Au Revoir Vancouver!

The odyssey has come to an end! I left Vancouver via Amtrak at 6:40 am today and am now sitting in the Seattle airport awaiting my flight to Minneapolis. That departure is an hour away. It was a fabulous trip, and I wrapped up my final day north of the border by doing a lot of shopping!





Here's the Olympic Cauldron in a portion of downtown Vancouver...







I'll be home in about 4 hours!

Rick

No I didn't fall off the mountain...

But it feels like it! Wow, what a couple of days...I apologize for not being able to post since Wednesday night. The timing wasn't right, as there is just too much to see and do and time is running short. So Thursday, I had most of the day off with only a Men's Hockey game between Russia and Slovakia schedule for 9:00 pm Pacific time. One of the things I accomplished was to make it to the base of the outdoor Olympic Cauldron. They lit the Olympic Flame during Opening Ceremonies a week ago, but Wayne Gretzky also lit the outdoor one so I wanted to see it up close and personal. It's quite the sight. There had been some controversy here in Vancouver regarding a fence they put up around the torch which kept people so far away and unable to access it. They moved the fence so you can get pretty close to it now. I also stood in a LONG line to get into the Olympic Superstore. It is THE place to shop for Olympic Merchandise. The line to get in was 5 blocks long (I'm not exaggerating) but they let 200 people in at a time so it really only took about 25 minutes to get into the store. I picked up a few things, but mostly it was a scouting adventure because I don't have any actual events to attend on Saturday, so I'm going to use a good portion of tomorrow to round up souvenirs! So after bumming around downtown and watching street performers and the like, I made my way over to Canada Hockey Place. Canada was playing Switzerland at 4:30pm (the game prior to mine) and they ended up going to overtime and won in a shootout. You could hear the explosive roar of the crowd from the arena and all over the city when they scored the game winner! They take their hockey VERY seriously here in Canada. So by virtue of Canada winning, that put everyone in a good mood and we made our way into the arena for our game. This game also went into an overtime shootout with Slovakia pulling off a minor 2-1 upset. It was very exciting. Russia is considered one of the favorites to win the Gold Medal in Men's Hockey, so to see them get beat was electric. So it was a late night getting home from the hockey game. I do have to make an admission at this point though. One of things I told myself prior to this trip was to be adventurous and try different dishes to eat. So I stopped at 1:00 am at a Chinese Restaurant that was still open and serving dinner. I was hungry because I just didn't like the idea of $7.00 hotdogs at the stadium! So I looked at the takeout menu, and there were two dishes that were featured prominately. One was squab, which I think is pigeon. And the other was ostrich. I just couldn't bring myself to try either one so I settled for Shrimp and rice. I didn't get settled in for the night until 2:00 am and I had to be up very early because today was the day I headed north into the mountains for the Men's Super Giant Slalom. That required an 8:15 am bus departure, and when they say 8:15 am, they mean you have to be there and get checked into your bus reservation at least an hour earlier. So it's a 15 minute bus ride to the light rail station. Then another 15 minutes on light rail to something called the Sea Bus. It's a ferry boat that shuttles people across the bay. That's another 15 minutes. So as I figured it, I had to set my alarm for 5:00 am to get going today. We got loaded on the coach buses for a 2 hour ride north into the mountains. Obviously it was uphill the whole way and CURVY! Sheer granite cliffs towered above us on one side of the ride while open water was on the other. VERY picturesque. And all the streams and waterfalls running down the mountainsides! Like a postcard. So we finally arrived at Whistler Creekside, the venue for today's event. Of course, there was the requisite security screening. DId I mentionit was an uphill walk at a relatively steep incline for about3/4 mile to get to the security area? Let's just say, plenty of other walkers passed me by on the way up the mountain. Then after making it through the screening process, I experienced a first for me. A chairlift ride up the mountainside. Oh yes, I was holding on tight!. That brought us to the grandstand area. It was another bright and sunny day, and I think I was th eonly perosn there without sunglasses! Rookie mistake. It was bright up at that elevation. But we were seated right at the base of the race course and there was a big video screen so we could watch the racers on the top part of the course and then saw them with our own eyes as they came over a jump for the final :30 of the run. The gold medal winning time was 1:30 and the USA took Silver and Bronze today. A Norwegian won gold. There were 60+ skiiers competing and they sent them down the course every minute. About halfway through, a Swedish skiier had just come into view when he lost control and took a terrible fall. They had to suspend the race for about a half an hour and they ended up bringing him down the rest of the course on a stretcher and airlifted him out. I haven't heard how he turned out. It sure put a hush over the crowd though. So that put the race well behind schedule so once they resumed they began speeding up how often they sent the racers down the mountain, so there were often 2 skiiers on the racecourse at the same time. It made it a little more difficult to follow. THe racers that came down early in the day ended up with big advantage, because it got so warm for the later racers, that the snow softened and slowed down, the the 3 medal winners were all among the first 10 or so guys of the day. The course was still frozen and hard when they came down so it was much faster. The racers at the end really had no fair chance to win. I looked for someone with the International Olympic Committee to protest to about this, but it fell on deaf ears. There were a couple of Australians racing and one from Great Britain. It's always interesting to hear knowledgable fans discuss the sport. I was sitting among a large contingent of Swiss ski fans. The Swiss are VERY big into downhill skiing. They had a very disappointing day as none of their guys did well at all so they were grumbling quite a bit. Finally the event was over and it was time to head back to the buses to head back to Vancouver. Only this time, there was no ski lift to bring me down like it had brought me up! I have never walked down that steep an incline for that long ever in my life. My legs were burning! I bet it took at least 45 minutes to walk down the mountain. In hindsight, today was my least favorite day of the trip, just because of what it took to get to and from the event itself, and to be honest, it wasn't that exciting an event, but it definitely was an experience. I wish I would have lined up a different event in Vancouver rather than go up to Whistler. Then it was the 2 hours winding, curvy ride home, and the reverse Sea Bus, Light Rail and Bus trip home. I'm shot. It's leftover Shrimp and Rice and then to bed! I do have pictures from the previous two days, but for some reason I wasn't able to access the internet on my laptop through this new connection so I'm using my hosts computer to post this and I don't want to load down this computer with photos and videos.
The trip is winding down. One more full day in Vancouver (a GORGEOUS city), and then it's back home.

