Olympics

So Tuesday's parents are out for a visit, so we took them to Park City... a schmancy ski resort town with lots of shops and famous people surrounded by beautiful mountains. Park City was also the location of most of the events in the 2002 Winter Olympics. The Olympic center is still open and heavily used by athletes and a host to events and competitions all year. We took an hour tour that took us up and around the bobsled/luge/skeleton track and then to the top of the ski jump! I've always had a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Olympic athletes, but seeing all of these apparati up close gave me a newfound appreciation for what they actually do. They really are so dedicated, talented and borderline insane. Their passion and talent is just remarkable. For instance... the two-man luge involved the heavier person to lay on top of the lighter one... the one below cannot see where they are going but is responsible for steering via feeling the direction the fella on top is leaning. They reach speeds of 90+ mph while the guy on bottom is crushed by 800 lbs of pressure that frequently causes broken ribs. Fun!

We also found out that anyone can take a day long course and actually do the bob-sled, luge, or skeleton themselves - on the actual Olympic course! You have to make reservations well in advance and it's not cheap either... but at least I have something new and exciting to start saving for!