Yesterday, being the procrastinator that I am, I announced to my family: "The Olympics are practically in our backyard and if we don't go up there, we may regret it for the rest of our lives." Nothing like waiting until the last minute, eh? (that was for my Canadian friends)

This morning we loaded up and headed to the "Great White North" fully anticipating crowds, long lines and the testing of our patience on this great adventure. After all, it was not only the last day but also the final hockey match between USA and Canada along with the closing ceremonies. First stop: border crossing. Wait time: 5 minutes! So far, so good. We followed my friend Lili's advice and parked at the train station in Richmond. Upon arriving we were greeted by several friendly faces offering directions and help. After a twenty minute train ride with half the free world (this was where the crowds appeared) we found ourselves in the middle of downtown Vancouver. The excitement was everywhere and we were hard pressed to find a Canadian not donned in red and white hockey jerseys or their country's flag. Once again, there were kind, helpful people everywhere we turned.

We spent the next three hours walking all over town taking it all in. Our final stop was just outside BC Place where the monumental, history-in-the-making hockey match was taking place. We joined in with a very small American contingent at an outside restaurant to witness the final goal. On that note we jumped back on the train and were back in the states an hour later. The photos below hit the highlights.

A life-size version of that which was EVERYWHERE. Homeland pride for sure.

The next USA bobsled team

A hockey player in the making??

Some very brave American souls willing to show their homeland pride.

All the ambassadors were dressed in jackets of this gorgeous color. Good fashion call, Canada.

We settled for this picture outside the Cauldron instead of waiting 30 minutes to get near it.

Never too old for a good game of "Tag"

SStill cool enough to join in.

More heart than the rest of them but those little legs just couldn't catch anybody.

We ran into Ben's classmate Clara at the waterfront.

This was the closest we could get them to stand next to each other.

USA pride--just before we lost.