Good night for now,

Rick in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Men's Hockey

Hello everyone, I spent a good portion of yesterday making a move to downtown Vancouver. After that was accomplished, I made it to Canada Hockey Place to take in 2 Men's Hockey Games. THe games were at 4:30 pm and 9:00 pm. The first game featured the defending Olympic Gold Medalists from Sweden against Germany. Sweden won that game 2-0. I was seated next to a guy from Stockholm and he was really enjoying the game. It's fun to see and hear the chants and songs come from the crowd from each nation. It seems tha tthey each have their own individual style when it comes to cheering. The 2nd game was the Czech Republic against Slovakia. And what a game this was! It was much more entertaining because both teams feature NHL All- Stars and the action was furious and end to end. And the crowds were incredible! They were very loud! Lots of flag waving and almost everyone was wearing a jersey or flag of either country. Everyone had a great time! I saw Marion Gaborik score a goal for Slovakia and Jaromir Jagr score one for the Czechs. Where I'm staying at now is only about 10 minutes from the hockey stadium so that's nice, not having to take a 40 minute bus ride and then a 40 minute ferry ride to get home! Tonight I have another Men's Hockey game at 9:00 pm and that game is Russia against Slovakia.

I'm planning on spending time down around athlete's village and the Flame! The weather is gorgeous again here today so I better get out and enjoy.

Bye for now!

Rick in Vancouver

Today was Men's Curling

It was a late night after Pairs Figure Skating last night, which I'm not ashamed to admit was MARVELOUS! Watching it live doesn't even begin to compare to watching it on television. This morning was an early wakeup call so I could be aboard the 6:20 am ferry to make my way to Pacific Coliseum to watch Men's Curling. The USA played Germany, while at the same time Canada played Norway, Sweden took on Great Britain and Switzerland played Denmark. All 4 events were going on at once, right in front of us! Now, I knew VERY little about the basics of curling, but was fortunate to get a seat next to an elderly gentleman that was very enthusiastic about explaining to me the basic rules, terminology and strategy. He obviously was highly interested in the Canada/Norway match, but also was keeping a close eye on the USA/Germany game so he could help me understand what was happening. USA eventually lost 7-5. I was told that scores for games are typically in the single digits. As I sat and watched and thought about it, it occurred to me that several phrases we use commonly are probably derived from curling. Have you ever said "you hit it right on the button"? Well, in curling, the center circle in the scoring ring is called "the button" and the object is to get your stone closest to or directly on "the button". Or how about "they live just a stones throw from here"? Well, the rocks with handles they use in the game are called stones and you "throw" them down the ice sheet. "Putting the hammer down?" A curling game consists of 10 "ends". Each end consists of 16 stones thrown. 8 by each team, and 2 by each of the 4 team members. The big advantage to have is to be able to throw the final stone in an "end". That final stone is known as "the hammer".

Here is the entrance to Pacific Coliseum, site of Curling.

Here's a look at 5 of the teams competing...at the bottom is Canada in white and you can just see below them a guy in red. That's Great Britain. They guy in Yellow are Sweden. Then it's the USA in Blue, and at the top of the picture is Switzerland in Red.

Do you see all the stones inside the rings on the USA sheet of ice? The rings are called "the house" and when there are several stones in there, it's called a "crowded house". Those two stones out in front of the house are called guards and their purpose is to defelct incoming stones from knocking the stones inside the house out of the scoring ring, or away from "the Button". That's the blue circle in the middle. Teams will throw a stone down the ice and then make it stop as a guard once they get a stone close to the button. Each game consists of 10 ends, and if the score is tied at the end of 10 ends, they play an extra end, sort of like overtime. Canada and Norway went to an extra end and Canada had the Hammer, "last stone", but Norway had a stone inside the house and another guarding it out front, so the only option for Canada was to throw the Hammer, make it curve around the guard stone in front and then somehow sneak it in closer to the button than the Norwegian stone. You've seen those guys with the brooms sweeping the ice in front of the stone? Well they were able to help the Canadians get the winning shot and they beat Norway in an extra end 7-6. The place went nuts! Curling is HUGE here. Where I am staying, in the small coastal community called Gibsons, they have their own curling club, and I imagine it's the same in almost all communities.
Here's Team USA footage with a little bonus commentary from some Curling Know-It-All.....

