March 1st - I'm home!!!

An early start to the day - up at 3:45, out the door by 4:25 and lined up at Westjet check in at 5:00 - it took me an hour and 15 minutes to get through the check in line, but my lovely daughter Courtney kept me company...she is heading back to Australia and had a 10:00 flight to L.A., then a 10 hour layover and then a 12 or so hour flight to Sydney...I guess my 2 little one and four hour flights don't look so bad!!!!

After multiple hugs and kisses from Courtney and a few tears (not sure when we'll meet up again as she is still planning to travel the world for the next year or so) I breezed through security just in time to board my plane to Calgary...about ninety minutes later we landed in Calgary and an hour later I was on a flight home to Ottawa...great flights despite there being no TV/movies happening as their system wasn't working...

I arrived in Ottawa at about 4:30 our time and was thrilled to see my son waiting for me...big hugs for him, and minutes later, Randy appeared as his direct flight which left 2 hours later than mine arrived at essentially the same time...he is off to Barbados on Wednesday, while I return back to work tomorrow...

And thus ends my Olympic adventure, well except for the retelling of stories...I have lots more pics than what I've posted here and more stories to tell  to anyone who is interested in hearing/seeing them...I hope that you've enjoyed reading about my month away - it has been a great way for me to track my adventure...

And now, back to regularily scheduled programs....

GO CANADA GO - Thanks Vancouver for a great Olympic experience!!!!

February 27th & 28th - Last Two Days!

On Saturday morning Dale was returning to Ottawa so I accompanied her to the airport on the skytrain.  After she checked in, I headed over to my friends' Jan and Ron to spend some time with them - they have been so helpful to me in the two year process of getting prepared for these Olympics - they've picked up and dropped Courtney and I from the airport numerous times and gave us shelter when we needed it...a big thanks to them for everything!!!  After that, I pretty much spent the rest of the day/evening getting packed up so that I could figure out if I would have enough roon to bring everything home - apparently I overbought on the Olympic souvenir front cause I am having to have a box of stuff shipped home - luckily the company I work for has an account with Fedex Ground so I can have it all arranged from work...guess where the box is right now...yup, at Jan & Ron's - another thank you!!!!

On Sunday, Randy came in from Whistler to spend the day/night with us so that we could all head out to the airport early on Monday morning...we rented a car for the day (24 hours) so that we could avoid using taxis to the airport...the Whistler bus dropped him off at the airport around 11:30 a.m. so I picked him up and we went back to our house to watch the hockey game - GO CANADA GO - then after the game (and a skype call to Deen (Randy's wife) in Barbados, we headed downtown to check out the Athlete's Village and the Olympic Flame...as an aside, Deen and our friends in Barbados watched the game at Bert's Bar where the place was packed with both US and Canadian fans - very exciting - and Eugene Melnyk was there watching also...when Deen was leaving she said to him..."now we can go back to concentrating on the Sens" to which he high fived her!  Back to Vancouver - Randy and I wondered around the village checking out the sights there and then we skytrained over to the Olympic Flame so that Randy and Courtney could see it...the rings were gold because of the hockey win and there were tons of people around...after that we headed back to the house for some pizza and then out to the airport to drop off Gary (housemate) at the airport for his 11:30 p.m. flight back to Ottawa...upon returning home, we finished up our packing then headed off to bed...it's a 3:45 wake up call for our flights home...

February 26th - Last Official Day of Work

This was definitely the best day of the Olympics for me...not because it was my last shift, but because the races were so amazing...and I got to watch most of them.  Originally I was supposed to meet up with my team at 7:00 p.m. to work the women's 1000 metre final which meant that I was able to watch the quarter and semi finals of that race, as well as the quarters and semis of the men's 500 metres.  Just after the women's semi, I got a call because I had to shadow a skater who would be skating later in the A or B final...which meant that I had to follow her whereabouts including into the preparation area for the final.  The preparation area is where they put on their skates and then go on the ice...and it is literally rink side...the really cool part of all of this is that the men were skating the 500 metre final just prior to the women's race and the person who was monitoring the preparation area let all the volunteers that were in the area go right up to the boards on the ice and watch the race...we had two Canadians skating in that race and if you saw the race you'll know that it was crazy!!!!!  Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified and our Canadian boys won Gold and Bronze...so exciting and the building was crazy loud.  Once that race was over and the women stepped on the ice I was able to leave my athlete and head back to the waiting room for the race to finish...and in the end I didn't have to chaperone her, nor anyone else...so...back upstairs I headed to watch the Men's 5000 Relay final...again we won Gold and let me tell you, the men's relay is just about the most exciting race to watch ever....the place was going crazy as there were tons on Americans, Koreans and Canadians in the crowd and all three of those teams, along with the Chinese were skating.  As you know by now, we won Gold!! 

