Air Canada gets into the spirit.

The Olympic spirit is very visible at terminal 1. Air Canada an Olympic sponsor has decorated the windows of the terminal in Olympic colours.
Sent wirelessly from my personal account on my BlackBerry device.

Lots a black bags!

Everything comes under the 50lb mark as established by Air Canada.

Sent wirelessly from my personal account on my BlackBerry device.

Airport Hotel Drinks.

Beadraich - Arriving at our "parking hotel" we needed a drink to toast. "to the Olympics and one more awesome adventure together"

Luggage, Air Canada, and EXCITEMENT!

Beadraich - Today was a tough day. My tummy is full of butterflies caused by excitement and anticipation. I'm at the point where if I don't already have it, I'm gonna do with out, or buy it out there. Woodsy and I have been packing, unpacking, packing again, the last couple of nights, and I have questions that Air Canada just doesn't seem to answer on their website. If I have a bag that is 55 lbs, and a bag that is 25, can they average it out? Here's the deal. My ski duffle (with Kenmark Snow Sports proudly embroidered on the side) is currently weighing in at about 48 pounds.. and I have stuff to ad. My skis on the other hand, safely wrapped in a protective layer of ski suits and a towel, weigh about 17 lbs. So, I might be over on one piece, and way under on the other. are they still gonna charge me $75? This my friends seems absolutely ridiculous. Then again, if I was an Air Canada Shareholder.... I would see things differently.

I'm off to hopefully have one more good night's sleep at home before the adventure that Woodsy and I have been preparing for almost 2 full years begins.

If there are some posts that are full of grammatical and spelling errors (sorry Sally) in the next few weeks, they are because we have found a way to post from our Blackberries. We will be trying this out on occasion to provide very real experience to all of you.... plus for our own memories.

Less than a week.

Beadraich – I grew up in a house. Most of us did. But my house was a particularly interesting place for two weeks, every 4 winters. The magic of the Winter Olympics was often talked about for weeks, even months before a day in February when the Opening Ceremonies would take place. After those Ceremonies, we would spend countless hours watching Cross Country Skiing, Figure Skating, Biathalon, Speedskating, and many other events while I personally waited for the three events that actually had a resemblance to sport as I knew it, Hockey, Alpine, and Bobsled.

7 days from now, I will be realizing a lifelong dream to participate in the 3rd Olympics to be held in Canada. A dream that started out as a dream to go the Olympics as an athlete, and later became a dream to go as a spectator, has changed into going as a volunteer. I have been heard to say that as an athlete I have a whole lotta heart, and not a lick of talent. I first said that as an explanation for falling off of a downhill mountain bike at the bottom of Blue Mountain, but it holds true to a lot my athletic endeavours. Now, this is not a recipe that makes an Olympic calibre athlete, but it’s the perfect recipe for a Volunteer.

So it is with heart and not talent that Woodsy and I will embark on this adventure. This trip has become even more special for both of us as we get to bring each of you who follows this blog along with us to share in some of our unique experiences. Whether it’s family, friends, co-workers or clients who are reading this, each time you have asked when we leave, or if we are excited yet, has been a great encouragement and reminder that we are about to embark on something unique.

O Canada

Woodsy - Today's post includes 2 very Canadian videos from Youtube. The first one I "borrowed" from a friend's Facebook. It is almost cheesy but I love it.



The second video is from "Classified", an East Coast Hip Hop artist. I am normally not a Hip Hop fan, and I am also a traditionalist when it comes to "O Canada" but I like what he has done.



I am so proud to be Canadian.

Dave Murray Downhill Video

Beadraich - Today I found a reasonably well done video of what someone would see as they skied the Dave Murray Downhill Course at Whistler. This is the run that Woodsy and I will be working on during the 2010 Olympics. A copy of the video is posted at the top of this blog page.



I will try to make a point of tell you in about 11 days whether it's steeper, or flatter than the video makes it look... I'm thinking it's gonna be steeper.