The day after the Olympics completed was a day of preparing for the journey home.

There were no more games to watch, no more events to attend, just get everything ready to go... it was kind of sad even though we had ended on such a high note, it was over forever.  It was raining again and by now my cold/flu was in full bloom so it was a slow process but I had to get all the water out of the RV to cross the colder parts of the country... we had been very lucky during our stay there was never any risk of freezing in Squamish this season so we had full use of our hot shower for the entire 2 weeks.  We would have to go back to stopping in truck stops and with friends/family along the way home.

Eagle Vista RV Resort had been our home away from home for the 2 weeks stay in Squamish and we stopped to thank the owners Janice and Jeff for their hospitality and present them with a STRONG & FREE plaque before we left... they were very nice people and went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed, thanks so much ! (see photos on in our Facebook group).

We stopped at the Sea to Sky Ford dealer who very kindly checked our fluids and brakes for the ride home... thanks guys !!!  Then off we were back down the number one highway to Vancouver and on westward Kamloops... little did we realize that it meant going over the Rockies in the dark... oh well at least we could not see the dropoffs!  The Canadian Rockies were a breeze after what we had survived on the California cliffs !

We arrived safe in Kamloops which is a huge city in the mountains and stayed there at a nice truck stop overnight... it was very very nice and the people were amazing ..we woke up to the local paparazzi taking photos of the RV and telling their friends that we were the ones in "The Province" article ... yes that was us !    We left them some stickers and colouring books to give out and continued on the YellowHead highway that would take us to Alberta / Jasper and then Edmonton.

We headed out and then said a final goodbye to beautiful British Columbia and her wonderful people, thank you for having us and hosting Canada's proudest Olympics ever we will never forget you !

The Rocky Mountains are truly magnificant and seem to go on and on forever... I did not realize how expansive it is there must be thousands of peaks that we've seen on this continental journey.  Finally we approach the Alberta border and enter Jasper national park where the mountain goats have crossing paths on the highway, they are really nice animals different from anything we've seen in the wild.

We continued on the YellowHead highway toward Edmonton where we had plans to stop at a friends for a visit along the way, we stopped at a rest stop for a quick break after Jasper and Patricia noticed a dog wandering around the trucks.  Lots of truckers have dogs with them so we just assumed it must belong to one however a Lapsa Apso is not typically a trucker dog and this one was wandering dangerously under several trucks.  Patricia was quickly able to make friends with it of course and we called the phone number on the collar to find out that the owners had just left this stop 30 min ago and did not realize that "Missy" was not in her pet bed.  Missy hopped into our RV and had a little snooze while we drove her down the highway to be back her mom and dad Patty and Harvey who own Crown & Anchor pub north of Edson...in White Court... we hope to visit them on our next trip to Alberta !

Finally we made it to Edmonton and had a great visit with friends "Mang & Sid" and their dogs Roxy & Cody (we think Cody has small dog syndrome!)... we enjoyed a great home cooked meal, yumm, watched 2012 (do you think the RV would float?) and headed out the next morning after a pot of coffee and breaky... thanks so much xox!

No time for the West Ed Mall this visit UGH, just keeep driving !  I now realize just how small a province NB I live in... it really is tiny compared to all the others ... really really tiny... just keep driving, just keep driving....

We drove all day again and made it to Saskatoon Saskatchewan for the night at a nice Flying J truck stop.and ordered a pizza for supper.. this province is also huge and very very YELLOW everywhere you look, it is golden yellow and just glows ...it must be breath taking in the summer with the sun shining on it !  There is not much else to be seen, just miles and miles of fields as far as the eye can see.  So we are here for the night and tomorrow will head to Manitoba land of a thousand lakes ... hoping to make it to Winnipeg.

Denise, proud to be STRONG & FREE !

It's hard to put into words the emotional roller coaster of participating in this momentus time in Canadian history.

Our last weekend came up on us fast but we made the best use of it that we possibly could and did one last visit to Whistler village packed into a lounge with big screen TVs to watch the Canadian mens hockey team fight for their right to go for gold !  and fight they did, a battle that we all knew the would win and we were extactic even though the only mens hockey tickets we held from our ticket lottery were mens bronze, we knew in our hearts Canada would not be in that game ! 

Off we went the next day and decided to sell the tickets to a nice American couple visiting that wanted to take in a good game Fins vs Slovs ... it turned out to be an awesome game as we watched it while having steaks at the Keg, then we headed downtown one last time before the Big Day !

The Big Day started off with a Big Success for us, Patricia submitted our story to the local BC paper "The Province" and there it was in the commerative edition, the story of our journey (the writers version) and our photo in front of the large STRONG & FREE emblem on the side of our RV ! 

