Olympic Dreams

The family headed two hours north to Vancouver for some Olympics action! It was Ben, Bri, Vera, Brandon, and Ashley. It didn't take us long to find some mounties. Oh yeah, and we brought signs!

We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Abbotsford. We had plenty of opportunities to try out Vancouver's mass transit. Here's Bri trash talking some Canadians.One of our goals for going to Olympics was to get on TV. Well it happened at our second of four events. It was a men's curling match (our first event was a women's curling match). Ashley made a sign encouraging the skip of the USA team, who had lost some tough games. The camera liked it and we were shown on TV four times during the match. The "GO USA" sign was mine. We received a visit from John Shuster's fiance who gave us some team USA curling pins for our effort. To cap it off team USA won on an overtime rock that hit thick and curled into the four foot circle. Here's at a look at the US men sweeping a stone. Shuster is on the left.

We had lots of time to kill so we went to see the torch. It was fenced off and very crowded. If I look like a vampire in the picture it's because we were all sleep deprived.

At the Belarus-Germany Hockey game that evening we caught up with Quatchi and Miga, the Olympic mascots. They rock.

On the way home from the hockey game Vera was serenaded by some very friendly, very drunk Canada fans. Their repertoire was a delightful mix of old country songs and Christmas hymns with modified words. Early the next morning we got on a bus for Whistler where we saw biathlon. For those of you who don't know, biathlon kicks butt. It's a mix of two very cool things; cross-country skiing and shooting. We saw the men and women's mass starts. It was riveting action.

Ashley made an intelligent sign that made it on TV a few times, though only in the background. (The five black circles are what the athletes shoot at, each the size of a half dollar from 50 yards) We had a great time at the events, absorbing Olympic atmosphere, and we even raided the official Olympics store; it was a 25 minute wait just to get in the front door. Bri and Ashley racked up pins; bought, given, and traded. Here they are at the bed and breakfast in Abbotsford.

Luckily we were close to the Vancouver temple being built in Surrey. We stopped by to take a look. The outside is complete, they're just working on the interior. All you can see is lights in the windows of the steeple.

Conclusion: The Olympics are awesome. We especially love the winter Olympics. Vancouver rocks. It's like Seattle, only friendlier (and Seattle is pretty friendly by US standards) and has better public transport. Vera was an angel. She slept through the night four straight times.