THANK YOU FROM SUE & JOHN

We've had a wonderful time......kept saying this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but not really understanding what that meant until we were totally submerged in it. A lot of the time we were tired and wet....sometimes hungry and cold.....disoriented quite often....but it was always fun.
There are some who had a direct impact on our experience and this is a special thankyou to them:
Firstly and foremostly to Stephy, Rocky and little Gabriella for putting up with our late nights & early mornings and for being such wonderful hosts.
To Julie for realizing early-on that keeping us together as a driver / navigator team would cause her a lot less headaches....also thanks for the cool s.w.a.g....and trips to Whistler as well as other unmentionable perks!!!
To Paul for the s.w.a.g. and the "Cobourg" reminicences.
To Donna for rightly predicting that by the time we left we would "know Vancouver".
To Keerthi for the fabulous concert tickets.
To Bunny for being the "commanding presence" at Vancouver Airport.
To Mary Ellen for one full day of fun in the rain in Whistler.
To Jenna for allowing us to gracefully bow out of a "Stereophonics" victory ceremony by taking our place.
To Andrew for spotting Jeff Carter and Chris Pronger the minute they stepped off their plane.
To Judy for keeping the home fires burning, and giving us peace of mind.
To Marg for keeping business on an even keel.
To the Vancouver Transit system....thanks for the ride.
To the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee for being fooled into believing that two Real Estate agents from small-town Ontario could perform as volunteer drivers without killing themselves or anyone else.
To everyone who has followed this blog.....it's been a wonderful moment in our lives.
Thanks

THE SNOW WAITED FOR OUR RETURN.....

We arrived at Pearson at 11:00 pm in the middle of the first snowstorm of the year....we've always been blessed with perfect timing.....home and in our warm, cozy bed at 2:30 am. We've been away for less than 3 weeks, but it has felt like much, much longer (in a very good way).
Watch for our blogging from Russia in 2014.
Hope we can stay awake for the Men's hockey tonight!!!!!!!

GOODBYE FOR NOW FROM GRANDMA TO STEPHY AND LITTLE GABRIELLA

GOODBYE AT THE AIRPORT...

JOANNIE ROCHETTE - UNBELIEVABLE - EMOTIONAL - FANTASTIC...

Not a dry eye in the house....including ours.....

CROWD SCENE AT HOCKEY GAME....

This was a typical crowd at one of the many venues we attended. These were our fellow fans at the womens' hockey game.....

HOCKEY ANALYSIS AT WOMEN'S GAME...

Our accreditation acted like a "pass' for Sue to get this close to the between-period analysts' desk.....pretty cool....

A DAY OF "LASTS".........

As we were riding the buses home from the Figure Skating last night, we realized that we had just attended our last Olympic event, that we were taking our last bus ride (soon to take our last Skytrain ride), that we would no longer have to leave the house wearing our accreditation badges, no longer slaves (albeit willing ones) to a tight schedule. Tomorrow we fly home....that is the last of our scheduled events.......

We will try and narrow down our personal hightlights, but for now everything has been a highlight.

The events we attended and the venues:
Torch Relay - Cloverdale
Opening Ceremonies - B.C. Place
Men's Hockey - Canada Hockey Place
Speed Skating - Richmond Olympic Oval
Halfpipe Snowboarding - Cypress Mountain
Curling - Vancouver Olympic Centre
Womens Hockey - Canada Hockey Place
Figure Skating - Pacific Coliseum

Cultural Olympiad Performances and venues:
Voodoo Valentine with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra - Orpheum Theatre
Hal Willner's Neil Young Project - Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Scheduled around these events were our 8 volunteer shifts of 8 hours each (twice giving us the opportunity to visit Whistler)......given all the wonderful events we attended, we can't believe we're saying this: "Nothing we've accomplished, seen or experienced in the past 2 1/2 weeks has been any more fun than our volunteering".

JOANNIE ROCHETTE - AMAZING PERFORMANCE

It's pouring rain again.....the weatherman says that this weather will now be staying until the Games end. Nothing could dampen the spirit in the Pacific Coliseum. Joannie Rochette was amazing. We have been to quite a few events, but had yet to hear the heartfelt ovation that Joanne received. Everyone in the stands, from every country, were on their feet screaming and clapping for a long, long time.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FEW DAYS MAKE....

