Vancouver! Part 3

Wednesday, the 17th.

Wow. For the first time in days, I woke up feeling like a human. The only thing we had on tap for the day was the men's 1000 in the afternoon. Sounds like a great opportunity to soak in a little local culture. We started with breakfast, coffee, and the local paper at a little bistro in our neighborhood-loonies ($1) and toonies ($2) had to be spent! On that note, I soon learned that the money exchanges at the airport only deal with paper money, so I still have some Canadian Coin!

After breakfast, we took a nice long walk around the point. With the wind off the water, it was a brisk morning to be sure, but the walk was great. We passed all manner of fishing boat, large and small, and of course, took in more public art, random and planned! Again, it was interesting to see the Asian influence in the landscape . . . from wind-swept tundra to bonsai garden. We finished the hike at a local museum dedicated to to the fishing/canning industry . . . but we had no time for a history lesson! It was just another opportunity to pick

up some swag!

Somehow, through the fog of late nights, dripping noses, and general Olympic fever, we were able to carefully craft and recraft a strategic shopping plan . . . a carefully concocted battle plan to best avoid the daunting line and "blood in the water" atmosphere of the main downtown merchandise center. The plan involved aborting our daily commute halfway and striking where defenses were weaker . . . a satellite merch store close to the O-zone (another hub of Olympic brouhaha and sight of the popular Heineken house). Sadly, while this location was slightly less chaotic, it was also drastically less stocked. Oh well. The Richmond Oval awaits!

A short walk from the merch mall brought us to the Richmond Curling Association . . . basically adjacent to to the Oval. The plan was to meet up with friends for lunch before cheering on the racers. Curling. Is it a sport? A hobby? A retirement plan? It was pretty cool to see up close and personal . . . but I still have only the vaguest idea of how exactly it works. I actually heard on an NBC broadcast the other night that, of the fans who have been selling out the Olympic curling events, only about 25% of them understand the game.

Carrying empty backpacks with us (part of the master merchandise plan) this time routed us through increased security lines, but still getting into the oval was no problem. The Dutch were back in force, as was their soundtrack, the Klentie Pils. Again, the races were awesome. It may have even been cooler because we had a horse in the race . . . actually, THE horse in the race . . . Shawnie Davis. It was pretty amazing to see him race to victory! In a sort of selfish way, I was hoping to see a new world record . . . but didn't really expect it what with the Ice in that arena, but that aside, it was just an awesome experience!

After the races, we got a lift back downtown. I should say, after the races and after some awkward parking lot maneuvering, we got a lift back downtown. After a couple days of public transportation, it was pretty cool to get a different view of Vancouver. At the USA house, there was much reveling and discussion about the races (both that night's and for the past few decades!). We did make our final merchandise push that early evening, and despite all the carefully-crafted planning, we put ourselves in the slowest part of the line at the busiest time of the day. Sweet. Doesn't matter. Ride the Olympic Cloud.

Another longer-than-anticipated night at the USA house filled with awesome food and a couple of pitchers. With departure plans on the horizon, we opted for a cab ride back to Stevenson, and the RV. . . Another long day, but today we brought home the Gold.

Vancouver! Part 2

Tuesday, the 16th: Woke up Early. I woke up early because I had a terrible night sleep thanks to my stuffy-yet-running nose. Totally annoying. Dad woke up early because he had been invited to an early Rotary Club meeting close by. Again, shoring up International relations! I took advantage of Canada's health care system, in a manner of speaking, by picking up some medicines at a nearby drugstore. Coffee and decongestant . . . the breakfast of Olympians!

The shower of the community center was broken, so we showered at the Japanese/Canadian Center next door. I took a wrong turn when I first walked in, and wandered into a dojo . . . pretty cool. The Japanese have a long and rich history in Vancouver, and make up a surprising amount of the population. I'm thankful for that, because on this morning, taking a shower was godsend (buddhasend?) Pops found a tiny bar of soap hidden in his bags, and we were good to go.

It was a beautiful day in Vancouver, and while we had our big jackets, it was almost shorts weather. The bus/train ride down was abbreviated by a quick stop to stuff my pockets with kleenex, and before we knew it, we were down in the thick of it again. No event tickets today, but a few things on the hunting list . . . the first being the Olympic torch. The walk to the torch was fun . . . again highlighted by international fans, costumed streetpeople, pin-hawking Bedouins, local commuters, and general good feelings. The torch was on a bay, although much of Vancouver is on a bay, and we were separated from it by about 500 yards and a tall chain-link fence.

Guess they weren't taking any chances! (We read in the paper that, due to general public outcry about terrible picture opportunities, they moved the fence closer and lowered it the day after we were there.) I couldn't explain the design of the torch, but it was pretty cool to see it!

From there, we wound around a riverwalk past waterplanes, floating gas stations, harbors (holding some of the most adorable houseboats ever!), and still more fans. It was a bit of a hike, but we found our destination of the Saxony House . . . Germany's party place for the Olympics. Housed in Vancouver's Rowing Club Building, it was a beautiful location, but I was sort of surprised that there wasn't more to it. I guess I sort of figured that the Houses of the Nations would have more displays or history exhibits, or even tourism associations! In fact, from what I could gather, they were more about post-performance celebration . . . stages set up for

bands/presentation of medal winners, food courts, and of course, libations. Don't get me wrong, it was cool . . . just not what I expected.

