The hotel with all the pheasant hunters.
Friday is travel day to Nationals. After surviving the previous night of last minute packing - where critical decisions were made - like how many pairs of socks are needed for a nine day trip, it was off to the last morning of training before heading to the airport. Putting the suitcases in the car during a COLD torrential rain confirmed that I was now wide awake. I was just happy it was not snow!
Once we got to the rink, the teams (Kate and Colin, Una and Andrew) practiced those ever critical and important run-throughs of the Tango and Killian compulsories and, of course, the free dance. Then, off to the airport--which was uneventful for the most part, except for the security search and pat down I had to go through. Sure Colin, Una and Andrew breeze through security with their skate blades and I get pulled over because I had forgotten the car keys in my pants pocket. After my very personal interlude with the security person, I was free to gather up most of the clothing I had to remove and go to the gate. The flight was no problem and we arrived at the hotel safely. It is really COLD in Minnesota - enough said!
We checked in to the hotel with all the pheasant hunters. Don't ya know! Yes, seems there is a pheasant shoot going on at the same time? Nice mix - figure skates and rifles. Seems like a new Xtreme sport if you ask me! Something you would see on late night ESPN 8 (Ocho!) Maybe the judges in this sport would give you a level 4 call only if you avoid buckshot while performing a required element?
The Crowne Plaza welcomed us with ice-cold lemonade and cookies. Our corner room is huge and comes equipped with a sleep number bed, lavender linen spray, sleep CD and eye mask. I'm considering hibernating here for the rest of the winter.
Well, after we unpacked we headed off for a quick bite to eat and then went to registration to get credentials. We looked for the line that did not have an abundance of camouflage. US Figure Skating did an excellent job with registration and it was very organized. It helped that I had left over pizza and offered this to all the volunteers. My only complaint is that I did not realize I had bad hat hair and so my picture on the credential looks like I am the only serial killer allowed into the event. It was great to see all the competitors, parents and coaches arriving and greeting each other. I could not convince the Wolfs or the Ainsworths to take a slice of pizza though. The competitors got a nice gift bag full of goods. It is really an exciting atmosphere!
So, we survived our first day at nationals. My wife and I are sitting by the pool so our youngest daughter can have some fun, and I am pondering as to how to find the nearest Guinness and if I could get it delivered to the hot tub by the pool.
Cheers!
Newbie parent at Nationals - Jim
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