After our initial "driver training" session on February 7th, we never dreamt that we would be saying this: "We miss being volunteer drivers"......maybe not the getting up before 5:00 every morning, but most certainly the people we worked with and the many, many, many other people that we met. For the most part, the days were extremely hectic, but an enormous amount of fun. It kept us "in the thick of the action" and we couldn't believe how fast our 8 hour shifts went by. The especially busy days were those where we had our regular driving shift and then event tickets later on. The lack of sleep and the "venue food / on-the-run diet" probably knocked a couple years off our lives, but we wouldn't change it for the world.

We have been amazed at the response from the public toward volunteers. During the course of every event we have attended, there has been a very public "thankyou" sent out to all the Oympic volunteers. There were more volunteer workers at these Olympic Games than any other (25,000).......they were using it as a tool to keep down costs, but what it truly did was open an opportunity for people like us.

People attending from all over the world (and locally too) were told: "If you have a question....need directions, etc find someone in a blue uniform". People would come up to us all the time....on the street, in the airport, on public transit, in restaurants and ask us "stuff". Usually they just wanted to know what our "jobs" were. Blue uniformed volunteers were a safe spot for anyone and there was lots of us. We became known as Smurfs......in an endearing way.....because of the colour of our uniforms. Our uniforms are also one of the most sought-after and highly-prized Olympic s.w.a.g. but there is no way that we would ever part with ours. We've heard of ridiculous prices being offered and received for the jackets alone. We wear our accreditation badges every day......they allow us to ride transit for free, but there are also hidden benefits: the other day, there were volunteers and security not allowing riders to enter our the Skytrain station (we still don't know what was up) but when they saw our uniforms and accreditation they told us to pass....it felt kind of weird in an "awkwardly privileged" sort of way. Between periods at the hockey games they set up the analysts stage and the hockey pundits do their thing. They were located a couple sections away from our seats and only ticket holders for that section were allowed to pass. Our accreditation allowed us by and we got some awesome, up close shots. People know what you went through to get accredited, so they must figure we are not totally nuts.....boy, did we ever fool them.

SUE AT CYPRESS - LADIES HALFPIPE SNOWBOARDING

It was a good thing we dressed in "layers"......during the day it was hot, hot, hot.....as soon as the sun went behind the mountain it got cold, cold, cold. Good thing the people beside us had sunscreen. Here is a picture of Sue getting the layers back on as the sun was setting. Notice the big "A" beside Sue's foot. There was a mom and her 3 kids in front of us. They were from the States......one child held up a U, the next child held up an S, and the 3rd child held up an A every time an American boarder hit the half-pipe.

JOHN AT CYPRESS MOUNTAIN SNOWBOARDING

Very hot during the day, but I had to keep a toque on my head......something about a lack of sun protection (read "thinning hair") on the top of my head.

TOMORROW NIGHT - WOMEN'S FIGURE SKATING

We will be cheering extra loud for Joannie Rochette......

CANADA BEATS FINLAND 5 - 0.....

It became obvious from the first drop of the puck that there would be no question as to who the winner would be.......it was just a matter of the score.

We couldn't believe the Finnish goalie....don't know her first name....last name Raty. She faced 50 shots and did everything but stand on her head. Her teammates managed a meagre 11 shots and all of them were soft, easy saves. Now that we know Canada is facing the U.S. (as if there was ever any doubt) I hope our goalies are ready......they have not been tested at all.

The entire arena was a sea of red and white. Lots of screaming and yelling and one round of O Canada.

Huge differences between the men's and women's games....on the ice as well as in the stands......In the stands there are many more couples and women for the women's games and more groups of guys for the men's game.

On our way to the game we stopped off at work and dropped off some good Canadiana SWAG for Julie (she loaded us up with SWAG when we left)......our gift to her: a six pack of Moosehead. We wish it was more, but we know she appreciated it.

MONDAY THE 22nd.....