Tonight, on my last trip to the Langdale Ferry Terminal (I'm moving into the city of Vancouver tomorrow), the sun finally came out, allowing me to capture just a small taste of the natural, rugged beauty of this country that I'm surrounded by every day.

Tomorrow, as I mentioned, I move from the Sunshine Coast community of Gibsons into the city of Vancouver itself. This is because for the next 2 nights I have tickets to mens hockey games which begin at 9pm, which means there would be no way possible to make the last ferry across. That departs every night at 11:00 pm. My accomodations were arranged by my most gracious hosts here in Gibson, Norma and Rory Quinn, who I can't thank enough for opening the doors to their wonderful home to me and amking me feel so welcome. They brought me to and from the ferry every morning and evening, no matter how early or late. My first night here, they welcomed me with a spaghetti dinner, and now here on my last night, they prepared delicious steak, potatoes and corn with salad! Of course, we sat in the living from watching live coverage of the Canadian Men's Hockey team as they thrashed Norway at Canada Hockey Place this evening. Also, it was another big day for the country as they won their 2nd Gold Medal of the Games, with a local girl from North Vancouver winning Gold in the event called Snow Cross.

My final bit of news for today comes from my wanderings around downtown Vancouver this afternoon after Curling. I was walking around, people watching, window shopping, and just generally soaking everything in, when I noticed right in front of me, in a store aisle, the Ukranian Figure Skating Pairs team that I had witnessed on the ice the previous night! I recognized her immediately. I shook both their hands and told them congratulations and how much I enjoyed their performance. They smiled and said thanks. It was a fun little moment. This is a picture of them performing.

Tomorrow, my events include 2 Men's Hockey Games. At 4:30 pm it's Sweden vs Germany, and then at 9:00 pm, it's the Czech Republich vs Slovakia. Lot's of NHL greats playing in those two games so it should be great fun.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Rick from Vancouver

Figure Skating is fun to watch..even when you know nothing about it!

One great thing about this trip is I'm getting to see lots of different parts of Vancouver. Yesterday I was ont he far Western reaches of the city for Women's hockey, and today I went east and saw Pairs Figure Skating! I know nothing about the scoring system used in figure skating, but there were plenty of people situated around me willing to explain the broader points to me. Neither the Americans nor the Canadians did well in this event. The Gold and Silver went to China while the Bronze went to Germany. And this was one of the very few events where the medal ceremony was held immediately at the site so I got to witness that, along with the raising of the flags and the playing of the Chinese anthem. It was all pretty cool. I have a short turnaround tonight. It was raining heavily when we left Pacific Coliseum tonight, and then it was a 20 minute bus ride to downtown Vancouver, and then another 50 minute ride to the ferry terminal to try and catch the last scheduled ferry run of the evening, the 11:00 pm boat across the Straight. The bus pulled up to the terminal at about 10:55pm so I knew it was going to be cutting it extremely clode to make the last ferry of the day! As luck would have it, there had been a probelm with a ramp on the other side of the trip so the ferry was delayed and we actually got started about 15 minutes late, which meant I didn't get home until almost 12:30am (2:30 AM in Minnesota). And tomorrow morning, I head to the southern part of the city, to watch men's curling, which begins at 9am. That means I have to be on the 6:20 am ferry. So I will close off for tonight.

Women's Hockey Day!

Hello everybody! I made my way over to the far western part of Vancouver, to the campus of the University of British Columbia and Thunderbird Arena, site of Women's Hockey. I saw 2 games today, beginning with the noon start of team USA against China. This is a pretty small arena. I would estimate seating capacity at 8,000-10,000. So even though my seats were in the 2nd level, they were still quite good. I was seated just over the left shoulder of the Chinese goaltender in the first period. This was fortunate, because the USA kept the puck in that end of the rink for about 19:30 of the 20:00 first period! Team USA won 12-1 so it wasn't even a competitive game. Let's see if I can get the video to work again....the International Olympic Committee met in emergency session and immediately voted this to be the most disgusting display at the 2010 Winter Games....

