DeRosa Daily Equestrian Olympic News
Horsesdaily Veteran Olympic Reporter Diana DeRosa Brings Us Into Her World

Rain Rain Go Away! - Come Again After the Olympics Are Over

If you recall I ended my first escapade slipping off to dreamland (how I wish I were doing that now).  Instead of counting sheep I was counting medals, lots and lots of them.  Well today it was raindrops I was counting; way too many of them for the first day of activity.  It really is no fun carrying around a rain coat and photographing through rain covers.  So, if some of the photos look like they got a few drops on them, you’ll know why.

Nevertheless, today was an eventful day, but first let me backtrack to our landing in Hong Kong.  I’d have to say this was one of the nicest travel days I’d ever done.  When we landed in Hong Kong we were greeted and escorted everywhere; no lines, no carrying luggage, no waiting for a taxi.  Everything was arranged right to the arrival to our hotel.

After a welcome reception and plans for an early night to bed I suddenly wondered, what the heck was I thinking.  For a moment, just a tiny second, I forgot this was the Olympics and when you think you’ll be able to get to bed early, dream on.

It began with not being able to find my key to my luggage and thus having to break the lock.  Then I couldn’t get my Gallery Remote program working for uploading photos to my web site (and still haven’t gotten it to work).  Then I realized I needed to take some pictures to go with my story so I used my room as the backdrop.  I had to prepare photos and send off the story with them.

If you think I was finished then, think again.  By then it was time to unpack and get everything ready for the next day.  Many of us put our “you better not forget this” things on the doorknob just for that reason.  There’s nothing worse than leaving your credential or locker key behind.  I had to make some decisions on what equipment to bring because we were doing a course walk and just in case I didn’t get a locker I wanted to ensure I wouldn’t be lugging around too much “stuff.”  By the time I was done the clock read 4:30 and I had to get up at 6:45.  So, if you recall me saying 2-5 hours sleep a night was the norm, well here we go again.

Rain is Good News For Olympic Equestrian Cross Country Course