The Jetpacker

Late last year we told you that we had a BIG announcement to make. You’ve risked death by holding your breath. You’ve anxiously tossed and turned countless nights. You’ve convinced yourself that it really couldn’t be that big.

Well, your loyalty is about to be rewarded. Ready for the big news? Here it is…

The Jetpacker is going to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver!

That’s right, the Olympics… Where for two weeks everyone becomes an expert in sports they don’t normally care about. Where the spirit of competition often devolves into controversy and conspiracy. Where cultural exchange means hooking up with foreigners.

And we’re not just going to the Olympics… we’re going on a two-week road trip up to the Olympics!

So instead of relying on NBC’s sappy human interest stories about some figure skater from India who couldn’t afford skates and had to strap knives to her shoes, you can turn to us for a first-hand account of all the goings on at the Olympics.

We’ll tell you about everything that’s happening in the city — all the cool sights, the live events, the activities, the parties, the people, the culture, everything.

The list of things to do in downtown Vancouver is just starting to come out, and it sounds really exciting: concerts, laser light shows, artist displays, even zip-lining 60-feet above city streets!

When it comes to Olympic events we’ll be attending, we’ve got tickets for two men’s ice hockey games: Finland vs. Germany, and a quarter final playoff game on February 23rd.

As big fans of the Anaheim Ducks, we really wanted to go to a Finland game to watch the final Olympic appearance of the greatest Duck player of all time, Teemu Selänne. He’ll be joined by longtime Finnish teammate and fellow Duck Saku Koivu. When Finland won silver at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Selänne and Koivu tied for the most points scored in the competition with 11 each, and both were voted to the tournament all-star team. We’re hoping for a repeat performance.

Of course we’ll also support other Ducks players appearing at the Olympics, but we’re mainly there to represent the US, especially when they play Canada on February 21st in what is certainly going to be the biggest game of the Olympics outside of the gold medal game. We’re not exactly sure where we’ll be on game day just yet, but the plan is to find other American hockey fans and cheer on Team USA at a public viewing.

Joining Jackie and I on this trip will be our friend and fellow Duck fan Ashley.

Starting on February 12th, we’ll visit San Francisco and Portland for a few days each before we arrive in Vancouver, then hit Seattle on the way back home.

And you’re invited to join us on the whole adventure! Not only will we be blogging and sharing pictures and video, we’ll constantly give you updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Until we leave, we’ll be posting Olympic-themed articles to get you into the spirit of the Games, as well as fun road trip stuff.

We don’t want to disclose all the details about this trip just yet, but we’ve got a lot of fun stuff planned that we think you’ll enjoy. Feel free to e-mail us or leave us a comment with any suggestions or questions. We want this trip to be just as fun for you as it will be for us!