SUNDAY....FUNDAY.....

Got up by 5:00 am. At about 6:30 the phone rang (there is a specific phone for each car).....it was Julie (our boss/dispatcher & "calm in the storm")....could we do a pickup at the Time Square Suites on our way in and drop them at the airport. That was one of the locations we were well aware of, so we headed directly there......they weren't expecting us and their flight wasn't until 1:00 so we called Julie (we are to call dispatch whenever we finish a trip or if there are any snags). She sent us to the airport for a pickup (Serena Ryder)......when we are dispatched we are given a sheet with the time of flight, destination, and name of party (although the "party" name is always the headliner....it could be a member of their band that we are actually picking up). In this case it was Serena Ryder's drummer "Mike" and his wife. Took them to the Inn on the Quay. We were immediately sent back to the airport for another pickup.....waited there for two "no-shows" ..... cool at the airport because hockey players were arriving to join their various teams....the attached picture is of Sue and Jeff Carter of the Flyers....he and Chris Pronger arrived to join Team Canada.

Our next pickup was Marie Mai. We didn't know her, but other people at the airport (particularly anyone under the age of 25 and more particularly French Canadian) sure knew her. You should google some of these people. She and her partner were really, really nice. She shared a secret with us......we can't say what it is, but let's just say that it involves a certain performer that we just met and a gig on the lineup for the Closing Ceremonies.

One of our many "volunteer perks" was complimentary tickets to one or two venues. We had requested tickets to "Voodoo Valentine" at the Orpheum Theatre (attached picture) and were told that it had long ago been sold out, but they did find us two tickets. It was the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with guest artist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR......google him). We picked up our tickets and headed downtown for a nice Valentine dinner. The show was fantastic....the tickets were unbelievable (16 rows from the stage). We discovered on our trip home that the last bus leaves our Skytrain station at 11:00 on a Sunday night .....we got there at 11:30.....ended up taking a cab back to Stephy's......long day....late night.....had a fantastic day (busy from the time we got up to the time we got to bed).....All that, and Canada's first gold medal (we were in the restaurant on Granville St. watching the freestyle on TV monitors). There were huge crowds downtown (because of the Olympics, Valentine's day, and Chinese New Year)....after the gold medal run, everyone went absolutely nuts.....first time we have cheered, screamed and yelled in a restaurant.

Heading back downtown tomorrow with Stephy and Gabriella.....it will be nice to have a day off.