and a half from Seattle so it’s also a really close getaway and there are a ton of amenities like swimming and skating and golf in the summer. Good friends of ours also have a home in Suncadia so we’ve spent a bit of time hanging out there and because a lot of rentals can accommodate groups, it’s an easy place to book a trip to hang out with friends and family as well.
Make sure you bring supplies especially in the wintertime
It was so fun to pack up our car with our supplies from Grand Ridge Plaza that I talked about in another post and head to the mountains for a weekend getaway. We drove electric this time but we often stop at the Safeway in Grand Ridge Plaza for gas before we head to the mountains. In the winter you need to have chains in your vehicle if you cross the Pass so coming from Seattle we like Issaquah as a last stop where we can check to make sure we have everything we need and get things if we don’t.
We have stayed in the actual lodge at Suncadia before and these rooms are more like hotel rooms- this time we had a townhome rental about a three minute drive from the main lodge and very near the pool and ice skating. We didn’t have time for the pool this visit but my family was so excited to ice skate and sled. If you ask at the resort they will direct you where to sled and they have some snow tubes available if you need them for a rental fee. We brought our own and could have easily picked up some more up at Dicks Sporting Goods in Grand Ridge Plaza. We were given a Winter Activities flyer from the Suncadia front desk at check in and were tempted to try a snowmobile rental but we played in the snow so long we ran out of time. We also thought about trying the cookie decorating-the icing and decorations are included and this seems so much easier than making cookies and getting out all the accoutrements at home-but we also missed this because we played so long in the snow.
We were really lucky because there was a HUGE dump on snow when we visited this time. And when that kind of thing happens this is really all the entertainment that you need on a trip. There was even snow falling on the outdoor rink which made ice skating absolutely magical. (I am so so thankful too that we bought a boot-dryer to bring with us from Dicks Sporting Goods at Grand Ridge Plaza too!)
Suncadia is an animal-friendly resort
We are so thankful that Suncadia is a dog-friendly resort. It’s so much easier lately when Scout can come too. And Scout wasn’t the only animal we saw. There was a herd of deer that came by our place twice during our visit and it is really really cool to see that many deer hanging out in the snow.
Winter trips need puzzles!
We played for hours in the snow and only got a bit of our puzzle finished but we always love drinking hot drinks and puzzling after being in the snow. I just tried to pack it up very carefully so we can complete it on another weekend. At Snapdoodle toys in Grand Ridge Plaza you can order ahead online and then pick up in the store which makes shopping there really easy if you don’t want to linger or spend much time. And they have an excellent puzzle selection. Our vacation rental also came pretty stocked with games. And we started watching Jurassic Park Camp Cretacious on Netflix and it seems like it might be just a kids’ show but even the hubby and I are totally hooked on it.
And as for coffee at Suncadia?
Our rental also had a coffee maker with coffee pods, but we like to bring our own beans and grind them on vacation and the Aeropress we picked up from Caffe Ladro (there is one in Grand Ridge Plaza) works really well. We also bought our Rhino Coffee Gear hand coffee bean grinder from Starbucks years ago so you might check the one at Grand Ridge Plaza too if you are looking for one of these.
Do you love winter vacations? Have you ever been to Suncadia?
(PS. if you follow along and visit Grand Ridge Plaza, there is a beautiful new mural there and here is a bit of background information.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)