Well it is all done and the “fat lady" has sung. We have experienced the best Olympics ever and as a country have come together to meet the challenge. Our athletes are heroes as they did what they set out to do and some were rewarded with large heavy medals. Some were rewarded by finishing in their best time, some were rewarded by the experience and all were thoroughly entertained by the other great athletic performances that we witnessed, watched on TV, read about in papers and talked about over meals. The organizers have given many hours and sleepless nights to make sure that the world was entertained, informed and accommodated at these Olympic Games. Even some of the spectators put away their biases and political challenges to participate and be a part of this wonderful event. What an event it was.....For my part, I was privileged to be a small part of this event and I enjoyed helping where I could, bringing a smile to a wet spectator from time to time, helping people enjoy the events regardless of the long walk to the sub-venues, helping to find a lost child in the crowd, adapting my personal style to the needs of a supervisor to complete tasks effectively, meeting and working with new people every day, working through procedures that were not well defined until we did them several times and soaking up the natural beauty of BC. But most of all I enjoyed and will savour the opportunity to spend a wonderful 5 weeks with our family. All of this was a delight and a growing experience for all of us. Living 3000 miles apart is not easy and having the opportunity to operate as a close knit family all together is precious.
The denouement
for us was a quiet day yesterday in Pemberton. Bree and Tara-Lee went to Whistler to work for the day and Gray went to his worksite while Katie and Caitlin went skiing. Freddi and I started the task of packing up and preparing for our return home. Funny we have more than when we arrived and our skis and ski equipment required new strategies to get things in the same boxes they arrived in. Eventually I added two more boxes for Greyhound to carry back east. Gray abandoned his work at midday to come
and have lunch with us. We went to Wildwood for a bite to eat. We then drove the dogs out to Lillooet Lake to walk with the dogs and to see the lake. It is a very beautiful lake that stretches well down the Pemberton Valley and provides some of the best vantage points for mountain viewing. We walked the beach, took some pictures (some are included here) and generally chatted about nothing and everything while watching the dogs tear up the trails and along the beach. It was a very peaceful time. We returned and Tara-Lee joined us as we got ready for a gathering with the Hempel family at Jamie and Tanya’s place. The dinner was prepared in Paul’s meticulous fashion and he served 13 hungry folks with nibblies and a large stir fry meal. This was a great gathering and there was much excited chatter about life, Olympics, the world and our part in it. I found this to be a great sign-off from Pemberton as the next act is to leave this part of the country after our extended stay. I was very tired with my cold but managed to hold the course until we were all ready to leave for the evening. Once home it did not take long to fall asleep......
for us was a quiet day yesterday in Pemberton. Bree and Tara-Lee went to Whistler to work for the day and Gray went to his worksite while Katie and Caitlin went skiing. Freddi and I started the task of packing up and preparing for our return home. Funny we have more than when we arrived and our skis and ski equipment required new strategies to get things in the same boxes they arrived in. Eventually I added two more boxes for Greyhound to carry back east. Gray abandoned his work at midday to come
and have lunch with us. We went to Wildwood for a bite to eat. We then drove the dogs out to Lillooet Lake to walk with the dogs and to see the lake. It is a very beautiful lake that stretches well down the Pemberton Valley and provides some of the best vantage points for mountain viewing. We walked the beach, took some pictures (some are included here) and generally chatted about nothing and everything while watching the dogs tear up the trails and along the beach. It was a very peaceful time. We returned and Tara-Lee joined us as we got ready for a gathering with the Hempel family at Jamie and Tanya’s place. The dinner was prepared in Paul’s meticulous fashion and he served 13 hungry folks with nibblies and a large stir fry meal. This was a great gathering and there was much excited chatter about life, Olympics, the world and our part in it. I found this to be a great sign-off from Pemberton as the next act is to leave this part of the country after our extended stay. I was very tired with my cold but managed to hold the course until we were all ready to leave for the evening. Once home it did not take long to fall asleep...... 
Today we are driving to Vancouver to spend the day in the streets of the city, taste some fine food and enjoy rambling together. The whole family is going down and we will meet up with Bree’s family for dinnerat some pre-determined spot tonight. We will spend the night in a hotel near the airport and fly back to Ottawa tomorrow at 11 am. What a time we have had. What an opportunity we have experienced. What a contribution we made to the BC liquor store in Pemberton (Marian will miss us). What a memory we will carry for the rest of our lives.......To those who took the time to read some of these ramblings I hope you had some fun catching up with our experience and antics and I thank you for your thoughts that you have sent to me by e-mail or in comments contained in this blog. Your interest has been an inspiration for me and your input has helped me. Thank you.
Namaste
