1 Olympic Plaza

In trying to come up with more travel posts, I realized that I have a whole slew of photos from the Olympic Training Center that I've never posted here. And even though I lived there, it's still a tourist attraction/travel destination! I myself have taken the tour, oh, three times now? So yeah, here we go -- a travel post about a tourist attraction I used to live on. How weird is that?

In case you're new around these parts, I guess I should explain: the U.S. Olympic Committee and a bunch of Colorado Springs-based NGBs (national governing bodies) have an internship program, and all accepted interns receive room and board at the Olympic Training Center. It's the same OTC where Olympians like Michael Phelps and Apolo Ohno have trained, and where dozens of national team athletes currently live and train full-time. (Don't get too excited, though; athletes get the prime, newest housing, while interns are housed in a barrack-like dorm building at the farthest corner of campus. It was like being back in the freshman dorms in college, hah.) I was an intern with USA Volleyball so I got to slum it at the OTC for seven months last year. ;) It was one of the coolest things ever, even if dorm life was questionable and dining hall food got kind of old after awhile. I mean, driving past the Olympic rings multiple times a day? Writing your address as 1 Olympic Plaza? Thinking of all the legendary athletes that have streamed through this place in the last 40 years? Crazy. CRAZY. While I'm definitely glad to be living in an apartment now, I'm so incredibly grateful for my time as an OTC resident.

The following pictures were all taken between May and December of 2013, all during my time as a resident, and all in chronological order, from my very first day to my very last day. So join me, if you will, in reliving a little chunk of my life. :)

While the tour doesn't give visitors quite as much of an inside peek as I just gave you (you're welcome, America!), it does take you inside most (if not all) of the training facilities. And there's a pre-tour video presentation that makes me weep every time I see it. So if you're in the Colorado Springs area, I highly recommend swinging by! Tours cost $5, but if you go with a USOC employee -- ahem, me! ;) -- you get in for free.

If you're interested in seeing one of my more recent trips back to the OTC, click here. :)

Being A Tourist In My (Sort Of) Hometown

Okay, Colorado Springs is definitely not my hometown. But I have lived here for over a year now (minus a brief one-month hiatus), so it's pretty home-like. So when my friend Christina asked if she could stay with me for a few days while she covered the Rockies vs. Marlins for work, I was super excited to explore a little bit with some new eyes!

Christina flew in on Thursday, and she was on her own on Friday because I had to work (GASP, no more unemployment for me! But more on that at a later date). And on Sunday we'd spend the day in Denver at the ballpark. So Saturday was our designated Colorado Springs day. We didn't drag ourselves out of bed particularly early, so we had brunch (at Over Easy -- those blueberry streusel pancakes with lemon butter changed my life) and then crammed everything into the afternoon. Our first stop was, obviously, the Olympic Training Center!

I've already been on the tour (and, uh, lived there for seven months...), but they'd revamped the pre-tour video presentation after Sochi ended so I was itching to see the new one. I may or may not have cried through the whole thing, so I'd say it's a winner. (Though I'm probably a bad barometer for that. Set anything to music and I get weepy. And I also get weepy at pretty much any great Olympic moment. So combine the two and I pretty much need to set up camp in a box of tissues.)

The tour was fun too, as it was led by the very first person I met at the OTC before I moved in last May. :) He also asked some Olympic trivia questions for prizes, and before I could even think about raising my hand, he totally called me out and said I wasn't allowed to participate. LOL! But never fear, I knew all the answers! (But seriously, I got the biggest kick out of being labeled "former intern." Other people on the tour started asking me questions about the facilities. It was the greatest.)

We spent some time in the gift shop -- and I escaped without buying anything! -- and then headed off to Garden of the Gods. As we arrived, we noticed that they were offering Jeep tours, so we made a snap decision and hopped on! It took us around the park and into Manitou Springs and Old Colorado City, which was a really pleasant surprise! It was cool to get a little bit of history and other tidbits about the area.

When our tour finished up, it was after 4 p.m., so we hightailed it over to the Air Force Academy... but everything there closes at 5 (ugh!) so we didn't see much. We popped into the visitor's center really quick, and stopped at the outlook points, but it was a brief little visit. It's absolutely beautiful over there, though!

By now we were starving, so we headed back to Manitou for dinner at The Stagecoach Inn, a place recommended by our awesome tour guide. It was SO GOOD, and the portion sizes were perfect, and the ambience was great, and I will most definitely be coming back here in the future. We capped off the night with some custard (holy. freaking. delicious.) and a walk around town.