The second game featured Finland against Russia, and Finland dominated the Russians 5-1. It was interesting to watch simply for no other reason than to watch the nationalism from those two countries and not have a rooting interest. Finland was pretty good though. But some Finnish fans sitting next to me asked me how I though Finland would do against the USA, since they knew I had seen the USA win earlier in the day. I told them USA would win probably 6-3. They seemed happy with that. During the USA game, sitting just 5 sections away from me, and remember it's a small arena, so 5 sections isn't that far, were Vice President Joe Biden and 1980 Miracle on Ice team captain Mike Eruzione. Biden got some boos from the crowd when his face was shown on the big screen at the arena. Now when I get home, I see that his motorcade was involved in a traffic accident on their way from the arena and former Olympic Gold Medal winners Peggy Fleming (figure skating, 1968, Grenoble, France) and Vonetta Flowers (2-woman bobsledding, 2002 Salt Lake City) were slightly injured. Both were ok after being treated at a local hospital. Also, while waiting at a bus stop this morning, someone claimed that the women's gold medal figure skating champion from a couple of Olympics ago walked by on the street. I can't be sure though. No one seemed to be making that big a deal, but I suppose it's possible.

While waiting for the ferry over to Vancouver this morning, I asked some folks where a good place would be to get a hold of some pins. They said I coould find them all over! Then they said "Here, you don't have any, we've got some extras" so they ended up giving me 3 of their pins! One of a Canadian flag, another representing Manitoba, and the third was a red and white Maple Leaf from a local Legion Club. The Canadians are SOOO generous! One of my goals is to find more pins, especially of the events I'm going to see in person. Another person I talked to recommended a couple of other places to go to that have limited edition pins, so I might check those out if I get a chance.

Now, to the weather. Boy did it break today!!! Sunny blue skies, very warm..I'd say at least 50 degrees, green grass everywhere, flowers coming up, kids playing soccer, joggers in the parks...it certainly doesn't LOOK like the Winter Olympics should look! But when that sun came out today, it was so bright and so nice.

Let's see, what else...hmmmm I found out I miread my schedule and thought I had Men's Curling tomorrow, which would have meant an early morning ferry ride (6:20 am). But that's not until Tuesday. Tomorrow, I have the Pairs Figure Skating Free Program. That shouldn't be as long a ride on the bus. That venue, Pacific Coliseum, is the same one used for Short Track Speed Skating. It's located just east of downtown Vancouover. I am getting more and more familiarized with the streets here so I am getting a better handle on where I'm at and where I need to get off the bus.

My closing thought for tonight...I discovered a new treat tonight. Apparently, the way to eat french friees here is not with ketchup, but with a rich, brown gravy! Let me tell you, I think the Canadians got that one right! If you ever get a chance to eat at a Whitespot Restaurant, I highly recommend it.

Ok, off to catch some sleep, and hope the weather cooperates once again. Talk to you after figure skating tomorrow night!

From Vancouver,

Rick

Happy Valentine's Day

Well the video upload didn't go as planned. I think because it was too long. Oh well. I'm off today to see Women's Hockey. USA vs China. It's at a place called UBC Thunderbird Arena on the campus of the University of British Columbia. That's a noon start. Then at 4:30 it'll be Russia and Finland. Hmmmmm who to cheer for in that one.....I guess I'll flip a Canadian coin....Caribou head it's Russia, Queen Elizabeth II it's Finland.......ok here's the coin flip.. and it's.......RUSSIA!! RUSSIA!!RUSSIA!!!!!!
Have a great day everyone and I'll tell you all about my day later.

Rick

Let's try some video!

Let's see if I can get this to work...This is video of the USA delegation entering the arena and then right at the end, you can hear the roar as Team Canada begins their entrance. I apologize for the shaky camera work, but people were standing up and I didn't have a tripod so it gets kind of jumpy at times.

Today I didn't have any event tickets but I went into Vancouver any ways, just to take in the atmosphere and do some shopping and sightseeing. The big news this morning was some demonstrations turned violent downtown and some large storefront windows were broken. One of the places that was damaged is call Hudsons Bay Trading Company. Its a HUGE department store, and during the Olympics, it's also the official outlet for any kind of souvenir. Clothing from most of the countries, hats, those red mittens you've probably seen people wearing. (They're kind of the unofficial symbol I think, at least they seem to be the most popular item. Everyone it seems is wearing a pair. That and Canada scarves. ) For lunch I tried an Chinese food place. It was really good...Sesame chicken, rice and bbq pork....tomorrow I'm going to try and find a nice Italian restaurant.

The schedule for tomorrow includes two women's hockey games. This includes the USA vs China at noon and then Russia vs Finland at 4:30pm. It also begins my 5 day long string of having an event to go to every day! Monday it's Men's curling, Tuesday is Pairs Figure Skating, the Free Program, then Wednesday I have 2 Men's hockey games, Thursday another Men's hockey game and then Friday I head North up toe Whistler for the Men's Super Giant Slalom. I'mm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will hold out for that! I guess they postponed the Men's Downhill up there today. I don't know what would happen if my event that day got postponed. I guess I'd just be out the price of the event ticket plus the bus ticket up there and back. I haven't heard anything aboout refunds!

I think I'll settle in now and watch some tv for the rest of the night. You can watch Olympic coverage 24/7 up here on Canadian Television.

Talk to you tomorrow after Women's Hockey!!! USA!! USA!!!USA!!!!

Rick

The Games of the Winter Olympiad are officially open!

Where to begin??!! In a nutshell, I'll start by saying it was the most spectacular visible spectacle I have ever witnessed! The energy, the emotion, the excitement were all almost indescribable but I'll do my best!

