Winter Olympics

Wow. Got a call from my good friend Rob Powers and two days later I was on my way up to the Winter Olympics. No plans necessarily, but why not?

First of all, Whistler and Vancouver are beautiful. I could have stayed. I got off the plane, on to the bus and like a little kid on my first day of school, grabbed the front seat on the bus heading up the mountain, got my camera ready and asked questions of the bus driver until he just stopped responding. The drive featured mountains on the right, and lakes and more mountain ranges on the left. Low hanging fog hid the ships coming in and out of ports, and I can only imagine what laid behind the front ranges. Someday, I'll find out.

It was fun to see Canada so excited and proud, and ultimately do so well. Not sure how to quantify it all, but here are a few of the highlights.

Met some great, great people - Amy Stanton is an athlete manager and is one of the brighter people I've met in a while. Peter Glass from USSA was a blast to hang out with. Amy from ESPN and the US Snowboard team reminded me how to have fun late at night in a Eurotrash club. And the folks from Heidiskis were a refreshing group of passionate people building something they believed in. Sandy Best, well, you're the best, sir. I can't wait to jump out of some helicopters with you and our skis....

I somehow found myself in some pretty unique situations again. Sitting at the Team USA's house up in the mountains, watching the Nordic combined team give a speech to their families about what it felt like to finally win a medal in a competition that the USA had previously never placed was a special moment. I also found myself at some friends' house, watching the Canada-Germany hockey game. Watching Canadian hockey, with Canadians, in Canada is an experience all in itself. I'm just glad they won...

Want to that Rob again, for being so inclusive and let me tag along with what he's doing, no matter when or where. Friends can make all the difference, and I'm lucky to have spent some time with great old friends and met some new ones. Life is amazing. Oh yeah, and I got to see Divo in concert. How cool is that?