I've had time to reflect on my experience at the Vancouver walk and I have to say that I'm still a bit overwhelmed! What follows is my best effort to try to communicate what this last weekend was like for me...

Friday morning found me up and about..a bit too excited to sleep in..double checking to make sure I didn't forget anything for the weekend. Jeff and I picked up Bjorg around 9am and we were on our way. We'd heard rumors of border issues but sailed through without any problems at all. The next challenge...figuring out where we were supposed to be at BC Place. It's kinda big!

Jeff dropped us off and I headed to find the Media check in table. I was quite excited to be asked to represent the event to the local media and really looking forward to meeting the other "Media Walkers." My first reminder of what this weekend was all about came as I listened to the other stories as we introduced ourselves. There was a (very) young man there walking to honor his late wife. There was an older gentlemen there walking even though he is currently undergoing chemo. Another gentleman was walking to honor his daughters successful fight. There were women that had lost husbands, friends and close family members. Everyone had a powerful story to share and it was a really amazing way to start an amazing weekend.

After a pretty smooth Registration the three of us headed to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Must carb load?? After dinner we headed back to the hotel (31st floor - very nice!) and to bed. Our shuttle was scheduled for 5:45...am!

Saturday early morning is a bit of a blur to me. I've never even pretended to be a morning person and morning came really early on Saturday! I do remember the buzz of excitement on the bus as we headed to Opening Ceremonies. The sun was just beginning to rise as we dropped our gear off and grabbed some breakfast. After a great stretching session and a fairly emotional ceremony we were on our way.

Bjorg and I were lucky enough to be standing near the front of the group as we headed out. Folks were on their balconies enjoying their morning coffee waving as we passed by. The morning route took us through downtown Vancouver, along the waterfront and around Stanley Park. Absolutely breathtaking! At this point the weather was pretty good, but that was soon to change!

At lunch I gave the first of several media interviews. No sooner was I done than it began to rain. Adam and Patti had met us at lunch so we all scooted up under some trees to enjoy our meal. After hugs Bjorg and I set off in the pouring rain.

While it was definitely raining it wasn't cold and we were actually having fun. As we crossed the Burrard Street bridge cars in the nearest lane were splashing (soaking) the walkers. Somehow we found this very funny and laughed ourselves silly!

The afternoon is a bit of a wet blur but I do remember "borrowing" plastic bags from an outdoor produce stand to protect our cameras. I also remember how wonderful it was to find Jeff at a Cheering Station waiting for me. Tath and Dennis showed up in oversized Elton John style glasses and they were a huge hit along the route. Mylar blankets became a favorite fashion accessory for many walkers and Bjorg and I kept laughing about how the walkers were beginning to resemble Jiffy Pop or baked potatoes! In the meantime we giggled about the feeling of water squishing between our toes in our very soaked shoes! As we walked we made the decision to take advantage of the pre-paid hotel room that would be empty that night since Jeff decided to stay at my sisters. If the hotel room hadn't already been there we would have stayed in camp but since it was.....

Before we left camp however we spent the better part of an hour cheering in walkers as they arrived in camp. When we started to stiffen up our solution was to dance! Definitely a highlight of my weekend was being able to support those walkers that had worked so hard and overcome the challenging weather to make it into camp!

After dinner Adam and Patti played shuttle and took us back to the hotel. My favorite memory of the evening was watching Bjorg use the hairdryer on her only pair of shoes! We also took some pretty scary pictures of our feet after walking wet for so many hours. I was the proud new owner of some blisters that were unusual for me. Ick!

Sunday morning we discovered that we had forgotten to get the address of camp to return. Ooops. After a few misadventures we found the address and hailed a cab. Only one problem. The cab driver didn't know where we were going either...a fact we discovered as he took off at Mach 5 and threw the map at me to find it! Yikes! We did arrive in one piece, grateful to be back to walking speed!

After a yummy breakfast we headed out again. The sun was out and spirits were definitely up! Sunday's route was through many different kinds of neighborhoods eventually ending up at BC Place. Along the way we found Dennis and Tath dancing beside the street again, Adam & Patti, Ron and friends cheering on his wife Randy, and best of all for Bjorg - her son Joey who had slept in his car for two nights so that he could see his Mom along the route. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family in our lives.

We took our time walking on Sunday so that we wouldn't be the first in to the holding area. Because we took our time we had the opportunity to meet the folks walking towards the back of the pack. This is where the inspiration really lives in my opinion. We met an 11 year old girl who was walking. We spoke to an older woman who was determined to finish - despite what her doctor told her! We saw some pretty determined faces limping along the way.

As we entered BC Place we were greeted by thousands of excited cheers and shouts. After grabbing our final tshirt I headed out to give a final media interview. After I was done I looked up and my weekend came full circle. A little distance away from me was the young widower bending over to give an older Asian woman a huge hug. They both had shared their incredible stories with me and seeing them there reminded me once again of why I continue to do this.