Final Day at the Olympics

We woke up early and checked out of the house we were staying at. We drove all the cars down to the Tech college to board buses to get up to Whistler. We only had 2 prepaid parking passes, so I rode with my brother Scott and parked in the residential area near the college. When we all met up, I had left my bus ticket in the car. Scott and I ran(literally) back to the car, and decided to try and park without a parking pass. It was no problem. We all got on the bus and rode to Whistler. We had tickets for the men's 30 km race. Half of the race was to be classic style the other half is free style.

As we walked through the gates, there was a group from Sweden in front of us that all went through but one man. His ticket did not check out. The ticket taker told him that the ticket purchased was for an event held in the next couple of days. The supervisor came over, and let the man join his party for the event. Man, I love Canadians.



We walked into the venue, welcomed by sunshine and a crowd. We found a spot on a slope overlooking the stadium.

We put our coats on the snow to sit on, and got comfortable. Scott and Daimon found that there were trails to get to other parts of the course. It took a while to get to the other side, and you had to cross a few bridges, but you had a different view of the race, right near the racers.

As the race began, Carrie, Scott and myself ran to the other end to watch the skiers. I returned after watching the skiers go by once. We all exchanged turns moving from the stadium to the other part of the course.



The race was incredible, but so was the weather. We watched the Swedish team finish first.The crowd was incredibly pleasant, and people were sliding down the slope with giant smiles on their faces. On our exit, a group of Swiss fans had brought the large alpine horns you see in Ricola commercials. We stuck around for a bit, had our photo taken and had an impromptu dance party on the snow.

The bus ride home was quiet except for a few hockey fans listening to a radio and cheering every once in a while. When we returned to the cars, we decided to meet up in Washington for dinner and part ways there. The border crossing was uneventful and we met up for a decent dining experience. That night Scott and Carrie took off for Montana while the rest of us stayed near Sea-Tac airport. I drove home by myself the next day after saying my goodbyes.