We're going to Vancouver for a day trip from Seattle this Saturday for an Olympic hockey game from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Our plan is to drive up early, park at the airport, and take the train to Yaletown to pick up our tix at Cosports. We'll have a few hours to hang out before the game and possibly a little time after. There will be four of us, two adults and two 19 yr old boys. Where can we hang out after we get our tix for the best Olympic flavor? We were thinking Granville Island would be fun. Any ideas?

Also, we are hearing the border crossing is fast. Anyone hear otherwise? Also, parking at the airport - I'm guessing it will be easy. Anyone hearing otherwise or have another suggestion? We'd originally heard transport to the venues would be full and lines might be long, so to arrive 2 hrs early. Is this happening? We're going to a game that may not be too busy- Slovakia versus Latvia, at Canada Hockey Place. Suggestions are welcome. We hope to pack as much as we can into our day. Thanks!

I've heard that you should expect airport type security getting into GM place(Canada Hockey Place). As you will be downtown, I'd just wander around downtown, Robson st.,etc.

I would suggest trying the public parking at the River Rock Casino.As you are heading to the airport turn right at Cosco and then a left into the parkade after you pass the bus loop. $2.00 for 24 hours. Considerably cheaper than the airport. Impossible to get a place during the week but has been OK so far on the weekends. The Canada Line ( from the airport) stops right at the parkade.
Check out citycaucus.com for up to date information on all the free activities in town. I would also agree with the suggestion to "wander around" downtown - Robson, granville, Yaletown and the waterfront before the game. It will give you a feel for the buzz around town. Enjoy!

Thanks for the casino suggestion and the link. That is way cheaper than the airport! Sounds like a great idea. Thanks for the link! I am so excited!

Might see you there. Going to the Norway-Switzerland hockey game at 12:00. I'll be the guy in the 1970's austin powers pants (see Norwegian curling team),and the Viking helmet. How did I get talked into this? I'm sure I won't be alone. You will enjoy just wandering around. Enjoy Vancouver.

Hahaha! I'll look for you! I'll be the one wearing a red jacket. Wahoo! I've never been to the Olympics before!

I'm sure you're already on your way but for other folks who might be reading, I went up on Thursday and there was little to no wait at the border--4 cars going in to Canada around 9:30 AM, and zero cars (drove right up) coming back into the US around 8:30 PM. I've never had that happen at the Peace Arch crossing before! All lanes were open, including the ones over to the left (and that's where there was no wait). Never thought I'd say it, but I really appreciate the border patrol's efforts on both sides of the border for minimizing waits during this potentially busy time

I've never seen so much red in my life as in Vancouver on Thursday, so you will fit right in!

Lines were long at many of the pavillions and houses, but the one at Northern House wasn't bad (about 20 minutes) and that was enjoyable. I took the Olympic Line streetcar back and forth to Granville Island which was fun...saw Stephen Colbert doing a segment outside the Swiss House (Bridges). The line for Atlantic Canada House on Granville was too long however.

I went to look at the flame and that was pretty cool too--the fencing situation is apparently better than it was and you can get a decent view/photo through the gap in the fence.

It was enjoyable just walking around and feeling the vibe as well, particularly on Robson, Granville and Mainland streets, which are some of the ones that are closed to traffic.

Have fun!

Guess I'll post here instead of a trip report. Thanks NWWanderer for your account.

We went up Saturday. We left Seattle around 7:45 AM, and hit the border by about 10. It was jam packed, with an hour wait at each crossing. We tried the truck crossing and it was very frustrating. Three ways to cheat- Get in the NEXUS lane and cut in near the bottom; go to duty free (or pretend to); or cut down from some overpass and avoid the lines.

We parked at the River Rock Casino, barely getting a spot. It cost only $2 for the day. We took the sky train in - very easy, no wait.