The early afternoon ferry ride and subsequent 40 minute bus ride into downtown Vancouver put me in the very heart of the excitement! Here are a few pics from the ferry to give you an idea of the surrounding terrain and the gloomy weather.

So then I made it into downtown Vancouver and was it ever full of people from all over the globe. Much more crowded and busier than the previous day. There were all kinds of street corner entertainment events going on. I got some good video of a trampoline act, there were several aboriginal dances going on, and people going this way and that. Here are some scenes from downtown Vancouver as I made my way to BC Place, the sight of the Opening Ceremonies.

The guy in the middle just kind of jumped into the picture with the two ladies. What's up with that, eh?

I made it to BC Place. Everybody had to go through a security checkpoint. That took about an hour. I was at the line for the security check by 1:30 pm. The doors to BC Place opened at 2:00. This gave me plenty of time to visit with people. Everyone is so super friendly and willing to visit and talk! It's amazing.. So the next order of business was to actually get inside the stadium. That was a breeze. The concourses were jammed with people. I needed something for lunch by this time so after getting a bbq chicken sandwich and a water I sat down at a table and was quickly joined by a couple from Canada. I came to find out that she lived in International Falls until she was 14 before moving to Calgary. Then a couple of young guys sat down, one from Canada, the other from Israel. He was all decked out in the Israeli flag. That seems to be a fashion trend. You wear your home countries flag as a cape. I saw Israel, Canada, Germany, Argentina, the Netherlands, USA, Norway, Russia, Denmark and several others attired like this! Really cool!.. Now it was time to find my seat, which was easy to do. What a GREAT view I had! And I was surrounded by fellow Americans, Chicago, Buffalo, St. Louis, Wisconsin were all represented in our little group. When everyone got to their seat, their was a box and a very nice souvenir program waiting for us. Inside the box were several items to be used by the audience during the Ceremonies. A couple of different flashlights, a Canada flag, a plastic drumstick
used to beat on the box like a drum (makes sense huh?) Also a white poncho. Each stadium section had a volunteer leader down in front of us giving us instructions on when to wave the flashlight, or beat on the drum, which direction to wave the flashlight, which cadence to beat the drum...It was quite involved. I, like many others, saved my box and everything in it and brought it home with me so I can show people when I get back to Minnesota. The prep time took almost an hour, which brought us up almost to 6:00 pm, the start time for the Ceremonies! Excitement was at a fever pitch! And then it began with the introduction of the Aboriginal Tribes, the 4 Nations people.

After several musical acts from noted Canadian performers, the incredibly intricate and choreographed light show began, highlight all regions of Canada. Hopefully the video I got does it justice. The lighting effects were out of this world. And then it was time for the parade of Nations..led, as customary, by Greece. The countries then followed alphabetically. The country of Georgia received a roraring ovation for their delegation which was missing one member. A young man was killed on a training run at the luge course today and the Georgia team marched in wearing black scarves and a black stripe on their flag. It was very touching and moving. My excitement was building as we got closer and closer to the United States entering the arena. They received a thunderous round of applause, but even that paled to the welcome that the Canadians got when they marched in! The host country always marches in last.

And then came the climactic moment..the arrival of the Olympic Torch and the lighting of the cauldron. It was stunning to see. And with that, the Opening Ceremonies came to a close and it was time to head back outside and find my bustop so I could catch the 11:00 pm ferry home. Luckily, I made it just in time and now need to catch some sleep so i can get up and do it all again tomorrow (later today at this point). I don't have event tickets for anything but there are all kind of free activities all around the city and of course, people watch! Until tomorrow...Good night from Vancouver!!!

Rick

This morning 2/12/10

I took a ride around the island this morning, doing a little sight seeing. The house I'm staying at is right on the shores of Georgia Straight. Beautiful views. I will hop aboard the 12:30 pm ferry for the ride back to Vancouver!

