Ahh, a day off and some photos

This is the Webster family - LtoR - Mom (Christine), Dad (Fred) and Brittany's sister Lindsay (or is it Lindsey, I forgot to ask which spelling she uses). That's Brittany in the background. While several members of the team attended the CCC reception along with coaches and wax technicians, Brittany stayed away as she is "on the mend" from a sinus infection. The banners are from the Canadian Pacific sponsorship and say "We Train, You Train" at the top. I thought it was a great slogan. (Hope everybody gets it....) There is one for each of our 15 athletes at the Games.

This is the entertainment at the CCC reception We half expected to be asked to yell out "Ricola" at the end but we didn't have to (only joking - they were great). Their first song was a traditional one and then they did "Amazing Grace" - one of my favourites on any instrument (although my absolute favourite is Joan Baez's a capella version. Jokes were made comparing the difficulty of transporting skis and poles versus these little puppies!

This is from our day at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Notice the on snow entertainment! Lead singer had a lovely voice. Local band.... You can see how close we are able to get to the track. There are extra barriers in some places due to camera placement.

What is it about the red serge that gets us all excitedl? I couldn't resist having my photo taken with a Mountie. We're seeing many RCMP on venue but the Kevlar* vests and blue uniforms just don't cut it.

There was no time for a posting yesterday because we went from the venue to a reception in Whistler (stopped to shower and change in between) hosted by CCC (Cross Country Canada) - the national association for XC skiing. It was at Canada House which is the new Whistler library. They've removed all books from the main floor for the duration of the Olympic . Canada House is open to all Canadians from what I can tell but especially for former Olympians (our friend Ed who was in the summer Olympics in the 1960's received his invitation so that's how I know that) and families of current Olympians.

I was at a pretty lonely spot yesterday morning and was composing the blog in my head....I should have writtten it down! I was quite eloquent at the time! The morning was for training prior to the sprints but I was on the upper course amongst the trees and that course had not been groomed (on purpose) and was closed to skiers. I was to redirect any skiers that managed to get around the fence after position 13. (There is a wax test area at 12/13 but they aren't supposed to go beyond the fence.) One Ukrainian came through and wasn't very pleasant but I don't know what he said because I don't speak Ukrainian. The same athlete was asked to leave the course at another closed section. He is the exception...most athletes and coaches follow our direction. While enjoying the great outdoors, I heard a bird call that I haven't heard back east. Sorry Wendy - I can't describe it and couldn't see the bird but it was close and it was pleasant. Other wildlife sightings - 2 voles (or maybe the same vole twice). A vole is smaller than a chipmunk but moves just as quickly. The only other activity at position #15 was snowmobile traffic and that was mostly OBS (Olympic Broadcast Service) personnel setting up for subsequent races who don't wave back. An RCMP officer came by but figured it wasn't worth staying around since nothing was happening. The position is up a steep climb so I called on Transport for a ride up so that I wouldn't get overheated and then chilled once I arrived. Getting the helmet on proved to be very entertaining as I forgot that I was wearing glasses, then I had trouble doing it up. Unfortunately, no photo as Richard wasn't around at the time. It was quite cool in the morning and the sun never did reach that position because of the mountains and trees but I could tell it was beautifully sunny elsewhere. Richard was in position #1 (again) so he could see the whole stadium and was up close (but not personal) to the athletes. He later moved to position #2 which was at the top of the first climb out of the stadium so you might have seen him on TV. I was scheduled for a 2 hour break but cut it to one hour so that I could fill in at an extra spot requiring monitoring near #2 and was able to see most of the qualification rounds. Yesterday's weather was PERFECT - blue sky, no clouds, no wind - a perfect day for skiing and for marshalling. For the quarters, semis and finals I was able to come down to the womens' corner (where they turn back towards the stadium) so I did see some of the afternoon's activity. The men's heats were much tighter than the women's. Unfortunately, Canada's results were not on the podium. Four of 8 Canadians (2 men/2women) qualified (top 30 in the morning) but none advanced to the semi-finals. Apologies yesterday to Perianne Jones for not mentioning her as one of our skiers in the sprints. Perianne is from the Ottawa area - the Nakkertok Ski Club - and is a real crowd pleaser there.

