Kitsap at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

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In 2003 we were working at Boeing in Seattle.  That was the year Vancouver won the bid for the 2010 Olympics.  A friend and I made a pact that no matter where we were in 2010 we would go.  It’s right here in our own backyard, we couldn’t pass that up!

In 2005 while in Vancouver on a weekend sponsored by a local radio station, we asked at the hotel where we were staying when they would begin taking reservations for the 2010 games?  There answer was 2007!  Wow, three years ahead of the event. So we kept 2007 in our sights.

In the spring of 2007 a group of us were in Victoria and decided to take advantage of the hotel’s hot tub.  There we met three women from Vancouver.  We inquired about the planning and building going on in Vancouver for the 2010 games.  We asked if they would have recommendations for affordable accommodations.  One of these women said she actually would have a B&B up and running by then.  Her name is Barb.  I told her of our intention of coming to the games and how long we had been dreaming of attending.   We exchanged emails and she promised we would be first on her guest list. What are the odds of meeting her and securing lodging 3 years ahead of the games?

Late in 2007, Barb informed us we were definitely invited to say with them during the games whenever we planned to come.  Now the next hurdle, of course was to secure tickets.

Yikes, this turned out to be a challenge.  The first step in 2009 was a lottery.  We applied for tickets for Figure Skating and Hockey.  We were only asking for 4 tickets so we had really high hopes that our luck would hold and we would be chosen for at least one of those events.

Well, no surprise to me since I never even win $3 on any lottery ticket I ever buy, we did not get tickets thru the lottery process!  The next step was a live sale online.  Well, folks navigating thru that system with my less than expert computer skills was a hair pulling morning, but I was actually able to secure 4 tickets for 2 separate Hockey events!!  Men’s the first day and women’s the next.  We were overjoyed to have the opportunity to be part of this event.

If that wasn’t fantastic enough, this women in Vancouver turns out to be amazing!.  Not only is she putting us up, she has offered to pick us up from the shuttle we are taking from Bellingham to Vancouver, and will put together highlights for us to see and do and find the most “free” stuff available, arrange train and bus passes and in general make our Olympic adventure a breeze.  You see, it turns out she has been a tour directors for the last 20 years!!  Are we two lucky travelers or what!   We are both now retired from Boeing and so we have the leisure time and thankfully the funds to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  It seems we were meant to be in Vancouver the way all of this has come together.

Watch for the sights and sounds of our journey beginning February 15 thru the 19th from Vancouver.

- Cynthia Peterson

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