And so it was, 12 Blind River curling club members made the journey to Vegas to kick it at the Continental Cup of Curling. We were not disappointed. The curling was first rate. Lots of opportunities to meet the players and chat with them. Here's my take on it all:
WEATHER: 20 degrees every day so it was shorts and T-shirts for us. It was crazy sitting in the stands wearing this kind of apparel. I loved it! No rain..in fact, you could not buy a cloud! Cool evenings but with a long sleeve shirt or a sweater, you were good to go!
VENUE: Awesome. The Orleans Arena is a nice facility and connected to the hotel. I could literally walk out of my room and go straight to my seat without ever going outside. (But I did go outside because the weather was awesome!
FOOD: Cheap and good! Lots of restaurants in the hotel that served good food at excellent prices. I gained 5 lbs last week. back to the elliptical this week.
CURLING: Incredible. Great games and great shot-making. Both teams did not disappoint.
HIGHLIGHT: Besides meeting Maria Prytz...got to chat and take a photo with Vic and Russ. Great guys. A big highlight for me was attending with Joanne Niganobe, Christine Owl, Al Moffatt, Yvette Maffatt, Sheri Blanchet, Kristy Blanchet, Frank Lemieux and Shirley Lemieux. They becaome my little ducklings and I led them up and down the strip over a couple of days. To look behind me and see them all coming behind in single file, it was like I was mother goose and they were my ducklings. I might have started off the day as Mother Goose, but after a few beverages along the way, I was more like Mother "Loose:"! These gals and guys were great fun and we had alot of good laughs.
LEARNING EXPERIENCE: You've heard the expression "Photo Bomb"? Well, I thought it was "photo bum" and did a bit of photo bumming along the way. Hence, I became the Photo Bum! What a good laugh that was!
EVE MUIRHEAD: Lots alot of weight. Did not look healthy but she must have been because she played well.
JEFF STOUGHTON: Crowd favorite and he did not disappoint. Jonathan Mead played to the crowd as well.
DELTA AIRLINES: Synonymous with "Nightmare". My first time with Delta and most likely my last. Going there and returning, there were problems. I've already sent a letter to them. Cancelled our flight and despite the fact that we booked back at the beginning of September, people who booked flights long after us got earlier flights out than us. This lack of a solid protocol cost us a day of our holidays, plus the cost of a shuttle to Alpena, MI. Definitely not cool.
FIRST RATE HOTEL: Kewadin in Sault Ste Marie, MI. Because of our problems with Delta, Kewadin shuttled us to Alpena,. MI...3.5 hours downstate. All they asked was that we tip the driver so we chipped in and gave him $160.00
VERY COOL MOMENT: We got interviewed by Colin Kelly, the event newspaper writer. Like I said, everyone knew about Blind River at the end of it.
BEST POSTER: Blind River's, of course. it was big and colorful and we made it on TV lots of times. Thanks alot Gator Fortin. BTW...that poster is very well traveled. Been to many Briers and Scots, Grand Slams and now the Continental Cup.
REGRETS: I meant to make daily entries while I was at the event but could not get our I Pad to work. Hence, this after-the-fact entry. Another regret?...it's over!
All in all, a real memorable trip. Loved the people we went with and enjoyed every minute of it. Would I do it again....in a New York minute! If you have never done anything like this, you owe it to yourself to try it. Memories abound!
Rock On!
The Curling Chronic
2 comments:
love the detailed report; thanks Glen!
so glad you wore "the shirt". LV will have the CC again. I'm sure, in a few short years and we will definitely go.You are a natural for the role of Head Gander
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