Wow, that was nice... we hoped in the taxi, got on the greyhound, then on the skytrain (we spent min 4 hours each event day traveling) when all of a sudden we heard someone say "That's those 2 from NB in today's paper" ... we smiled  ;-D

We had arranged to meet friends at the Keg Yaletown lounge which is the largest nicest in North America so we were told, but we just liked it because they have great TV screens awesome service and always a good crowd to share the game with.  It was packed but the 6 of us found a pole that we could claim as ours with a good view of the screens.  We ordered a round and got set for the game of a lifetime, Canada vs USA! 

It seems like once the game started it was a blurr of red&white, beer, red&white, nachos, red&white and then an occasional brave red&white&blue American flying up and down the isle with the Star Spangled Banner!  I texted my kids to make sure they were watching knowing full well from my high school Canada vs Russia experience that it would be one of those memories that you have for a lifetime.  I guess I was maybe too confident but I was sure we had the game when US came up with that last minute goal, yikes! it was very very tense, but in hindsight I think it made the final victory in overtime that much sweeter !

The crowd went wild and Patricia took photos and videos to put on the STRONG & FREE Facebook group so you can get a sense of what that was like... at that point in time, there were no strangers, everyone belonged to this wonderful magnificent community and we just proved definitively that we are the greatest in the world !

Once the game finished we had to get going so we would be seated and ready for the audience participation practise for the closing ceremonies!  We made our way through the crowds, gates, security and got to our seats to find our individual box of props for the show.  We passed our training with flying colours and were taking in all the sights and sounds of BC Place... it looked absolutely magical and I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to be there for the opening but we could not get tickets and now if I had to choose, I am glad we had closing tickets, it was a perfect ending to a perfect Olympics!

And then, it happened, we were all on our feet, the flags were flying, the performers where coming in, the music was playing and then we got this overwhelming feeling of euphoria ...we were experiencing an incredibly positive emotion with millions of people knowing that we were part of something truly magnificent... Canada !

Tears welled, we could hardly sing the anthem we had such a feeling of elation... it was heavenly, we felt privleged to be there and participating in this momentus event that would change Canadian history forever !  We always knew we had a great country, everyone else knew we had a great country, now we have proven to ourselves and the world that we have a great country with great people and we're proud to be Canadian!

With regards to the our goal of our journey, in 2006 we set out to create a STRONG & FREE wave of Canadian patriotism from the east coast to the west coast in time for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics...   during the opening performance the students with the snowboards ... spelled out the words "STRONG & FREE" ... I think it's safe to say that it was already here !

Denise, proud to be a STRONG & FREE Canadian !

Amazing experience to be part of an Olympic games held in Canada !

This will keep the fire burnin for Canadians of all ages and make a statement to the world about the new found sense of pride in Canada, we have the greatest country and we know it !

The streets in Vancouver and Whistler are filled with red and white and smiling faces everywhere you look.  The big wins on the hills, luge and especially figure skating and hockey have been fueling the flames that will burn for a long time to come... today we head to Whistler to find a big screen to watch the mens hockey semi hoping Canada will face US for the GOLD!

We are very exciting about the closing ceremonies on Sunday expecting it to be absolutely crazy in Vancouver, keep an eye out for us!

Our sponsors LeisureFamilyRV are at Harbour Station this weekend and will have the Olympics up on the big screen, keep an eye out for us!!!  We have also scored a spot in the local paper "The Province" commerative edition coming this Sunday and our story is on the Tim Horton website ;-D

Thanks again to everyone for the support and encouragement... it is helps more than you know!

Denise, proud to be a STRONG & FREE Canadian !

We watched the Canadian Gold Figure skating couple Scott & Tessa come first in qualification for the medals, it was so great to see the ice dance in person, something my family has watched on TV for years, and they are such a great pair, its hard to believe they have been together since they were 7 & 9 yrs old what incredible dedication!

So far I would say it is the most fun along with the hockey games, there's nothing like hockey for most Canadians.  The mood shifted quite a bit after the mens hockey team lost to the US, it was a kick in the butt.  I was shocked at the womens hockey game US vs Swed when the Canadian fans were cheering for Sweden, afterall US is our cousins !  I had also seen this happening from US fans cheering against Canada, maybe its just being competitive, but to me it did not feel right.

We have a couple days off so watching the Olmpics from the RV in Squamish and the rain has returned so we were really lucky we had the great spring weather when we were downtown walking through streets amoung the Cherry blossoms and daffodils.... crazy how early the spring is here wow !

We spent a couple evenings walking thru Whistler Village and downtown Vancouver, its been fun to see Canadians of all ages participating in the power of Canadian pride and enjoying the limelight... speaking of light, we got some great shots of the torch on the waterfront, a very very nice landmark that will always be there as a reminder of these great times!

