Yet Another Weekend--2002 Olympics

This was technically not a weekend but a fun, long Saturday back in 2002 in Salt Lake City when they hosted the Winter Olympics.  I felt that this was the only chance I would ever have to experience The Olympics even though I could not afford tickets to the events I wanted to see.  The city was geared up for a big party and so I talked 2 friends into going in and spending a day just around downtown where all the celebrations were going on.  We were living and working in Wendover at the time, 110 miles from Salt Lake City.

Chris, Patty and I set out early Saturday morning and headed for the big city.  We had heard a lot about the city train that you could Park and Ride into downtown.  We were planning on trying it because downtown was completely blocked off to all traffic.  We were so excited!  When we got there we found so many things to check out that we didn't know where to start!  There were all kinds of entertainers along the streets and on stages set up around the area.  Large corporations had booths and whole tents and buildings with attractions, beer gardens, displays, Clydesdales, phones and internet connections so you could call friends free and say "Hey, I'm here at the Olympics!"  Eating pavilions, pin trading tents and sooooo much more!

We listened to music, I think we went on a ride, we made our phone calls commemorating our visit, looked at all kinds of pins, and ate (of course), and did a lot of browsing through all the different displays.  By now it was well after dark and getting late.  We had a couple hours drive home and so we needed to leave but we wanted to buy some sweatshirts and caps from the official Olympics store.  We noticed there was a line but did not realize how long it was until we had been in it for about 30 minutes and came to a sign saying one hour wait from here!  We already had committed so decided what the heck, let's have some fun while we are waiting.  We introduced ourselves to the people around us and sang some songs, called all kinds of people on our cell phones to tell them what we were doing (maybe you got one of those calls, huh?) and acted goofy and in general, had a ball.  We really didn't believe the sign but it was true so about an hour later we finally made it to the head of the line.  By then all of us in that part of the line were fast friends!  We made it into the store and I got some caps and those winter knit hats for grandkids and got myself a really neat sweatshirt which I still wear even though I have lost a lot of weight and it is kind of big on me.  It was expensive but worth it if only for the memories it brings back!

I have lots of pictures of this event but they must be on a CD back at the cabin.  I loved the way they had huge like tapestries of different events hanging on the skyscrapers so you could see them from miles away.  When I get home I will have to get those picture out and post some of them!   I sure hope I didn't lose them when we transferred over to my new computer!