We had to be in Denver fairly early on Sunday, as the game was at 2 p.m. so Christina had to be in the clubhouse by noon. This gave me a good chunk of time to wander by myself, so I lounged by the stadium for a bit before walking down Wynkoop Street to the Tattered Cover Bookstore. I have ZERO PICTURES OF IT because my phone's storage is completely full (I know, I hate myself a little bit), but I absolutely fell in love with this area! There are beautiful old buildings mixed in with some futuristic design at Union Station, and all sorts of restaurants with open-air patios... Seriously, I need to go back. LoDo (lower downtown) is apparently the oldest part of Denver, and has recently been awesomely revitalized. I also just really loved being in a city again! Sheesh. There's just something so great about walking and exploring to your heart's content.

After browsing the bookstore for a bit, I headed back to the stadium to pick up my ticket (at VIP will call, thank you very much). Coors Field is super nice, and Christina and I walked around the concourse before she had to head back up to the press box to, y'know, do what she'd come out here to do. :P

How 'bout that view! Note: if you want really good seats, be friends with someone in the media. #ballin'

The Rockies ended up winning, and when Christina was finished with her story, we adventured around for a while as we looked for a Mexican restaurant. Eventually we did find one, and my quesorito was as delicious for lunch the next day as it was for dinner. ;) And THEN we hit absolutely disgustingly awful traffic on the way home, so let's just pretend the night ended with Mexican food instead.

Over a year of living out here and this was my first visitor, so I had so much fun being a tourist again! But my parents are visiting next month, which means I'll get to do it all again. :) And now I am so, so glad it's the weekend again, because I'm about to sleep for a solid day.

Signing Off From Colorado Springs

A few years ago, right after my first close-but-no-cigar situation with regards to getting an internship out here, an episode of Castle aired about the murder of an Olympic hopeful swimmer. The night before he was killed, he'd broken up with his high school girlfriend. When they brought her in for questioning she told them about it and howled, "Like suddenly I was a distraction! Suddenly I wasn't good enough for Colorado Springs!" At the time, that line was a reminder of what I hadn't accomplished.

That episode was on TV yesterday. I watched it as I took a break from packing up my room at the very same place that girl was crying about. Considering this is the last blog post I'll write from inside the Olympic Training Center, potentially ever, I appreciate the eerie timing. Now that line is a reminder of what I have accomplished, which is pretty cool.

But I hate lasts. I hate leaving. I hate goodbyes that hang. Not "bye, but I'll see you in a few months!" but "uh, I'll see you again sometime in the future, probably, right? Maybe...?" And that's what this is. You'd think I'd be better at this by now. I've figured out how to get some sort of closure on a chapter of my life before ending it, but does anyone know how to make it, y'know, hurt less?

It's always the little things that sneak up and make me nostalgic out of nowhere. Of course I'll miss the beautiful views of the mountains, living with an awesome built-in network of other interns, unlimited swipes into the dining hall, walking around the OTC and thinking about who has trained here in the past, the fact that it's acceptable to be friendly to strangers, and of course my amazing internship.

But I know I'm also going to miss things like waving at the security guards as I pull into the OTC. I got my parking pass back before my internship was extended, so it expired on August 31... and when I got extended, I never got another one. The security guards already knew me and my car, so nobody looks at the date on my pass. I'm actually weirdly proud that I managed to never need a new one. I'm going to miss seeing my name on the mail board. I'm going to miss needing to take a running leap to get up onto my bed. I'm going to miss microwaving water to make tea in the lounge. I'm going to miss my classic rock radio station, the one that was playing in my car the very first time I turned it on. I'm going to miss knowing Charlie is approaching my cubicle because I hear the telltale sound of him dribbling his volleyball. And shoot, I might have to start getting coffee from McDonald's just to keep those styrofoam cups in my life.

Why? WHY? Does anyone else get so hopelessly attached to places and the familiarity that goes along with with your life in them? I've always been like this, and I think that quote up there sums it up. I like the way things are, and I know they'll never be quite the same from this moment forward. In the past that's always ended up being a good thing. Here's hoping that trend continues.

And with that, it's time for me to check out.

Colorado Springs, it's been real. Thanks for seven months I'll never forget.

#GladToBeHere

Flash back with me, if you will, to the spring of 2012.