What a novel concept: staying in bed later than 5:00 am.
This afternoon (5:00) we have tickets to women's hockey (Canada vs. Finland).....should be another easy win for Canada, but you never know. We heard that in their first 3 games Team Canada outscored the opposition 42 - 2. It's no wonder there's talk about dropping women's hockey from future Olympics.....hope they don't drop it, but at least we get to see a game today. Pictures to follow.

WITH EVERYTHING ELSE WE HAVE DONE SO FAR, IT'S EASY TO FORGET THAT THE OPENING CEREMONIES HAPPENED ONLY A WEEK AND A HALF AGO....

SHANI DAVIS ENJOYS HIS "GOLDEN" MOMENT

STEPHY, ROCKY & GABRIELLA AT SPEED SKATING

HALF PIPE SNOWBOARDING

WATCHING THE PAPER PLANES AT THE VANCOUVER LIBRARY

CHINA CONCEDES & CONGRATULATES GREAT BRITAIN

ONE BAD SHOT BY SWEDEN AND THE U.S. TOOK THE VICTORY

ELVIS COSTELLO AT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE

WHO SAYS CURLING FANS ARE SEDATE????

CANADA LOST 5 - 3 TO THE U.S IN MEN'S HOCKEY......enough said

LAST DAY OF WORK TODAY....

It's Sunday....our last work day. Our work days are very relaxed and extremely enjoyable. Said our goodbyes to Julie and Paul after our shift ended (we were done early - about 2:00) and headed home....Canada and USA are scheduled to play in men's hockey today at 4:30.....there is a lot of security showing up around BC Hockey Place and all over downtown Vancouver. No matter who wins there will be a lot of activity after the game.
After our shift we got some SWAG (stuff we all get) from Julie. We have been collecting all kinds of stuff....have to figure out how to get it all home.
It is so warm here that Stephy and Rocky were doing yard work and washing the car (see attached pciture).
We had a couple of pick ups today....a band from Montreal : Les Trois Accords....some flew in from Montreal, some from Winnipeg. None could believe how hot it is here.
Tomorrow is Women's hockey......

AFTER CURLING.......

We stopped off downtown and met up with Stephy and Rocky and Gabriella....they had come down earlier to soak up the Olympic "vibe" in the crowds. Wandered around a bit....went back to the Olympic cauldron.....Vanoc has made some changes to the viewing, but I still think they are making bad decision after bad decision regarding the "masses" who want access to the flame and perceived security issues.

Sue and I are exhausted and headed home. I went for a nap at around 6:30 and woke up in time for work at 5:00 the next morning......I'm guessing I must have been even more tired than I thought.

WE BECAME RABID CURLING FANS AFTER ONE MORNING

CURLING ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

We received tickets to preliminary curling as part of a ticket "package". We had to be to the bus by 7:30 on Saturday morning to have any chance of getting there on time. We were a couple minutes late at the venue....what a mistake. By the end of the games we were sorry that we even missed a minute....couldn't believe how we were feeling because we had been considering not attending (Canada was not playing). The place was packed....all kinds of "controlled" rowdiness (screaming, yelling, chanting). Germany beat France. Great Britain beat China. Norway beat Denmark. The highlight was the USA vs Sweden. Both young teams (Swedish rink looked like a punk rock band). The game went to an extra end....the shots were all perfect....USA had the hammer and won it with a draw on the last rock.....the place went nuts. I never thought I'd say this, but I left that curling more "pumped" than for any other venue to date......really cool!!!!

You cannot enter a venue without going through security......same as airport security except a lot more polite. The lineups were long but we got through pretty quick. Like all the others, the new curling venue was terrific. I've attached a couple of pictures...one is of Sue on our way in to the rink......

Because of the international flare on the ice at any time (teams from 8 countries) the stands are filled with fans from all over the world.....like the United Nations only a lot more exciting....

