YES! The Olympic are coming, the Olympics are coming!
So I thought this would be a good time for a quick wrap up of our most excellent of Olympic Trials Adventures! Without the daily adrenaline rush of sport or the high of just being on vacation, I’ve been looking back and reflecting on how it all turned out.
And my first reflection is that it totally exceeded my expectations. How often does that happen? The people we met, the stories we heard, time spent with old friends, and of course the events themselves were far and above anything I could have imagined. It truly was a fabulous escapade!
Several people have asked what my favorite event was. After giving it a lot of thought, I honestly couldn’t come up with a favorite. Each sport, each venue, each event had its own uniqueness; a flavor that couldn’t really be compared to the others.
Some were more “intimate” in that spectators and venues were small and so I was closer to the action and was able to interact with the athletes and their families. At some competitions the atmosphere was quiet, sort of low-key, almost reverent. Others were huge venues; raucous parties with thousands of our best friends. The beauty and grace of the gymnasts, the speed and strength of the track and field athletes, the precision and athleticism of the volleyball players. I loved them all.
A friend also asked me what I would have done differently and was kind of surprised to hear myself answer, “You know, not a thing.” From living in “The Podium” to the sports we saw, it was all good. The only disappointment was not being able to get to see swimming. But logistically it just wasn’t possible. Otherwise I wouldn’t have done it any different.
So I’ll close out this memorable experience with a few miscellaneous observations, memories and random thoughts.
Travel and Camping
- I learned that it is possible to take a 3 minute shower (the length of time the shower runs for your token at a campground shower.)
- I also learned that all campground showers are NOT created equal.
- How people traveled in the “olden days” without a GPS is a mystery to me.
- Went to my first ever In-and-Out Burger. Burger was OK, but the most interesting part was seeing an Amish family walk in the door and order!
- We stayed at some beautiful campsites- Flagg Ranch/Yellowstone, Dash Point State Park/Federal Way, WA, Richardson County Park/Eugene, OR and Washoe State Park/Carson City, NV.
- Saratoga Springs Campground, CA was our only failure. Camp spot right on top of trailer next to us, zero privacy. Woke up at 6:00 to back-up truck beeping for 45 minutes, followed by chain saw tree trimming, followed by poop sucking machine, followed by 100 screaming day campers. Website pictures can be deceiving! And yes, we packed up and moved to the Super 8 for the rest of our stay in San Jose.
- Anyone else ever get charged for checking in early to a motel? That was a first!
- Still wondering how we managed to get lost on every run and hike we took.
- Reconnecting with several of our former gymnasts and their families along the route was a definite highlight & bonus.
- We boondocked in the Walmart parking lot in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Learned that idling semi-trucks don’t make for soothing sleeping conditions. But it was a “been there, done that” life experience to cap off our trip.
Sport and Miscellaneous
- No matter how many times I heard the Star Spangled Banner, and believe me it was a bunch, I always felt those pre-competition jitters along with the athletes. I also felt an incredible sense of pride in our country and our athletes.
- Speaking of which, I forgot to share that Steele Johnson’s mom (from earlier blog) sang the Star Spangled Banner at the diving and did a fabulous job. I’d heard her signing in the stands on the first day and told Jim that they should have asked her to sing. Little did I know!
- For the entire 22 days, I dressed in red, white and blue and never got tired of it!
- While watching the competitions in person was amazing, I did miss hearing the back stories and thoughts of the commentators. I felt like we missed out on a lot.
- On the other hand it was kind of nice to just purely observe without the prejudice of their opinions.
- I sported the Olympic colors on my toenails for the entire trip! Plan to do the same, along with my fingernails, for the entire Olympic season.
- Thank you to Sherry VonRiesen of the Olympic Training Center for giving us a USA banner for the athletes to autograph. Wish we could have gotten more signatures, but we did manage to get some very special ones. Watch for Sherry at the Olympics. She’s “Mom” for the P&G Family House in London. How cool is that!
- Thanks to my family for being supportive (in many ways) of my crazy ideas!
- There are not enough words in the English language to describe and do justice to the athletes we were so privileged to watch. Yes, it’s about the sports. But more so, it’s about the human spirit. About an athlete’s ability to create a vision, develop a plan and then single-mindedly go after it. It’s about overcoming fear, pain, adversity, failure, doubt, injury. It’s about sacrifice and punishing the mind and body for four years to achieve a dream that’s against all the odds. Yes I love the sports; but it’s the resiliency and strength of the human spirit that so speaks to my heart.
Let the Games Begin!
P.S I plan to be blogging some comments about the Games for the next 2 weeks. And if I can figure it out, I’ll post a page of pictures from the trip. Hope you’ll continue to follow! And again, thanks to those of you who came along for the ride!