We went to Yaletown first, to pick up our tickets at Cosport. There was no line at Cosport. We had ordered our four tickets in October for Latvia versus Slovakia. (One of only three choices available through cosport, and only at the top price). Our seats were stellar - in the ninth row, towards the center. The game was really great fun. Weird small world story - the man sitting next to me went to high school with me in Chicago decades ago. I did not know him but he was only one year younger (I only went for two yrs, which is why I did not know everyone in spite of it being a small school.)

Before the game, we had some time to hang out in Vancouver. It was so packed with people, it felt like NYC. Many of the streets were closed to traffic. There were Olympic banners everywhere; paintings on sidewalks representing participating nations; people dressed in maple flags and red, with face paintings of flags; fun and excitement in the air.

We chose not to stand in line to get into a pub in Yaletown, but ate at a "normal" restaurant. There were street performers in Yaletown.

We went to Robson Street by skytrain to see the ziplining and what was going on in Robson Square. OMG! You could not turn around. There was art everywhere on the sidewalks, performers, people, people and people. There were humongous Canadian flags taking up entire buildings. Throngs and throngs of people. We didn't stay for the entertainment, as we realized it might be a wait at the skytrain to get to the hockey stadium. So, off we went for the hockey.

The line at the hockey stadium was getting longer and longer as we waited for my son and his friend. They drove up separately as they had a friend at UBC and were planning on staying the night (They had gone through the Peace Arch and had an hour wait there, as well). They had gotten caught in the traffic in the city, with all the street closures (had to drive to UBC, so went through the downtown area).

They finally managed to get on a bus to come to the stadium, and we found out there were going to get off the bus at the other entrance on the west side. So we had to walk all the way around the stadium, which was a trek over the skytrain, etc. So we waited on the west side at the entrance there near the box office. There were some scalpers but I didn't ask what they were charging. I believe there were tickets available at the box office before the game, though I saw very few unoccupied seats during the game. There were virtually no lines at the west entrance (not sure if it was because it was closer in time to the game).

So, they tell you to come 2 hrs early (or that they open the gates then), but they aren't letting anyone in at that time. They have to clean up from the last crowd. You really only need to be there about 1/2 hour in advance. Shhh.

The boys arrived about 20 minutes in advance of the game. Security was similar to aiport security (but if you have a larger bag or a backpack there is special screening - so travel with nothing more than a 12"x6"x6" purse (all this is on the websites). We rushed to our seats and got in just before the game started.

As I said, the game was fantastic. It was so exciting to be at an Olympic game and to see it live. There were many fans on both sides. We sat in the Latvia section. I rooted for them because they had less NHL players and because the guy next to me from my high school was of Latvian descent and had a Latvian flag painted on his cheek. My son rooted for Slovakia, as he's an NHL fan. Latvia got slaughtered in the first half but came back strong for the second half and it was a pretty even match from the middle part on to the end - too late for Latvia, of course, but at least they put up a good fight.

Afterwards, we took the skytrain to see the Olympic cauldron (as they call the torches). We had a bit of a wait as everyone was leaving the game at the same time, but it was not more than 20 or 30 minutes.

All through the city there are volunteers wearing blue directing people, so you never have to worry about getting lost. They even have the transit maps and can help with busses. Some sit up on ladders with megaphones at street corners and answer questions everyone is asking, like "Where is the cauldron?"

So, we saw the cauldron, which is beautiful. We were determined to go to a pub for dinner, and someone recommended the Lion Pub just down the street from the cauldron (between it and the skytrain).

People in pubs in Canada are like people in pubs in London. They don't budge. We waited for an hour, but it was an okay wait as we were inside and they had big screen tvs showing three separate venues - speed skating (Apollo Ono skating), curling, and the hockey game. People in the pub were dressed mostly in Canadian maple leafs. Some wore flags on their backs as capes. We were finally seated and had a wonderful dinner, watching the games as we ate and shouting along with the other pub patrons. The boys are 19 and not considered minors in Canada, so they were happy to get to drink beer with us. So nice. The boys were so grateful we got them tickets (they are big hockey fans), but I thanked them, as we'd never had gone without their inspiration.