FRIDAY NIGHT WITH ELVIS COSTELLO, LOU REED, RON SEXSMITH & FRIENDS

As volunteers we get some really neat perks.....one of those is that we are sometimes offered venue tickets (that's how we got to see the Voodoo Valentine show with the Vancouver Symphony). We were able to get free tickets for a fantastic Friday night show: Hal Willmer's - Neil Young Project.....it was a huge review with multi artists including Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Ron Sexsmith, Broken Social Scene and many more including Allistair Roberts (google him). It was exciting to see Allistair perform because it was only Wednesday when we had dropped him at his hotel (Time Square Suites). He had flown in from Glasgow specifically for this performance and would be flying home again the next day. I got some really cool video footage of Elvis, Lou and Allistair.
Between the time we were finished driving and the time the show started, we were able to have a really nice dinner at an Earl's restaurant on Robson (located right in the heart of everything....closed off roads.....right around the corner from the Olympic cauldron). Our waitress was an actress from Toronto (Brittany)....we spent a lot of time chatting. She was telling us that she came here for the Olympics because the money is so good. We have met a lot of people who have done this, from police officers, to security personnel, to waitresses to bus drivers (most of the drivers who leave from the depot where we work are from Washington State). You name a job or profession and there are people from all over the world filling those positions here. In fact, the times we drove to Whistler we passed a cruise ship harboured at Squamish. We found out later that it is housing for workers at Whistler.
The show ended around 11:30....we headed for the Skytrain to begin the long trek home....what a zoo.....almost scary.....we're glad we didn't leave it any later....too few cops, too many rowdy drunks. Wall to wall people all day and all night in downtown Vancouver.....families during the day......not quite so family friendly at night. We have been down there a few times at night and the change is noticable.

Attached are pictures of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and some street scenes.

LONG, LONG, LONG, LONG DAY....

I'm thinking we are getting too old for this stuff, but it's too much fun to miss. Got up at our usual 4:45 after getting home late from Cypress the night before. Another work day...we now really look forward to our driving jobs.....very comfortable with getting around Vancouver....all the people we work with are great (like-minded and lots of fun)....the performers we pick up all have two things in common ( very young and extremely polite )....for most of them they are arriving to play in the largest venue of their entire career......most are jetlagged and visibly tired, but they are all obviously excited to be here. Many think it is pretty cool to be greeted at the airport by greeters and drivers. We help them with their luggage, make their drive as comfortable as is possible, go in to their hotel or venue with them to make sure that they are expected and everything is ready for them......generally do our absolute best to make sure they feel special from the minute they arrive at the airport. Our biggest compliment comes in the form of a simple question: "Will you guys be our drivers the whole time we are here?" We have to tell them it doesn't work that way, but it would be pretty neat if it did.....the difficult part would be choosing who we wanted to drive for all the time.

Attached is a photo of Sue waiting at the airport...flanked by Jenna and Mary Ellen (greeters) and Bunny in the green outfit. Bunny is the boss of the greeters and many times it is Bunny who will determine who Sue and I are picking up and where they are being delivered to.

We picked up Taqralik Partridge and her young daughter.....she was to perform at the First Nations pavilion.....her daughter was excited because she had a day off school (from Montreal). I walked up to her young daughter and introduced myself as her driver and asked if I could take her luggage for her (she had a little pink suitcase).....the look on her face told me that she thought this was all pretty cool. It was doubly neat with them because we new that they were to be taken to the Oceanside Hotel and Suites (we had been there a few times before) and the drive there is along the water and the hotel is located right on the edge of Stanley Park. When they mentioned about going to Stanley Park, we were able to tell them that they were going to be almost living in it.

To show you how confusing, but exciting, a day can be they were our only delivery on Friday but here is the rest of our day. At the airport immediately but the person we were sent to pick up was a no show. When that happens we call Julie to see where she wants us to do....in many cases we are to track down Bunny and see if she has anyone arriving. We stayed to meet and drive for Taqralik and her daughter. After that we were sent to a private condo to pick up members of a band and deliver them to their venue on Granville Island....we arrived at around 2:00....they had been picked up at 10:00 that morning. From there we were sent to the Hilton in Metrotown to pick up Joel Carrier and take him to the airport....we arrived on time....he had checked out two days earlier. Sue and I were getting a real kick out of this.....we think Paul and Julie were probably ready to kill somebody.

Bunny has a running joke whenever she sees Sue and I show up at the airport......delayed flights and no-shows.....we seem to be a jinx.

