I had 12 hours on a plane and in airports yesterday to reflect on the Paralympic experience. WOW...it made me want to be a part of the whole scene even more than I did before. It is such an amazing celebration of ability, not only for the athletes, but for everyone involved in any way. The spirit was incredible despite the nasty weather. When I can finally put up some video of the events you'll see the sideways rain. Our hotel room smelled like wet clothes the entire time. You couldn't really get anything dried out before you had to put it on and go out again.
Tuesday was the VI and sitting GS. There was a huge cloud/fog bank settled over the hill. It kind of moved up and down the venue, creating a really hard time for the athletes...well, the VIs were probably OK but their guides sure weren't. For the GS there were three pitches to the course. The fog was usually covering one part of the course, but at one point the entire course was fogged in. The commentators didn't even know if one of the racers was still on the hill or if she'd blown out because they couldn't see anything. Very tough racing conditions but the scenario was pretty much the same for everyone so it was an even playing field.
Oh, and Tuesday night for the medals ceremony...when I said it looked like it had stopped raining? NOT. Despite the rain, watching Alana and Stephanie get their medals, watching the flags be raised, and singing the National Anthem along with all the other Americans there made me so proud. OK, and I cried. I just watched my video and see that I caught a total flag malfunction too. The second place American flag got caught on something on the way up and the RC Mountie that was cranking it had to bring it down, fix it, and then catch up to the other two flags. Drama behind the scenes!
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