Rahlf Stories: Sister and Mom trip to Canyon Ranch:

The day after we arrived to Virginia my mom, my sisters and I left for a girls trip to Canyon Ranch in Arizona. Let me just say everyone needs to go experience this place!

Canyon Ranch is a resort that has all kinds of exercise classes, outdoor adventures such as hiking, biking and a ropes course, and a spa with many different options. They focus on healthy living and you being the best version of yourself. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and immediately changed and headed to a barre class. It was a nice little kick in the butt and a “welcome to Canyon Ranch”! After that class we took a yoga class. It was a nice to stretch and get ready for the next few days ahead. After our classes we had to go sign up for the spa treatments we wanted and the activities we wanted to do. It was a little overwhelming because they had a TON to choose from but I finally settled on a detox herbal body wrap, an anti-aging skin treatment, and a desert ritual. I also signed up for an astrology reading.

After signing up we headed to dinner. All the food is already paid for, so we could order whatever we wanted! The first night we had a delicious vegetable medley in a balsamic glaze, some miso soup and a very tasty crab cake.

After dinner I got my detox body wrap. I was wrapped in hot sheets and she gave me a scalp massage and neck massage while I sweated stuff out. It was nice except a little claustrophobic. We were all exhausted so after all our treatments we went right to bed!

Friday we did my favorite class. At 10am we did a Fierce! Tabata Workout. It was a class where we did different exercises and each exercise we would do as many reps as we could as fast as we could for a minute and then we would rest for 30 seconds and then do it again. Each exercise we would do for 5 minutes. It kicked my butt but I loved it. The worst part were the burpies at the end after we did all the other exercises. After that class I couldn’t really feel my legs so we took a little break and then went to eat lunch. I had to go sit in on Courtney head and neck massage with her because she wasn’t 18. I feel asleep in the chair because I was exhausted and it was dark and there was relaxing music playing. After that we met everyone at the pool and hung out there and ate frozen treats. We walked around the facility and then went to the store before we went to a pilates mat class. This was a great class after the one we did that morning.

Before dinner I had my anti-aging body treatment. I had different body scrubs put all over my body and then I rinsed it off. It ended with a moisturizing lotion that was massaged into my skin. It was a nice treatment and my skin was SO soft after.

After dinner we went back to our room and went to bed.

Saturday morning was a rough one. Getting out of bed was so hard. I could not put any weight on my feet without shooting pains up my calfs. We took our time at breakfast and then Melissa and I went to a women’s stretch class. This class was what I needed but standing up at the end and walking away was the hardest part. After that class we all did a core conditioning class. I loved this class as well. I have discovered I work out better and harder when I work out to songs that I know and love. We broke up into groups and did different exercises that focused on core strength but also our whole body as well.

After that class we went to lunch. Half way through I went to go get my body composition measured. I went in and she measured my body fat on my arms, my stomach my calfs and the back of my arms. I actually had better numbers than I expected and they lady made me feel good about myself because when I told her I had a baby a year ago she looked at me in shock and told me I looked amazing. I am at optimal performance level and considering I’m not 100% happy with my body she made me feel good about myself.

After lunch I went to my astrology reading. Astrology readings are when they look at how the planets were aligned at the time and day you were born. It was really cool to hear what he had to say about my life and my future. He gave me a recording of the session because he said a lot!

After that we went to lay by the pool again and then we ate an early dinner before we all got our last treatments of the trip. I went to my desert ritual which was my favorite treatment of the whole trip. I went into the room which was really pretty and she had me get into a shower with seven shower heads (amazing!!) and scrub my body with prickly pear body scrub. After the shower I laid on the table and she rubbed 3 different products on me including more prickly pear scrub and some honey. Then I got into a bath tub to soak. I am not really a bath person because my skin is sensitive but this trip may have convinced me to change my mind about baths. After the bath she massaged me with lotion. It was exactly what I needed. It was amazing. After my massage I had to sit with Brittany while she got the Euphoria ritual. I took another nap.

Courtney did not want to be in this picture

This is where I got my desert ritual

After we were all done at the spa we headed back to the room to pack up and go to bed.

This was such a great trip. I loved spending time with my sisters and my mom. It was a great bonding trip and I love just spending alone time with them. Like I said before everyone needs to experience this place and hopefully I can take Dane back one day!

We didn’t take as many pictures as I wanted but here is what we got: