Bobsled Fever WINS GOLD

What a day! The 4-man Bobsled final was AMAZING! The experience in the sliding center here at Whistler is unbelievable. You are so close to the track you can feel the ice from the bobsled rails spray you in the face. The sleds go 80+ miles per hour, it is so fast we had a hard time even capturing it on film. We were in the minority as USA fans but did a great job of representing.

Tonight, during the medals ceremony as we sang the star spangled

banner from our deck, I actually got a little teary as this amazing group of athletes celebrated their accomplishment. The amount of work that goes into each athlete becoming a champion is immeasurable. And we got to watch it all come true and represent the entire country.

Also in the celebration plaza tonight (aka right off our deck), we got to see Usher perform. A tamed down "family style" version of

Usher surprised us all as a really great concert. We were all amazed at how many songs we knew the words to (or at least tried to sing along).

Our fun time at the Olympics are coming to an end late tomorrow night (sniff sniff). But not before we catch another day on the hill and watch the USA play Canada one more time, in hockey. Quite a battle of pride up here.

GO USA!!

The Gold is up for Grabs

Bobsled fever is about to go for the gold and we are excited! Heat three will be at 1pm and the finals (for the GOLD) at 2:45. We will update pics then:)

USA Rocks!

Winning isn't everything. But here at the Olympics, it sure looks like a heck of a lot of fun! After watching USA win gold and silver in Nordic Combined (what is this?) and seeing the Canadian Bobsledders go one and two (US got bronze:) winning sure seems like the way to go!

Excited to get to our our first live event (outside of the medals events and concerts) we departed early on Wednesday for the women's giant slalom event at Creekside. If you are not a downhill skiing fan, the best way to describe it is like trying to drive your car, as fast as you can, on ice, while going around flags put at random places in the road. And if you miss one, you will crash and you are out of the race (like Lindsay Vonn, she was out after round one).

Mother nature however, was not on our side and after 4-5 postponements of the race due to fog, it was rescheduled for the following day. We had fun though, the fans are CRAZY and dedicated. Faces painted, HUGE flags, bare chests (30 degrees out), lots of wigs (love it). Country loyalty and pride is amazing to watch.

After a day of trying to chase the fog away and some shopping in the village, our friends Rob and Justine headed back to Seattle.

Scott and Em finished the day with some RnR and a much needed long winters nap. We returned today and actually got to see the Women's GS. It was exciting but I have to say the viewing (minus the people watching) is better from your living room. Our journey continues...stay tuned!

Round Three- Call the doctor, we caught Olympic Fever!

Day three started slowly with a Skype session home to chat with Elyse (Our one year old daughter). Mashar and Grandpa John were having so much fun, Fletch was curious how we got in the computer, and Elyse she just wanted to bang on the laptop keys. Its so great being able to see our little girl while we are away. Not sure how we're going to make it 'til Monday...

The decision was made to stay in Whistler and skip the women's short program figure skating. Instead we did some laps on Blackcomb. The muscles were sore and the energy was not quite like yesterday, but all in all it was a good. After a few runs (and a few falls!!) on Jersey Cream and Glacier Express we sampled 7th Heaven then made our way down to the Upper Village to meet Justine at Merlin's which has been commandeered by Kokanee (eh')during the games.

It turns out Canadians enjoy hockey and the Canada/Germany game was on at Merlin's. To describe the crowd as energetic would be an understatement so our crew joined in the fun. The Kokanee guy was facilitating the stoke and had a few moves of his own. Check out Emily and Mr Kokanee as they cut a rug during the game:


Scott's moves were more limited, but his ability to destroy a massive pile of nachos is impressive in it's own way.

We left Merlin's once it was clear the Canadians would be victorious (they beat the Germans decisively 8-2.) Back to home base where the ladies' figure skating was on, the medal ceremonies were about to begin, and the Fray would play.
No American flag was flown, but the crowd was certainly rowdy! Congrats medal winners.
The Fray put on a great show. I think we all agreed that their live sound is much bigger than what you hear on the radio.

