Bryan took a break from working on the project site to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Quick Trip to Vancouver

Using his miles on Alaska Airlines, Bryan caught an early morning flight (i.e., 6:30 am) from San Jose to Seattle and then rented a car and drove to Vancouver.  Bryan met Paul Marcaccio at the Westin Bayshore Hotel, where they were guests of Paul Henderson, who was a long-term member of the International Olympic Committee.

Part of this break includes visiting Bob Wise’s newly constructed home on Bainbridge Island.  Bryan’s primary mission is to review the finishes on Bainbridge Island and generate ideas for our finishes.  We need to finalize our finishes so this trip is, somewhat, justified.  Ok, the trip is, at best, only rationalized.

Just after passing by the Peace Arch, Bryan crossed the border in Canada. There was only one car in front of him - he zipped through.

The roads were empty as Bryan crossed the bridge into downtown Vancouver.

The Bayshore Westin Hotel was the 'Olympic Family Hotel' for the 2010 Olympics, and it was under heavy security.

The International Olympic Committee rented the Bayshore Westin Hotel for the duration of the 2010 Olympics.

The view of the harbour from the suite in the Westin Bayshore included the five Olympic rings.

After lunch at Carderos, Bryan saw the Olympic flame. The glass block in front of him, which is what we will have in one of the two bridges across the Atrium, is where we took a similar photo on July 1, 2010 when we were on our 50-75-80 Celebration cruise to Alaska.

The Olympic flame.

Paul and Bryan enjoyed a drink before the Women's final hockey game (for the Gold medal). An RCMP officer was kind and took their photo.

With less than 13 seconds to go, the Canadian Women have won the Gold medal!

Dogpile celebration!

The Canadian receive their Gold medals.

The Canadian, American and Finnish flags are presented by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and are raised in the stadium.

And, of course, there are fireworks as the Canadians have their photos taken.

After the hockey game, Bryan and Paul walked back to the hotel and enjoyed seeing the Olympic flame.

We arrived in Vancouver this morning after an early morning flight from San Francisco.  We’re going on the ’50-75-80 Celebration Cruise’ as Bryan’s older sister, Joy, turns 50, his mother turns 75 and his father turns 80.  Of course, the entire family will celebrate anything!

Oh, happy Canada Day!

Arriving in YVR

We walked off our plane from SFO and enjoyed Vancouver International Airport.  The ‘Canada’ themes are very well done in this relatively new terminal.  Note that railings are Canadian maple wood, mixed with the green rock/tiles.

Maple railings in Vancouver International Airport.

Celebrating Canada Day

Our good friend, Rob McConnachie, met us at Canada Place before we joined the 50-75-80 Celebration Cruise gang.  Bryan went to MBA school at Western with Rob, and Jo-Anne worked with Rob in Toronto at Marleau Lemire Securities.  Rob just finished building a house on Vancouver Island.

Rob pointing out the sights on a blue-sky day in Vancouver.

Bryan, Jo-Anne, Kate and Nik in front of the Volendam (photo by Rob McConnachie).

Canada Day! Jo-Anne, Kate and Bryan. Note the glass in the background.

This is glass decking in a public area in Vancouver. We need this decking on our bridge in our private residence in California.

After dropping Nik off at his baseball camp at Stanford University, Bryan went directly to PCBC this morning.

Making Contact with Sierra Glass Block

This morning, Bryan met with Philip Kristianson and Terese Eisseman Keller of Sierra Glass Block.  They are distributors for GlassWalk structural glass floor systems, by Innovative Building Products.  This product is exactly what we have been looking for to go into one of our two bridges.

Other Contacts

Bryan met with Ray Kechely of Ultra-Tec Cable Railing Systems.  Ray will introduce Bryan to qualified installers of custom cable railing sytems in the Bay Area.  It was great to meet Ray.

Site Visit to Atherton to See GlassWalk Floor System

As circumstances would have it, Bryan was lucky to see a glass floor system in a very nice house in Atherton.  Just on the way home before leaving on the Father’s Day Camping Weekend.

Side view of the bridge and railing sytem.

You can see how the aluminum frame sits inside the structural steel frame. This could work in our bridge!

View under glass bridge. This will be spectacular when finished.