When the race was finished I had to go back down to where the skaters get off the ice and preparations were being made for the medal ceremonies...in most cases the medals are given out at BC Place either the evening of or the evening after the event...I believe that figure skating, hockey and today's short track are the exception (there may be others, but these are the ones that I know for sure).  Well I am walking through the preparation zone and what do I see, but a table full of Olympic Medals - so I took the opportunity to photgraph them.  From there I headed back upstairs to watch the medal presentation...always electric when Canada wins and tonight we heard the National Anthem twice...pretty special for sure...

Here are some of the great pics that I took of this exciting evening!!!

The Silver and Gold Medals 

Hamelin and Tremblay get their Gold and Bronze Medals

The Relay Team and their Gold Medals!!!

Can't believe that it's almost over - it seems like just yesterday I was meeting Courtney at the airport, and now in just over 48 hours, we'll be saying goodbye to Vancouver.  Tomorrow will be a day of packing, and spending time with a friend, then Sunday we'll be watching the big hockey game...I'll try and post something just before I leave - hopefully it'll be of the city celebrating our win over the USA!!

February 24th and 25th - Short Track & Hockey

It was back to work for me last night, where I was chaperoning for the short track speed skating - taking place were the 500 metre men's heats and the 3000 metre women's relay - if you didn't watch this race, you missed out on all the excitement.  The Koreans, who originally came first, were disqualified for some type of obstruction near the end of the race, giving the Chinese team the gold, and our Canadians the silver!!!!  There was lots of excitement down by the ice surface as everyone was waiting to find out if the Koreans would indeed be disqualified, thereby raising everyone's ranking by one.  All were shocked when we saw the blood on the Chinese girl's face!  As you can imagine, the Korean team were very disappointed and upset - luckily I wasn't the person chaperoning them...

This morning, Dale and I decided to try our luck at getting tickets for the Bronze medal women's hockey game between Finland and Sweden.  We headed over to Canada Hockey place about 1/2 hour before game time and there were loads of people trying to sell tickets...by then they were just trying to sell their tickets at face value, but we decided to wait it out as there were lots of sellers, less buyers...in the end, we got $150 tickets for $40 - then moved down to the 100 section, 10 seats from the ice after the first period.  It was actually a great game - going into overtime - neither of us really cared who won, though we do have a sweet spot for our favourite Swede Daniel Alfredsson...

After the game, Dale and I decided to try our luck at getting tickets for the Gold Medal Game, but it was a different scene down by the rink for this game...lots of people looking for tickets, less people selling them.  We were offered tickets for $550 each, but we decided that we'd just go home and watch it on TV!!!!

After watching the game, we headed back into town to take in the Medal Ceremony at BC Place...Angie and Dale had bought tickets a while ago, but Angie had to work at the last minute so I was lucky enough to be able to use her ticket.  Canadian female athletes were receiving 3 medals this evening...the silver to the short track relay team, and the gold and silver to the 2 man (woman) bob sled - and even though the bobsled team were getting their medals in Whistler and it was just a live feed into the stadium, we all stood and sung the National Anthem.  After the medal ceremony, Burton Cummings played (for all you youngsters out there, he is the lead singer of the band "The Guess Who" a 70's iconic canadian band) and Dale and I knew the words to all the songs he played...at least the ones he played while we were there, cause we snuck out early to find a TV to watch Joannie Rochette skate.  We did so at Saskatchewan House on the big screen..so great to see her do so well, considering the circumstances.

The Silver Medalists (Short Track)

BobSled Champs

Did you know that almost all our medals have been won by female athletes - Girls Rule!!!!!!!!

February 20th to 23rd - Mostly Days Off!!!!

It's been a bunch of days off for me so not too much to report, but I do have some pics!!  On Sunday I worked Short Track Speed Skating where I chaperoned my first medalist - that was pretty exciting as I got to see all the excitement close up (closer up than ususal!!!), including the flower ceremony and the press conference.  I was also lucky enough to see most of the races that night...short track is pretty unpredictable, and super fun to watch.  Here are pics of the men's 1000 meter start and the women's 1500 meter start.

The press conference

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were either scheduled days off or call in shifts - so I ended up attending a curling match with Dale (housemate) on Sunday- Canada was playing China which resulted in their first loss...I have really enjoyed watching the curling, but the seats in that venue are pretty much the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat in...the fans there however are quite rambunctious and have been the talk of the games as far as fans go!!!!

Monday I just hung out in the city, which included an evening visit to the waterfront to view the  Olympic Cauldron.  Even with all the controversy about the fence obstructing the view, when you are on the viewing platform you are still closest to this flame than any other in history as in most games the flame is high in the sky.  I went to the waterfront in time to catch the flame both in daylight and night, but it is definitely most lovely at night...we were there too early to see the rings turn gold when Virtue & Moir won their gold medal so the picture I have shows the rings in blue.