By the end of the Fray's set it was time to re-fuel and we were lucky to get a table at our favorite little sushi place at Whistler, Sachi Sushi. The box roll was exactly what the doctor ordered and the evening was complete.

Next up... Women's GS. Rob scored four tix from some random scalper. Assuming they are not counterfeit we'll be cheering Lyndsey Vonn and team at Whistler creekside on Wednesday afternoon!

Day Two...snowboards and fondue

Olympics round two goes to SUNSHINE and snowboarding! It was an epic day on the hill. We
hiked Flute bowl to scour out some fresh tracks and won GOLD. The temp was around 50 in the village and apres was amazing! There is live music everywhere. Yesterday DEVO (that's right Whip it Good) and this great new singerJamie Labelle played in the village. (Notice the hotties in the hot-tub, this is at the apres bar GLC). The energy here is infectious and the country pride is amazing. People are dressed head to toe in their country wears.

Our amazing day was capped off by a Snowcat Fondue Tour up

Blackcomb mountain to the Crystal Hut for a full-fledged, full-fat, full-flavor fondue dinner! The trip up was slower than we

expected (let's just say this "Cat" is not a Cheetah) but well worth it as we dove headfirst into a pot of delicious cheese fondue!

Day two goes to USA (or at least the four of us from Seattle). We are off to hit the mountain for a little fun in the clouds/sun trying to drum up a few more bumps and bruises. Will try to catch the Men's GS from the viewing areas and will look forward to seeing the Ladies GS at Creekside tomorrow. Adios!

Round One- GOLD

2010 Olympics Day One...GOLD!
A flawless trip up to Whistler with a brief stop in Vancouver by Rob and Justine (we avoided the crowds and headed straight to Whistler). Pics show the Olympic torch burning bright and the mayhem (wall to wall people packed Robson) in Vancouver on what was called "Super Sunday", until USA beat Canada 5-3, then they called it "Stupid Sunday". A huge upset here in CANADA, it went truly quiet in the village after USA won. We hung our flags proudly off our deck and managed to make a few new USA friends.

Lions gate bridge gleaming in the sunshine (55 degrees). Justine and Em wear their Olympic colors with pride! The background shows just how close we are to the Olympic Celebration Plaza where we saw Bode Miller get a GOLD medal last night!!

As if our GOLD medal day wasn't good yet, we watched One Republic play a fabulous concert from our "private viewing area"! The stage is literally 100 yards from our deck...wow.


The Bulgarian Biathalon team shown here having fun in the village with Justine and Em. They were a very nice bunch of guys! Proudly wearing our gold medals after our WIN in the four man Bobsled.

Could not have imagined a better first day here at the 2010 Olympics...stay posted for more BOBSLED FEVER!

2 Days Until Liftoff

Yum...slightly burnt USA cookies!!

Sunday morning, we leave to go on an adventure of a lifetime! Our trip to the Olympics!

We will be keeping footage, testimonials, pics, and lots of great commentary right here at Bobsled Fever!! So keep up with us...if you can.

A few odds from our packing list:

Red, White and Blue Nail Polish

American Flags- one to hang off the balcony!

American Flag Hat and Scarf

Red, White and Blue Face Paint

Binoculars

Olympics Pins

Fake Gold Medals from the Party Store

And of course...Champagne!

Why "Bobsled Fever" you ask? Tickets for the Olympics are set up on a lottery system. Last year we put our wish list together and applied to buy tickets to three events (skating, skiing, bobsled). Out of the three events we asked to see, we got BOBSLED:) (Unfortunately you don't actually "win" tickets in this lottery, you just get the chance to purchase them at prices we can barely stomach, but that's a whole other story).

Not knowing anything about bobsled (except the Jamaican team, who is not competing this year:() , we set out to become top notch fans of the US Bobsled team.

Some Bobsled trivia:

US Bobsled won the world cup this year, first time in 50 years!

The first bobsled club was formed in 1897

Interestingly, if the sled overturns before the finish line, the race is still considered valid - but only if all team members remain inside the sled. Sounds like sledding gone wrong!

Want more? Interview with US Bobsled Driver

We hope you will follow our journey to the 2010 Olympics and enjoy the ride!