MORE ABOUT CYPRESS MOUNTAIN

Like every other venue we have attended, it's a wonderful spot. The weather was great, but that had been a problem for organizers. They had earlier been forced to bring in large hay bales to save snow.....they would lay down the bales and put snow on top.....it worked for a while, but the weather didn't cooperate. The snow melted off the bales in all of the standing room locations, making it dangerous for spectators. Those tickets had to be cancelled (28,000 of them)....luckily we had grandstand tickets. On the bus ride up to the venue we met a mother and daughter from Massachusetts. The daughter was a snowboarder and this was the only venue they had tickets for......their tickets were among those cancelled. They were able to find replacement tickets, but at the inflated price of $650 per ticket. We were glad to see that American boarders won silver and bronze. Hopefully that eased the pain of the price gouging.

LONG, HECTIC, FUN FRIDAY....& ELVIS COSTELLO TOO!!!

It is 5:00 am on Sunday morning.....trying to catch up on blogs, but we have to leave for work. Will have more this afternoon. Thought I could get some done on Saturday, but fell asleep. More to come tonight!!!!

HALF PIPE SNOWBOARDING

What a neat sport....and what a great day. Up early again to catch the buses to get us to Cypress Mountain (about 2 1/2 hours each way).....beautiful, sunny day. In fact by the time we climbed the unbelievable number of stairs to the venue (over 200) we ended up in T shirts, and it was still hot. As soon as the sun went down (it was a 7 hour event) it got cold very fast. The place was jam packed with people, like every other venue we've seen and everyone was having a great time. We had one Canadian who made it to the final, but she fell.....it was won by an Australian....she had tons of fans in the stands.....they went nuts. We are learning a lot about sports we knew nothing about before.

Apologies for lack of postings, but we have been out before 6:00 am and home late, late, late....have to leave today for curling, but will have time to fill you in later about our day at Cypress Mountain (Ladies Half-pipe Snowboarding) and our work days.....also the concert we got home from last night at 12:45 (up at 4:45)...it was really cool.....Elvis Costello & Lou Reed. Lots of pictures to follow.....lots happening.

STEPHY, ROCKY & GABRIELLA CLEAR SECURITY AT THE SPEED SKATING

SUE AT THE OLYMPIC OVAL - SPEED SKATING

SPEED SKATING AT THE OLYMPIC OVAL

We saw Shani Davis win a gold medal in the 1000 metre speed skating event at the Olympic Oval today (Wednesday the 17th). What a fantastic venue. We met up with Stephy & Rocky & Gabriella at the event, since we were coming right from work. It is unbelievable how fast the skaters are when you see them live. Too bad their were no Canadians in the medals and it was really too bad that no Dutch skaters won a medal (they placed 4th, 5th & 6th) because we had some really nice seatmates from Holland.....they gave me an education on the ins and outs of speed skating. They told me that they got extremely drunk the other night when Sven Kramer won the 5000 metre race....he is a national hero.

Gabriella was terrific throughout....all the screaming, yelling, whistling, and cowbell ringing didn't bother her at all.

Tomorrow we head to the women's half-pipe snowboard event on Cypress Mountain....really looking forward....it's an all day, outdoors event.

SUE & JOHN WITH JULIE AND PAUL

Up early today to be to work by 7:00 am......having a lot of fun at work now that we are comfortable with the driving. I have attached a photo of Julie and Paul.....neither of us can even begin to imagine the levels of stress and frustration those guys experience 24/7....it's Julie and Paul who "dispatch" us to do pick-ups at the airport and drop off at hotels....pick up at hotels and drop off at venues. Today we picked up Alistair Roberts....he arrived from Glasgow to do a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. I feel like they can trust us now with anything they ask us to do. They will also have us do other little jobs....for instance today we dropped off a vehicle at the car repair shop and also delivered some "stuff" to the airport (we spend a lot of time at the airport and normally this would be OK, except today the Tim Horton's workers went on strike at the airport).

JOHN AT THE HOCKEY GAME

OLYMPIC HOCKEY PICTURES - USA vs SWITZERLAND