We left them in Vancouver to paint the town redder, and took the skytrain back to where our car was parked. It was five minutes at the border, and we were home a little more than 3 hours after leaving the restaurant in downtown.

A great experience. The hockey game was a great pick as it turned out - I wasn't a big hockey fan going in, but may get tickets for the Canucks games in the future. And, in the future, when they aren't ripping everyone off with ridiculous hotel prices, we will be able to stay the night. It was a long day, but worth the effort!

If you live in Seattle and get the chance - GO!

I should add, we have friends who went up for the day last week, just to hang out, and got inexpensive tickets to see Apollo Ono skate...The tickets are there.

So glad you all had a good time, Orca. Nice report, too.

We've been in Tofino so missed the torch parade going past
our front door. And we were supposed to be in Calif so we
didn't have tickets to anything.

We're in N.Van and I talked DH into taking the bus downtown
and the seabus back. Only second time he's been on a local
bus - the last time was for Expo 87!. Bus was packed with
everyone talking and giving advice to the folks who had out
maps and needed directional help. We sat with a fellow from
Newfoundland - he put his name in as a volunteer two years
ago and was thrilled to be assigned to Cypress and the mogul
runs. Never been to Van. before and couldn't get over the
warm weather - back home he has 7 feet of snow in his yard!

Robson St. and environs were amazing - rock bands, native
dancers, skaters, zipliners on their 30 second whiz above
the square. Yes, a sea of red - from babies to old folk -
we were totally out of sync in our neutrals. The line up
to get into the Canada Pavillion snaked all around the
art gallery perimiter - hours long. We waited one hour
for lunch but it was so nice to sit in the sun and watch
all the goings-on.

Walked down to the waterfront to view the cauldron and the
pin sellers. And the people! The city is jammed to the
rafters and everyone seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.
Of course, the gorgeous warm sunny weather certainly played
a part in the pleasantness. Don't think I'd want to be in a
huge crowd lining up in the pouring rain with potentially
lethal umbrellas.

I wasn't an O or IOC supporter and I still think a lot of
the money spent on wining and dining the 'in' crowd should
have been used to better advantage, but I have to admit it's
a great experience for the city, the tourists and even the
old locals!

I'm glad you had a good time. The crowds and the energy in the air is amazing.I had reservations about the Olympics, but based upon what I've seen in the last week, this is the best thing that ever happened in Vancouver. So many people from all over the world and everybody is happy and having a good time.

Whistler was unbelievable. We were there all last week and it was incredible--athletes everywhere, and so accessible: Lindsey Vonn signed autographs after her medal ceremony, the Swiss paraded downhill winner Didier Defago around the village on their shoulders after his win, packs of athletes in uniform walking around, watching the concerts, watching their compatriots get their medals, skiing on their off day, etc etc. It was so easy to get a shuttle from the village over to the Creekside base, there were plenty of buses. We bought more event tickets from the official ticket booth--they released unsold seats in the handicapped section. We were surrounded by team officials and families in the crowd at alpine ski events, too--we met Julia Mancuso's mom and grandparents, and Emily Brydon's mom and aunt. We saw Lindsey win her gold, Bode win a silver and Julia win both her silvers. The energy and excitedment were fantastic. It feels like such a letdown to be home!

As a side note, the checkpoint and doomsday scenarios about parking and traffic really worked. I think our condo garage was about 1/8th full. Talking to people, this was the norm. We stayed an extra day and easily found valet parking at the Fairmont. There were no border lines and no checkpoint lines--it was our fastest drive to Whistler ever.

Sounds fantastic, christy! I was wondering how great it was at Whistler. Sounds like it exceeded expectations! I can imagine coming home would be a letdown!