 

On Tuesday I headed to Whistler to meet up with Courtney (who had spent Tuesday skiing up there - absolutely gorgeous day!!!!) to see a couple of bands that were playing that day.  Unfortunately it was a rainy day so a bit cooler than we have been used to.  We spent the afternoon on a patio watching Damien Marley (Bob Marley's son) and enjoying a few beverages, then later headed over to the Whistler Celebration Site to see the medal presentations and The Fray...which happens to be one of my favourite bands...poor Courtney - who is not used to cold weather anymore, froze throughout the concert, but stuck it out for her old mom!!!!!

Damien Marley - a huge crowd in the promenade of the village

Whistler at night and the Medal Plaza

February 17th, 18th, 19th, 2010

On Wednesday the 17th, I was supposed to chaperone at the short track speed skating event, but there were too many chaperones kicking around so I ended up just watching the races...which was totally Ok with me as I got to watch the women's 500 meter quarter/semi finals where 4 Canadians qualified...as well as the final where we won a silver - the crowd at the Pacific Coliseum is so enthusiastic and always has fun...lots of Americans and Koreans as well as Canadians so it is always electric during the races.  I also watched the Men's 1000 meter qualifications where both Charles and Francois Hamelin qualifed as did Apolo Anton Ohno (USA)...the men's relay semi was also that night, and if you haven't seen the relay, you need to watch the final (Feb 26th) - it is crazy and fast and anything can happen!!!!!

On Thursday I was at the Village for a shift where we did no testing at all...but we did get a chance to walk around the village and take some pics...and chat with our colleagues...I saw Evgeni Plushenko (Silver Medalist in Men's figure skating) walking to the transportation centre to catch his bus to his competition.  And apparently Alex Ovetchkin was strolling around the village shirtless...unfortunately I wasn't there at the time and have yet to see any hockey players...

These are pics in the village - the Canda Residence, which if you think looks a little crooked, it is - that's how it was built...the other pic is the moose that is in the village (there is one in Whistler also) - many of the athletes/visitors have taken to signing them...

This is a pic that I took from the village - BC place is on the left and Canada Hockey place is on the right...the night pic shows Science World (round) which has been coverted to Sochi House, the Russian Pavillion and the blue building is Quebec House...






Yesterday Courtney and I went up to Whistler for the day - we went on the Peak 2 Peak which is a gondola that goes from Whistler to Blackcombe Mountain - it is the longest unsupported lift span in the world - 1.88 miles long and 1,427 feet high...it was an absolutely glorius day and the views were spectacular...the pics below are me on Whistler Mountain, Courtney and I in the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, and the view from the Gondola (the one with the trees was taken at the highest point through the glass bottom of the gondola)

After the Peak 2 Peak, we met our good friend Randy for lunch and an afternoon of strolling around the village...as I said before, it was a spectacularily sunny day and there were tons of people in the village - all the restaurants were busy and their patios were filled to capacity.  One of the fun things about Whistler is that everything is happening right in the promenade - there are bands playing, people are dancing in the streets (and this is during the day), the media is everywhere and everyone is having a great time...pics are taken in the village and include Randy and Courtney, the Olympic Rings in Whistler Village, USA dancing in the street,

February 15th & 16th - Days Off!

Two days off in a row!!! Monday was a scheduled day off and today was a surprise - a last minute cancellation.  Yesterday Courtney and I just wandered around downtown, then met Angie & Dale (our other housemates) for dinner at a restaurant nearby BC Place as we were going to the Medal Ceremony later that evening...we had bought the tickets for this event at least 6 weeks ago, and at that time, the entertainment hadn't been announced (each night a different performer is there, for example, Nelly Furtato, BareNakedLadies, Billy Talent, INXS), last week they announced that Gregory Charles was playing - who the heck is he you are saying...us too, so we googled him and he is a big Quebec star (as each ceremony is sponsored by a province)...anyway, as it turned out, Canada's first gold medal was handed out at our ceremony so needless to say, we were all happy with the way it turned out...when Alex Bilideau walked onto the stage, the place went nuts and when the National Anthem played, we all sang along...I videoed it on my camera, but unfortunately can't share it here as the file is too big...I do have some pics though...

Rather than just hanging out today, I thought I would go to see if I could get a ticket to the Women's Curling - apparently if you go to the box office at the venue there are some last minute tickets released and available...I wasn't able to get one from the box office, but there was a guy on the street selling tickets for face value so I grabbed one of those..and held my breath that they weren't forgeries...good news, they weren't!!!!  The teams I saw were Canada vs Switzerland, Russia vs Germany, Denmark vs Sweden, and USA vs Japan.  All of the games were close and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it..although it is difficult to follow all four games.  Of course the crowd went wild went Canada was introduced and then when they made the last shot to win the game, we all went crazy again!!!