We have one set of ame tickets left for mens bronze hockey, it may be Canada playing if not we may sell those tickets, we have tickets for the closing ceremonies and are very excited for that big show and hoping Canada comes in first place for number of Gold medals !

Denise, proud to be STRONG & FREE !

Yesterday we hiked Cypress Mtn to watch the Womens Half Pipe Snowboard competition, the travel was brutal, no really brutal, and the climb was hundreds of stairs straight up in the air, litterally a stairway to heaven but worth it for the show!

We did not win any medals at this one, but put on a great show for all the world.  It was a beautiful day and we felt like we got a sunburn on our faces but as soon as the sun dropped the coast went on and we huddled up for the finals, temp changed at least 10 degrees within an hour.  |See the photos on the STRONG & FREE Facebook group !

Not much snow there this year but they trucked in enough to make the halfpipe with straw as a base.  It was a long day and we had mucho trouble with travel arrangements which has been unfortunately a big issue for us... we are in Squamish which is sort of mid way between Whistler and Vancouver/Cypress.  Travel to Whislter is easy we can catch a shuttle every half hour or so from the local Walmart 24hrs, however Vanoc forgot to set up shuttles to Vancouver and Cypress from those staying in Whistler and Squamish... so that has been a clamity of taxis, greyhounds, etc..etc.  ugh!

So we are making plans for more trips to Whistler and will be staying with a friend for a night in Vancouver for 2 tickes Ice Dance and Hockey on Sunday and Monday.

Today we had a day off to relax and do a little maintenance and then off to Whistler tomorrow to join in on the fun! Stay tuned !

Denise proud to be STRONG & FREE !

Amazing day at the women's luge competition in Whistler ... it's such a magical place with almost a DisneyWorld kind of feel.  Every corner is filled with people from different parts of the world wearing the colours and costumes of their country... I saw 2 guys sporting sombraros with the Mexican flag caped over their shoulders.  Media everywhere broadcasting in foreign languages back to the folks at home getting a glimpse into the magic of the games.

We did our weekly Monday evening CBC Radio from Whistler just as we arrived in the village... it was fun and exciting to update everyone back home no that we are back in Canada after the long trek across US and looking forward to keeping the fire burning all across Canada on the way home after the closing ceremonies!

It was fun to look around and check things out before getting a bite to eat on the upper deck overlooking the big screen TVs at the end of the ski hill.  To get to the luge event we hopped onto the gondola and hiked up the hill to get in position we were over an hour early so had a long wait we set up next to the finish line.  We soon realized that we were to the line and could not see them go by they are soooo fast so we moved up the hill to where the athletes get off their sleds... this was the perfect spot with a large screen and a great view of the athletes when they finish, this is where all the cheering takes place with the family of the participants.

STRONG & FREE got lots of exposure, many folks asking about it and saw us on TV, we are giving lots of pins, stickers and colouring books to kids in the crowd, they love it !

Awesome to now have our second gold medal, Canada is really on a high, but its not over yet !

We have a couple days off then we go to Cypress mountian for half pipe, looking forward to seeing that!

Go Canada Go!

Denise, proud to be STRONG & FREE !

Our first few days have been just amazing joining in the celebrations everywhere with Canadians and peoples from all around the world, everyone is so happy to be here and sharing in the joy of participating.

It's kind of like Christmas when everyone tries to be on their best behaviour and we all come together as one big family enjoying the spirit of the games.

On opening night we did not have tickets so we went downtown to watch a big screen with the locals and others that were also looking to share the evening with the community.  After the ceremonies ended we went out into the streets for the fireworks and to feel the energy in the streets, it was a big high.

The first day of the games we had 2 hockey games to attend and we were excited to start out with such a great venue.  The first game was Sweden vs Switzerland and was a great game the teams were fairly evenly matched and it was great women's hockey.  The second game was even more exciting because it was Canada vs SVK in their first olympic appearance so no contest for the Canada's womens team but such an incredible feeling to be watching in the huge arena in a sea of red and white... Canadians love hockey !  well all most all of us have played either on ice, roads or ponds so it is a very emotional experience especially for me as I finally returned to playing hockey last year... being on a hockey team is such a fabulous high... there is nothing quite like it.

After the game we stopped at the Hyatt and watched some of the other games on the big screen and ran into the Gretzky family so I had an opportunity to present Walter Gretzky with a STRONG & FREE ballcap and gave his granddaughter a STRONG & FREE pin to add to her collection, such a great Canadian family... I was so proud to have met these folks, they are really as nice in person as they seem on TV. (see photo on the website and facebook)

Our next event is in Whistler for womens luge, which will be sad to be where the young athlete was lost, we will continue to pray for his family.  After that we have 2 trips to Cypress for snowboard and halfpipe, that should be quite a thrill to see live!

