Sundance Experience

Wow . . . I can't believe I have been home five days and I haven't had a chance to write about Sundance.  It was a magical and incredible experience and I want to get it down into words before time gets away from me . . . I don't want to forget.

It truly was a beautiful time and I have wanted to travel there as long as I can remember.  My husband has always wanted to travel to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, so we were able to combine the two travel wishes and come up with an awesome experience!  Sundance was everything I thought it would be, beautiful, serene, majestic and definitely Robert Redford territory!!  My hubby arranged for us to fly into Salt Lake City, so Sundance was our first stop!

All of the rooms were quaint cabin like rooms, they were charming, intimate and had so much character. We even slept by fire, how wonderful is that!  The view outside my room was amazing and I was able to just sit and knit, drink coffee and soak it all in.  I truly wasn't ready to leave and head on.

While I was there we were able to enjoy all that Sundance had to offer, except skiing.  It had already closed for the season and I kind of liked that.  The pace was much slower and not as crowded.  The Sundance gift shop was beautiful . . . and it had all the items in it that I had seen in my Sundance catalogs!  That was pretty cool to me and of course, I came home with goodies.  In fact, right now I am drinking coffee out of my pottery Sundance mug while writing my blog entry

 (it makes the coffee definitely taste better)

While I was there I was able to take a two hour Print making class at the Art Shack Studios.  I was disappointed at first that I couldn't get a Watercolor class, but after taking the class, I was so glad that I had experienced yet another new and exciting art medium.  I just wanted to share with you a few pictures, it was so much fun!   I had my teacher all to myself and she was delightful!

My teacher was Linda Taynahza and she was so much fun! 

I think I first fell in love with her artsy and funky tennis shoes.

I had never taking screen printing before so I didn't have a clue about what to expect, I am always wanting to learn something new and this was definitely outside my comfort box!

Her press cost about $600.00 and this was just a little class press.  So I was tickled to be able to learn something new.  It was a fun class, I got to let my inner baby artist come out to play that day.  The art shack was inspiring in itself.  They have classes in pottery, watercolor, printmaking, and jewelry making.

They even have a gift shop in the art shack of all of the instructors work.  Beautiful items!

It was an amazing stay at Sundance; from the room, to the view, to the amazing food, and the nature that was all around me.  Waterfalls were in full rush with the snow beginning to melt from the mountains.  I was in sensory overload and loved every minute of it.  It is tough to experience so much beauty and then try to express it with the written word.

The sweater you see me wearing I purchased in the Sundance catalog over six years ago, never did I dream that truly one day I would be wearing it right there at Sundance.  I purposely packed that baby to take with me!!  Little things like that mean the world to me (I know I am so corny!)

My only regret of my trip . . . was not being able to run into Robert Redford!  All of the staff says he is there all the time and what a terrific and nice boss he is.  His presence is everywhere and the photos all around the place were so fun to see.  He definitely had a vision when he bought a mountain and began to create Sundance in 1964.  If you ever get the chance to visit, I encourage you to do so.  I am just so glad that I was able to experience his dream for Utah for just a short time.  I will never forget it!

Donna Lee