I was studying abroad in London, topped-up Oyster card in my wallet and an email saying, "hey, we'd like you to volunteer with London 2012 Ceremonies all the way through the end of the Paralympics!" in my inbox. Life was good.

And then reality happened. My student visa expired in June, which meant I would no longer be allowed to work and would have to leave the country. I attempted to get a work visa, which you need a sponsor (aka your employer) to sign off on, only to find out that L2012C didn't sponsor visas. I went to the U.S. embassy for help and was literally turned away at the door (thanks a ton, America). So I grudgingly packed my bags and bid a tearful adieu to my hopes of working at the London 2012 Olympics.

It sucked. Goooood times.

Now, let us return to the present. As I'm not working or interning for the USOC (*pointed look in their direction*), I applied to be a volunteer with them at the USA House during the Sochi Olympics. The USA House is basically the USOC's hospitality center during the games, for sponsors, athletes, athletes' families, etc.

It's where Shaun White meets Wayne Gretzky. Because, y'know, why not? [via]

It's also where Jim Craig speaks to the media in front of a GIANT CHALK MURAL (!!!) that was also signed by Bonnie Blair, Peggy Fleming, Scott Hamilton, Dan Jansen... [via]

Basically, it sounds like the coolest gig ever. And as of very recently, there's an email in my inbox that says, "hey, we'd like you to come to Sochi and volunteer with us!" Super cool, right?

Welp. Reality, once again, kicked me in the shins. Round trip flights to Sochi are almost $2,000, Russian visas cost $305, and the USOC doesn't cover any of its volunteers' expenses. So that means I'd have to find a hotel to stay in (HA) for three weeks (DOUBLE HA), as well as pay for transportation to and from Olympic Park and meals (and the exorbitantly expensive souvenirs, because let's be real). Basically, if I wanted to get myself to Sochi and stay in a hotel -- not going anywhere else, not eating anything, and not buying souvenirs -- that would cost me a cool $5,000. And that's a conservative estimate.

Considering I, a) make minimum wage, which is barely enough to cover my living expenses, b) don't have five grand to my name, and c) am biding my time before student loans come and hit me like a truck...

For the second time in under a year and a half, I have the opportunity to volunteer at the Olympics, and have to turn it down.

How. Is. This. Even. POSSIBLE?

I feel like this is becoming a joke. Applies for USOC internships for four straight years? Rejected. Tries to volunteer at London 2012? No visa. Tries to volunteer at Sochi 2014? No money. That's funny, universe. Reeeeeally funny. At this point I think it'd be easier to become an Olympic athlete and get there that way.

I could totally rock those pants and be a curler, right? PyeongChang or bust! [via]

But I'm not here to whine. (Well, okay, I'm here to whine a little bit, because... I mean, seriously? Seriously?) This whole situation has made me take a step back, take a deep breath and appreciate what I'm doing and what I have.

Since being out here in Colorado Springs, life has sort of fallen into a rhythm, and it's really easy to lose perspective of how freaking cool this all is. But sometimes I'll be returning to the OTC from work, and there'll be tourists posing in front of the Olympic rings that I see so often it's become routine. Or I'll be eating lunch on a Saturday and spot a tour group being led around outside. And just the other day, when a shooting coach asked me what I was here for, his response to hearing that I'm an intern was, "Oh, so you're someone, huh?"

It's interesting going back and reading my old posts about how badly I wanted what I have right now. Two and a half years ago (omg) I wrote this post that says:

And being vocal about my passion will one day lead to blog entries written from inside one of the Olympic training centers as I eagerly await the start of my internship.

I'm kind of impressed with myself, to be honest. Granted, things didn't happen exactly how I pictured them, but I came pretty damn close. And then there's the added benefit of being the resident ceremonies expert during London 2012, and the resident volleyball expert when Rio 2016 finally rolls around! Working for an NGB is incredibly cool, as is working for an organizing committee. Had everything happened the way I originally wanted it to, I might not have gotten the chance to learn this firsthand.

So even though I'm about to decline yet another awesome volunteer experience (just allow me one more moment of bitterness), what I have been able to do has been 100% amazing. And I couldn't be any more #gladtobehere. (Hashtag credit goes to the awesome Chris Yandle! [Twitter//blog])

And hey, now I can put the $2,000 I won't be using on airfare towards buying souvenirs! I think that two grand will be able to buy me one t-shirt and a pen.