Denise, proud to be STRONG & FREE !

Our first few days have been just amazing joining in the celebrations everywhere with Canadians and peoples from all around the world, everyone is so happy to be here and sharing in the joy of participating.

It's kind of like Christmas when everyone tries to be on their best behaviour and we all come together as one big family enjoying the spirit of the games.

On opening night we did not have tickets so we went downtown to watch a big screen with the locals and others that were also looking to share the evening with the community.  After the ceremonies ended we went out into the streets for the fireworks and to feel the energy in the streets, it was a big high.

The first day of the games we had 2 hockey games to attend and we were excited to start out with such a great venue.  The first game was Sweden vs Switzerland and was a great game the teams were fairly evenly matched and it was great women's hockey.  The second game was even more exciting because it was Canada vs SVK in their first olympic appearance so no contest for the Canada's womens team but such an incredible feeling to be watching in the huge arena in a sea of red and white... Canadians love hockey !  well all most all of us have played either on ice, roads or ponds so it is a very emotional experience especially for me as I finally returned to playing hockey last year... being on a hockey team is such a fabulous high... there is nothing quite like it.

After the game we stopped at the Hyatt and watched some of the other games on the big screen and ran into the Gretzky family so I had an opportunity to present Walter Gretzky with a STRONG & FREE ballcap and gave his granddaughter a STRONG & FREE pin to add to her collection, such a great Canadian family... I was so proud to have met these folks, they are really as nice in person as they seem on TV. (see photo on the website and facebook)

Our next event is in Whistler for womens luge, which will be sad to be where the young athlete was lost, we will continue to pray for his family.  After that we have 2 trips to Cypress for snowboard and halfpipe, that should be quite a thrill to see live!

Denise, proud to be STRONG & FREE !

Tomorrow is the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Games !

We don't have tickets for the event but we are going downtown to join in the fever and on the chance that we may be able to pick up some last minute tickets !

The following is the list of tickets we currently have;  see you there !

Feb 13 Womens Hockey SWE vs SUI

Feb 13 Womens Hockey Can vs SVK

Feb 14 off

Feb 15 Luge

Feb 16 Womens Snowboard

Feb 17 off

Feb 18 Snowboard Half pipe

Feb 19 off

Feb 20 off

Feb 21 Ice Dance

Feb 22 Womens Hockey Semi Finals

Feb 23 off

Feb 24 Victory Ceremony - INXS

Feb 25 off

Feb 26 off

Feb 27 Mens Hockey Bronze

Feb 28 Closing Ceremonies

Denise, proud to be STRONG & FREE !

Fort Camping RV resort at www.BraeIsland.com is were we are reporting from for the last 2 nights... awesome park, excellent facilities and wonderful people !

We had a beautiful day that went close to 20 degrees mid afternoon so we stopped in the quaint little town of Fort Langley to browse throught the lil boutiques, very cute area.  We were surprised to note that the grass is still green here, there are flowers in flower boxes and people are golfing (we brought our skis not clubs...go figure!)  We stopped for lunch at a great little place called BeatNik Bistro and had some nice halibut & chips before heading out.

We found our way back into Langley to O'Connors RV center and they were expecting us since we had contacted Earl Manning at RV Care and he gave them the heads up (and also some great advise on where to camp)!  These folks were excited to see us and treated us like family the same way we get treated back home with the LeisureFamilyRV.com folks.  They stabalizer leg shaft had broken so they got a new part, gave us a quick wash up and sent us on our way !  Special thanks to Ryan and his team for taking care of us and Rob who did the dirty work under the bus!

We decided to head up to Squamish a day ahead of schedule to get set-up, the weather is looking very mild so we should be able to continue to use our onboard water and shower as long as we stay above zero... yay.  Last night a fellow RVer came by and told me he saw the RV on ATV news before we left ... how cool is that!  He gave me some good advise on how to cross the Rockies and suggested the Jasper to Edmonton route... will check that out thanks!

We have been watching the news on the Olympic Torch run which is now in the Vancouver area and the Olympic fever is getting very very hot here, so exciting !  Opening ceremonies are this Friday, we could not get tickets for this but still hoping something comes up so that we can go... we are excited for Saturday, we have tickets to 2 hockey games, I will post our ticket list shortly so you can see what events and when we are watching !

Thanks for the follow, pls feel free to add your comments and also join our Facebook Strong & Free group for photos (we are still trying to load the videos from the extreme RV sports cliff ride - I hope to have some time to put some links on youtube stay tuned)!

Denise, proud to be STRONG & FREE !