Beyond My Wildest Dreams

Let's see, when I left you last, I was "Sleepless in Seattle" at SeaTac Airport. (SeattleTacoma). I just couldn't find a dark enouogh corner, or a quiet enough one to even attempt to try and get a few hours of sleep before the Amtrak left for Vancouver the next morning. So I improvised. And by "improvise", I mean I picked up a courtesy phone and called for a local motels courtesy shuttle to come and get me. 10 mintes later I was checked in, and shortly after, fast asleep. Keep in mind, by this time of the morning, it was 2:00 AM (4:00 AM Minnesota time!) I left a wakeup call for 5:30 am and was up and back at it a few hours later. The motel shuttle left just after 6:00 am. The shuttle dropped me off back at the airport, where I hopped on the Light Rail system. That eventually got me to the Amtrak Station in downtown Seattle about 40 minutes later. It was still dark out, but you could certainly tell it was milder than Minnesota temperature wise. The pilot had announced 45 degrees as the local temp whwen we had landed the previous night so it was somewhere in that neighborhood. Oh and did I mention it was raining?! In a little over 5 hours, I learned..IT RAINS A LOT HERE! The Light Rail station was only about a 3 block walk to the Amtrak Station. The Amtrak Station in Seattle is literally in the shadows of Safeco Field, home of the Mariners. Since we would be crossing from the USA into Canada, after checking my luggage, I had to go through Customs. That wasn't that big of a deal. Show them your passport and they issued you your seat number. The Amtrak Cascades pulled out promptly at 7:40 am as promised. I tried to doze a little bit, but I was afraid of missing scenery. Lucky, my seat was on the side of the train facing the water. The other side of the train's windows looked out at....well not too much. It was really gray and overcast, low hanging clouds and so forth...but even with the weather conditions, the scenery was, at times, spectacular! Tons of sea birds, pelicans, ducks, LOTS of eagles, geese, herons....Occasionally big ships, not cruise ships, but cargo ships....Even a few old Navy destroyers, but it looked they had been retired. I was struck by the amount of driftwood piled up the coastline, scattered among the massive granite boulders! It was a quiet 4 hour train ride. They featured the movie "Cool Runnings"..I'm sure because of the Olympic theme! As we crossed over into Canada, we were handed Customs Declaration forms to fill out. Being a snobby American, I announced loudly to the whole trains "Let me show you how an American signs a declaration!" and promptly laid down my big, looping signature...Ok, not really..but I thought it...plus, I didn't even pack a pen...I had to borrow one from the guy across the aisle. So finally we pull into Vancouver, and they tell us that the wasy Canada does Customs is that they require each train car to disembark and go through customs before the next car can continue. I was in train car #5, so I sat there for an hour! Finally, I got to the Customs agent and showed my passport, and I was keenly aware that they asked several pointed questions looking for very specific answers, and they were very good about maintaining eye contact with you. I suppose their trained in detecting "shiftiness". There were also several WELL armed guards and drug sniffing dogs to go by. But I passed with flying colors, and finally, it felt like I had arrived! First thing I did was go to the currency exchange and trade in somme of my American money for Canadien currency. I think most Americans are familiar with the Canadian quartters, dimes and nickles. But they have two other coins. They are in $1 and $2 denominations. The $1 coin is gold colored and called a "Loonie" The $2 coin is actually 2 colors! It has a gold center and a silver outer ring. It's called a "Twoonie". They don't have any paper $1 bills. And all of their paper money is a different color for each denomination so it's very easy to tell by sight what you have in your wallet. Once that was accomplished I was thirsty...so what else could I have to quench the thirst but a can of Canada Dry Ginger Ale of course!

My next mission was to find the place where I needed to pick up my tickets for Opening Ceremonies and two other events. So I stepped outside the train station and took my first picture in Vancouver. The picture of the Station at the beginning of this entry is that pic.


To find the office where my tickets were required another trip on a light rail system, this time Vancouver's. It was very efficient and easy to understand.


I got to the correct station to get of the rail, but I took wrong turn walking and ended up going quite a bit further than I needed to. But I didn't call it "being lost", I called it "exploring". Oh the people that ar ein the city for the Games! I can't begin to tell you how many different accents and dialiects I detected. Clothing from all sorts of nations... I kind of figured it would be that way, but until I actually heard it and saw it, I couldn't even imagine! I got my Opening Ceremony Tickets, and up until this point I didn't know what my seat would be at BC Place. But I know now. I go in Gate E, and I'm seated in section 439, row EE, seat 109. LOOK FOR ME! I can't wait.


This is getting quite long and there are several things I haven't even begun to tell you about my day today yet, but my mind is turning to jello. In a nutshell, I had to jump on another light rail ride, transfer to an Express bus for a 40 minute ride north of Vancouver to the Horseshow Bay Ferry Terminal, and then hop aboard the ferry for a 40 minute ride across the open water to the Langdale Ferry Station. That is located about 5 miles from where ny hosts live, in a small oceanside, artistic community of apporoximately 3,500 population. The name of the town is called Gibsons. If you get a chance and want to find out more, just Google The Sunshine Coast, British Columbia and you can read all about it. The Sunshine Coast is the nickname of this area of the mainland of Canada.





Before I forget, here's one other picture that I took during my "walk-about" (yes struck up a conversation with a woman from Australia!) It's of the Vancouver Art Gallery and it was pretty nice looking...









The couple I am staying with picked up at the ferry terminal, drove me to their home, and fed me delicious spaghetti for dinner! They are an incredibly nice couple and we had a great, hour long conversation on all kinds of wide ranging topics. They were incredibly generous to open their home to a complete stranger and it is a great situation for me! Of course all this happened while it was dark outside, so I couldn't see anything as far as scenery goes from the ferry, so that's why there are no pictures of that! But I promise, there will be. I'll also show you just what the inside of one of these massive ships looks like! I had no idea!

I think I'll sign off now and get some sleep. I won't sleep in too late though...Too much to see and do and too little time to accomplish it in! I think the doors open for Opening Ceremonies at 3:00 pm so I'll be back downtown by mid to late morning I would guess.

My two closing thoughts for tonight.. I made myself a promise after walking around downtown Vancouver "exploring". There's NO WAY I'm going to eat lunch or dinner at a chain restaurant like we have around home. There are just too many different varieties and styles of places to eat to sit down for a dinner of McNuggets!