After asking directions, we made our way by bus across downtown towards Chinatown. Our third destination: ex-olympians reception house (I can't remember the actual name of this place-ask dad). Again, it was a long hike, and the destination was not as expected. It was cool to see a bit of Chinatown, and the house was pretty cool-it was basically an art gallery with some awesome photos from the last summer games, but it wasn't quite as comfortable as we were hoping after trekking across town a couple of times. The pictures were pretty spectacular, and they did have a small lounge area where we sat and watched some of the games on a big screen while wolfing down some energy bars, m&m's and vitamin water. But all things considered, it was a pretty quick trip.

Sometimes you wanna go-where everybody knows your name . . . back to the USA house for us. Somehow, we made it. Jumped on a mystery bus, and hiked through the bedlam, and we made it. Just in time for the salmon. Or was it the crab cakes . . . I can't recall. I do recall that I met Eric Heiden when we got it. That was pretty cool.

From here, if memory serves correctly, we made a couple of micro-trips-to the always-rocking Irish house across the street (where we watched riverdancing and the women's 1000), and to the Olympic merchandise mecca a few blocks away. Spend-fever was rampant and addicting in that place. Aside from those trips, we ate, drank, and talked the night away as more faces from the past came out . . . at some point in the evening, they introduced the gold medal winner from the Men's Snowboardcross. It was pretty cool to see the Vancouver Gold medal up close and personal.

I'm not exactly sure what time we made it back to the RV, but I did have my first restful night sleep in 3 nights!

Vancouver! Part 1

Wow. The whole world gathered in Vancouver to entertain Dad and I. That was nice of them! Here's the quick Run-down:

Sunday, the 14th: Dad is in Seattle, picking up the RV from Spider. I'm in San Ramone, performing in a high school theatre for two shows of suprisingly subdued fans. Somehow, Dad drives the Rumblebus across the border into Canada without causing an international incident. However, he nearly causes one later that night when he almost bumps into vice president Joe Biden at the USA house . . .

Monday, the 15th: After a night of no sleep, I drive to the San Fransisco Airport at 4:30 in the morning. I'm in the Vancouver airport by 10. On the cab ride, my first impressions of

Vancouver is how green and temperate it is . . . strange arriving to the winter Olympics and not seeing any snow! The cab drops me off in a quaint little fishing village next to a huge (almost a city block) dirt pile. Just on the other side of said dirt pile, I see a row of gypsyish RV's . . . our temporary home.

We're staying in Stevenson, in Richmond. Richmond is a suburb of Vancouver, and Stevenson is a neighborhood in Richmond. One of the oldest still-operating fishing villages (including a

cannery) on the west coast. It's adorable.

Against all odds, Dad and I met up on-schedule in the parking lot of a community center. Awesome. I got the quick tour of the land: the community center where the bathrooms and work-out rooms were, the Martial Arts center (near the canadian/Japanese

Heritage center) where we ended up showering, the nearest coffee shops, and of course, a tour of our rolling territory . . . the RV. After that, we got our Loonies and our Twonies (sp?) lined up, grabbed our tickets for the day, and headed downtown.

Twenty minute bus ride and thirty/forty minute train ride and we were in the heart of Vancouver. Step off the train to streets packed with strange and wonderful public art, street

performers, and the gobs of fans, sporting local flair if not completely costumed-out! Dad and I made our way to the USA house, which turned out to be the hub of the Vancouver experience. Across the street from the always-partying Irish House, the USA house was an awesome oaisis, with free food, free bevrages, comfortable lounging, and direct-feed TV's. We ate like kings, met a bunch of "old-timers", and generally had a blast.

After Lunch at the USA house, we made our way to the Richmond Olympic Oval to take in the Men's 500. Yes, dad's old event. Awesome. The Oval was fantastic. Between the Klentie Pils (a Dutch Brass Band that kept the place rocking during down time), the roving cameras, the awesomely-costumed Dutch Fans, the cowbells, the merchandise, and of course, the athletes on the ice . . . I was having a hard time trying to take in everything at once!

The races were awesome. From our seats, we had a perfect view of the crossover, where the racers would change lanes as they came into the turn right in front of us. Amazing. Though the Koreans ran away with the 500, the Oval would erupt whenever there was a Canadian, American, or Dutch Skater. The only drawback was the nearly two-hour delay incurred when the brand-new eco-friendly Ice-Shaving machines broke down. That was tough, and as time went on, you could start to feel the general fear that the races might have to be rescheduled. They finally got it useable, though the general concensus was that the ice never really looked as good as it did in the beginning. Throughout the ordeal, the crowd kept their spirits up by repeatedly breaking into the wave, and singing along with the Klentie Pils. Even after two hours of NOTHING going on . . . I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be . . .

After the races, we went back up to Stevenson for some local seafood. My nose was running like a faucet, and I generally felt like poo, so we decided to stay close to the Van that evening. Fish and Chips at a pub, with coverage of the games on the tube . . . a nice laid-back evening at the end of the first eventful day!