Home Tomorrow!

Hi all,

It's been a blast, but as they say...it sure will be nice to be home again!

The last day here is rather quiet. The crowds have all gone home or slowly made there way down to Vancouver. Slept in until 9 am, went to Wal mart and bought a bag to put in all of the souvenirs...ho,ho,ho. Had an oriental salad at Wendy's for lunch and went back at 4 pm for a chicken sandwich.

It has been a great experience. The biggest thing that I will remember will be the colours from all of the different countries, the languages and accents, the faces, the sounds of cheers, bells and whistles. But most importantly will be the pride I sensed in being Canadian. The sea of red and white flags, Canadian hats and painted faces made me feel happy and secure. We truly do live in the greatest country in the world and have the greatest neighbor in the U.S.A.

Thank you Bev for holding up the fort while I was gone and for supporting me with this opportunity to be gone for over 3 weeks.

Thanks for all of your e-mails and support.

Dave / Dad

A Norweigan Fan

Some $1 Million Dollar Homes

For the Girls... awww

A Close Friend

Some Russian Friends

Koreans Going Home

Kids were Everywhere

Prime Real Estate

More Homes

Some Wannabees

2 days off!!

Hello again...it's me The Mountain Man,

I am trying to do and see as much as possible in the 2 days I have off.
I was able to get a $40 ticket for the Women's Bobsled final last night. Much to my surprise, I didn't realize that they would win both gold and silver medals...a real bonus. As well, I was hoping to be spotted by 1 of the cameras and understand that some of you caught a glimpse...neat. There were hoards of people there, but well worth it being part of a somewhat Canadian historic moment. I slept in this morning, and will enjoy the pool today and I think I will relax and watch some TV.

Miss you all very much and believe it or not...only 5 more days to go before I come home!!

Dave/Dad



Some of the crowd!


The next run down she crashed


German team


A photo from the very back

Finishing line

Action begins at finishing area

Ma and Pa from Saskatchewan

Early arrivals

Swiss coach and bobsledder

Italian bobsledder and coach

The starting area

Snuck some athletes gabbing

Got to the bobsled early

Recent photo pf memorial

5am entrance to Whistler

Took a nap between shifts!

Olympic Update!

Hi all,

I thought that I would up date you all with my time here at the Olympics.

I am having a fabulous time here in Whistler B.C. I am driving buses 5 days a week with Wed. / Thursday's off.

I have met some pretty amazing people from all over the world.

One story to relate to you is every morning I pick up a bunch of German's, Lithuanians and Swede's whom all live in the same chalets up in the high areas surrounding Whistler. After getting to know most of them, names such as Hans, Boris, Calluci and Gretchen, they greet me now by saying "Good morning it's the mountain man". I told them that I'm the Golden Bear...but they say "no, no, you are the mountain man"! Okay...so for now I am the mountain man and not the Golden Bear!

I have climbed a mountain, seen the Olympic village every day, took the gondola up to the top of Whistler Mountain and then over to Blackcomb Mountain. The most memorable moments are the sounds of cow bells, the dress ups of the people from all countries, flags, and faces of all of the people. There are Austrians, Czechs, Russians, Ukrainians, Americans, Swedes, Norwegians, Finns, Germans, Swiss, and Danes etc...

I will finally be seeing my 1st event tomorrow evening. It is the ladies finals for Bobsledding. I will try to be down at the finish line. I will have my Chicago Bear hat on. Not likely you'll see me, but you never know.
Take Care...

Dave "The Mountain Man" Hynek

Here are some photos.

1 week to go!!

Hi all,

Only 1 more week to go!

I bought a ticket to watch my 1st Olympic Event. It will be the Women's Bobsled this Wednesday February 24th evening. I will try to place myself around but mostly at the finishing line with my Chicago Bears hat on, so you might just get a glimpse of me. The ticket was only $40 standing room ticket. Most of the other events like skiing etc...are more expensive. The weather has been spring like here, sometimes I don't know how the snow holds up so well. I mentioned to Mom that I lost control of my bus a few days ago in the early morning snow. I was up high in the hills around 5:30 am going really slow and the bus slid sideways down a road and into a snow bank. I can't tell you how disturbing this felt. Oh well, fortunately know one was injured and no damage to the bus. The name of the street was Matterhorn Drive!

I have attached some more pictures for you to view. See you all soon! I understand that Ally is in California and Dave is in Kelowna! HEY WEST IS BEST! COME ON OUT HERE AND PUT SOME SHORTS AND A T-SHIRT ON!!

Dave / Dad


Snowboarders


An olympic Medalist


Main Street


Some prime real estate

Price $1.5 Million!

Czech athlete is on left

Memorial for the Georgian Luger

At the entrance

Austrians

On 1 of my bus routes

Michael Lansberg Live

Oh Canada!

On 1 of my bus routes

Slovenians

Miss Whistler & Miss Blackcomb

2 Days Off!!!

Hi Everyone!!

I finally had my 1st 2 day's off! The weather here is finally sunny and blue clear skies! I needed some quiet time away from the masses of people I have been bussing around fro the past few days, so I went mountain climbing. The mountain that I climbed was Stawamus Chief. It is the 2nd largest granite mountain in the world. You can probably look it up on Google. I thought that this would be a fun and relaxing experience. It was for about 10 minutes, and then BANGO!

I never worked so hard in all of my life. it took me apx. 2 hours to climb up and 1 1/2 hours to come down. I was soaking wet when I finally reached the top. I sat in the cool mountain wind to dry off, and was soaking wet again when I finally reached the bottom, but so happy to be down! They had chains and ladders to assist you climbing up. Today, I went to the Olympic village and took the gondola up to the top (about 15 minutes) and then straight across on another gondola to Blackcomb Mtn. This was one of the most beautiful sites you will ever experience. I think Uncle Dave and Aunt Brenda may have taken this ride when they lived out here in B.C. I took several pictures up in the mountains and several just walking around the village. (By the way I had spaghetti and meatballs at The Old Spaghetti Factory).

Miss you all! I think next Wed. and Thurs. I will finally have some time to get in a few events! Not sure how many pictures I can forward to this e-mail. So I will send only a few. The rest we can see when I get back.

Dave / Dad


Ukrainians...they're everywhere!


Bus loop near Gondola!


Oh Canada!


On top of Mt. Whistler


Gondola from Whistler to Blackcomb Mtn.

Skiers on top!

On top of the Mtn.

On top of the Mtn.

Shannon Falls

Mt. Stawmus Chief

Squamish B.C.

A French Athlete