Richard had the good fortune (!) to be stopped at security for the third time in three shifts (3 out of 6 in total) for the "mag and bag". It is random so everyone thinks he should buy an extra lottery ticket! Yesterday was our 6th shift which meant we received our second gift. (Our first was a pin, yesterday's is a small stuffed mascot) I chose Quatchi who is a baby sasquatch and Richard picked Mica (the black and white one). On the bus back to Squamish we sat in back of two of our fellow marshals who are in a homestay with 3 young children so we gave Mica to them so that they would have one for each child. They were very appreciative that they didn't have to try to find another one! Their 6th shift is today so they can complete the trio required.

The food at the reception was very nice - some great smoked salmon and another smoked fish that was even better than the salmon. I also liked the chicken tandoori and chocolate covered strawberries. There was a minimum of speeches. The team members, coaches and wax techs were introduced and a few presentations were made. CCC had been running a programme (sponsored by Canadian Pacific) called Sea to Sea to Sea which was a challenge to ski clubs to make up teams of 10 who recorded their ski kilometres on a map with an 8000 km route across Canada. Four clubs were honoured last night for completing the trek and they will be receiving a keeper plaque with an aboriginal carving to post at their respective clubs. I think the programme is still running and I know that our club - the Highlands TrailBlazers - is trying to complete the trek but I don't remember when the deadline is. (No...I'm not being paid by the TrailBlazers to mention them as often as I can.)

The walk back to the bus was fun as Whistler Village was bursting with activity including snowboarders jumping through burning rings, fire throwers and muscial entertainment. Our trip back was in a double decker and the driver made an extra stop near our homestay (drivers are staying at a hotel nearby so if there is a driver on board that needs to get off we are able to disembark as well) so we were able to walk a couple of blocks instead of waiting for the bus at the hub.

Richard is getting some office work done this morning and shortly I'm going out to do groceries as we are the chefs tonight. The menu is honey mustard chicken with curry, couscous, vegetables. I'm going to make an apple cake and lentil soup as well. (Thanks Pat McRae for that wonderful soup recipe which I use so much I've memorized it and to Mom for the easy apple cake recipe which I have also memorized and to Caren and Doug for the chicken recipe which we have been using for over 30 years. If anyone wants any of said recipes, I have them on my computer.) Our host needs to go downtown anyway so has offered me a lift which is great as I can go to the grocery store that has the better meat selection.

Later the same day......we went to Quest University for lunch with our hosts. The view from there is beautiful and we had a bit of a tour of Squamish on the drive. Quest is only in its 3rd year of operation. It is a self-contained campus which is brand new and is the only private university (no government funding other than the original land grant) in Canada. Tuition is in the $30,000 per year range including being in residence. Yikes! I know that is nothing new to any American residents reading this. The cafeteria is usually set up for gourmet buffet but we discovered that during the Olympics since it is home to volunteers the kitchen has been changed over to "short order" status.

I've spent the last couple of hours in the kitchen - cake and soup are done and chicken is ready to go in the oven (well - as soon as Richard finishes removing the skin from the thighs). No big plans for tonight - more Olympic viewing, I'm sure. We saw today's gold medal race in women's speed skating. Imagine only .02 seconds difference! Our 4th place athlete was also SO close to a bronze medal.

I've just reread this document and my Grade 7 English composition teacher, Mrs. Smith, is likely cringing or rolling in her grave as I have jumped all over the place. Mea culpa!

Will make another posting tomorrow if there is anything of note - otherwise I think you have the idea of what a day as a course marshal is like. Tomorrow is the first of 4 shifts in a row - which means 4 days of racing since we are not working on anymore non-race days. The people who started later than we did are getting those shifts now. One of our shifts doesn't start until 11 a.m.! Luxury - we only have to leave the house at around 9 a.m.! (I'm not complaining about our shifts - even 2nd shift is usually fairly early.)

Take care everyone.