And lastly, I'll admit I got a little choked up when I stopped on the street in downtown Vancouver and just tried to take it all in, to realize that this was all real. So I can only imagine the emotions at Opening Ceremonies tomorrow night!

Talk at you tomorrow!

Rick

Sleepless in Seattle

I have arrived in Seattle! The wheels of my flight left Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport at 10:18 pm and touched down in Seattle at 1:33 am (11:33 pm local time). The flight was really uneventful, thank goodness. It wasn't the biggest plane in the world...3 seats on each side of the aisle. And it wasn't a full flight so I had an opportunity to stretch out a bit. No sleep though! I struck up a conversation with a gentleman across the aisle. He and his wife were traveling from Cleveland and had a connecting flight in Mpls. It helped pass the time. Seattle, even though it's dark out, appears to live up to its billing. Misting and raining....about 50 degrees. At least that's what the pilot said, I haven't been outside yet. 1 leg of the journey complete. Time to go to baggage claim and pick up my luggage and then try and find a nice dark quiet corner of the airport for a few hours! The train leaves the Amtrak station at 7:40 am. There is a light rail line that takes you from the airport to downtown Seattle. Bye for now!

This is it!!

Well, today is the day! I fly out for Seattle tonight and arrive in Vancouver about noon tomorrow (Thursday). I think the day got off to an ironically good start today. I stopped to fill up with gas and who is the first person I ran into? Bowlus native Duane Bobick, who represented the United States in Boxing at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany! We chatted briefly and he wished me well on my trip.

Speaking of well wishes...I can't thank the people of Pierz enough for the good wishes, thoughts and gifts they've given me as I prepare to head north! Trust me when I say I'm taking a small part of central Minnesota with me when I go. Your kindness and genorosity will never be forgotten! I'll try and update again from the airport in Seattle tonight, maybe test out posting some pics from there....Seen one airport baggage claim area, you've seen them all? Hahahaha, we'll see.....

It just gets better!

Here's the latest update....Thanks to my brother, I was able to get in contact with Wynn Roberts, a member of the USA Men's Biathlon team. He's from Battle Lake, MN and my brother knew his dad when they were in school. We traded text messages today and long story short, he told me to give him a call when I get to Whistler for the Alpine events and he'll get me into the athlete's Olympic Village. How cool is that? Who knows who I'll get a chance to meet there? Thanks Jay!!

Well, it's only a week away now! 99% of the preparations have been made, and now it's just a matter of waiting out the days until the big day!



I can't believe how many people have shown an interest in my trip! As it gets closer and closer, almost everyone I talk with has some questions are just wants to talk about the trip! I hope this blog is a good way for everyone to share in the experience.


Just a reminder, here are the events I have tickets to:

Friday, February 12th
Opening Ceremonies - 6 pm BC Place



What kind of incredible spectacle will the Canadians pull off? Who will light the Olympic Cauldron? How cool is it going to be to see all the nations march in behind their flag bearer! This the ONE ticket I had to have when I began making my plans to attend. I still don't know exactly where I'll be sitting at BC Place. It's a Category B ticket, so it's not the best (A), and it's not the
worst (C) available ticket. I just hope I'm positioned to get some good photos!



Sunday, February 14th
Women's Ice Hockey - Noon UBC Thunderbird Arena


USA vs China



While the USA is heavily favored to reach the medal round, the young Chinese team is looking rebound. The Chinese women finished 4th in 1998 at the Nagano, Japan games, but the team fell to 7th in Salt Lake City in 2002, and then failed to qualify for the 2006 games in Turin, Italy. China qualified for the 2010 Games with wins in November 2008 over Norway, Czech Republic and Japan. Unlike the USA squad which is chosen from literally thousands of players, there are only approximately 200 women hockey players in China to choose from. There are 12 teams in the tournament. There are 3 groups, A, B and C. The USA and China are in Group B, along with powerhouses Finland and Russia.

Women's Ice Hockey - 4:30 pm UBC Thunderbird Arena


Finland vs Russia
I will get a chance to get a little lunch after the USA vs China game and the settle back in and check out the other two teams in Group B, Russia and Finland. The Fins are widely considered the 3rd ranked Women's Hockey team in the world, behind Canada and the USA. Finland defeated the USA for the first time ever in the 2008 World Championships in China by a score of 2-1. Finland won the bronze in 1998 in Nagano, and finished 4th in both 2002 and 2006 in Salt Lake City and Turin. The Russians are ranked 6th in the world. They failed to qualify for the Games in 1998, but finished 5th in 2002 and 6th in 2006.



Monday, February 15th

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett


Figure Skating - Pairs Free Program - 5:00 pm Pacific Coliseum

This is a medal event! So that in itself will be extra exciting. I'll be honest. I don't know much about figure skating, but I'm not too worried because everything I've heard and read leads me to believe that even the so called "experts" get confused by the scoring system used by judges. The US team consists of 16 year old Caydee Denney and 25 year old Jeremy Barrett, who won the US National Pairs Figure Skating Championship last weekend in Spokane, Washington. Also on the team are the pair of Amanda Evora, 25, and Mark Ladwig, 29, who finished 2nd in Spokane.

Tuesday, February 16th



Men's Curling Men's Round Robin - 9:00 am Vancouver Olympic Centre


This is an event I'm really psyched for! The USA takes on Germany, and at the same time, the defensing World Champions from Great Britain take on Sweden, Norway battles Canada and Switzerland goes against Denmark! I was reading online today that the USA Olympic team, both men's and women's teams, had a sendoff today (Feb. 3rd) from Eveleth! Even more exciting about the Men's team is that ALL of the members of the team are from Minnesota! The coach is from Eveleth, the Skip, John Shuster, is from Duluth, the Third, Jason Smith, is from Chisholm, the Second, Jeff Isaacson, is from Duluth, and the Lead, John Benton, is from St. Michael. Even the alternate, Chris Plys, is from Duluth. So I guess I'll have to be extra patriotic for the USA AND Minnesota!

Wednesday, February 17th 2 GAMES TODAY!
Men's Hockey - 4:30 pm Canada Hockey Place
Sweden vs Germany

The Swedish men's national hockey team, Tre Kronor (Three Crowns in Swedish) as it is called in Sweden, is the reigning Olympic Gold Medal Champions. They also won the gold at the World Hockey Championships in 2006 against the Czech Republic, making them the first hockey team ever to win both events in the same year. The Swedes, like most Olympic teams, are loaded with NHL stars...Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings, Daniel Alfreddson of the Ottawa Senators, Goalie Henrik Lundqvist of the NY Rangers, Henrik Zetterberg of the Red Wings, Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Canucks (think they won't have a big cheering section?) and also longtime NHL star with the Avalanche and currently playing in Sweden for Modo, Peter Forsberg, among several others....The Germans are not a highly regarded world power in hockey, currently ranked 11th. As a matter of fact, their most recent medal in International Competition came with a Silver in the 1953 World Championships. The German roster is sprinkled with lesser known NHL'ers from the Sharks, Sabres, Canucks, Panthers, Predators, and Bruins.

9:00 pm Czech Republic vs Slovakia

Every player on the Czech roster is either a current NHLer or former one, led by the great Jaromir Jagr, who currently plays for a team in the Czech League. The Minnesota Wild are represented on this team by Defenseman Marek Zidlicky. The Czech's are not considered a Gold Medal contender, but are a threat to medal. As far as Slovakia goes, I had no idea who would be on their team until I googled their roster. Wow, they will have some talent on their squad, including former Minnesota Wild player Marion Gaborik! Other familiar names include Pavol Dmitra of the Canucks (another former Wild player), Marian Hossa of the Red Wings, Miroslav Satan of the Penguins, Zdeno Chara of the Bruins, and Goalie Peter Budaj of the Avalanche.

Thursday, February 18th
Men's Hockey 9:00 pm Canada Hockey Place
Russia vs Slovakia

Well, I just told you about the Slovakian team. Russia.....Considered by many to be the most talented team in the tournament, the Russians might be the Gold Medal favorites. Just look at their roster....their first line will consist of Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins centering Alexander Ovechkin of the Capitals on the left wing and Ilya Kovalchuk of the Thrashers on the right wing. Add Pavel Datsyuk of the Wings, Alexander Semin of the Caps, Sergie Federov of the Caps, Alexei Kovalev of the Canadiens, and former NHLer Alexei Yashin help make up perhaps the most explosive offense ever. On defense, the Russians feature Sergie Gonchar of the Pens, Andrei Markov of Montreal, Sergei Zubov of Dallas, and in goal, either Evgeni Nabakov of San Jose or Ilya Bryzgalov of Phoenix. Nikolai Khabibulin of the Blackhawks is also an option in goal.
This should be fun!

Friday, February 19
Alpine Skiing, Men's Super-G 11:30 am
Whistler Creekside

Super G incorporates aspects of both downhill and giant slalom racing. It involves skiing between widely spaced gates as in giant slalom, but with fewer turns over a longer course and with higher speeds approaching those achieved in downhill. Super G skiiers will often assume the "tuck" position as in downhill, but will continue turning constantly as in giant slalom, rarely encountering the periodic straight "gliding" sections of a downhill course. Super G courses in international must be at least one minute in length and can be as long as a minute and 45 seconds. Speeds at the World Cup level generally average from 55-60 mph. Super G is unique in that it is conducted over one run, like downhill, but racers are not permitted to train the course at full speed before the race. As in giant slalom and slalom, they are allowewd only a one hour visual inspection of the course on the morning of the race. This distinction adds to the unpredictable nature of the event and requires ski racing abilities that are different from the other three disciplines. Hermann Maier of Austria is regarded as the greatest Super G skiier ever, with 24 World Cup victories, 5 World Cup titles, a World Championship and an Olympic Gold Medal. The most well known USA Alpine Skiier is Bode Miller, who recently announced he's be taking part in all 5 Alpine events in Vancouver.

Thanks for reading!