Month: July 2016

Olympic Trial Trip – Day 4

By Simran Jayasinghe

We woke up at Susil Seeya’s house and got ready to drive to St. Louis. We had a scrumptious breakfast of spinach omelettes, sunny-side-up eggs, cheese, toast, butter, and jam. Our parents had omelettes with milk tea, and Kiran, Svara and I had sunny-side-up eggs with juice. Susil Seeya sure can cook!

After that, we hopped into the car and drove to Jefferson City to look at the state capitol building. It rained, again, and our drive to Jefferson City took a little more than an hour.

Inside the Missouri State Capitol building (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Inside the Missouri State Capitol building (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

The state capitol building is made as a replica of the white house, but much smaller. The architecture was different than the architecture of the Nebraska statehouse building. There were many exhibits talking about historical events in Missouri, and also a couple of hands-on activities like lifting a pack that the soldier’s in the Civil War had to carry. (We tried that one, and only succeeded in lifting it when all three of us, lifted it together!).  We looked at the gift shop, but sadly, they didn’t have keychains, and we decided we would wait to get something in St. Louis.

We drove through the rain to St. Louis, and finally got there at 5:00 p.m.  We checked in to the Hilton Garden Inn, and after dropping our luggage off at our hotel room, decided to go to the Gateway Arch.  To go up in the Arch, you need to buy tickets in advance, and so my dad quickly went online and bought some tickets. We bought the ‘Journey to the Top’ tickets, which means you get to ride to the top and watch the documentary movie. The price for each ticket is $13 for Adults (16 and over) and $10 for Children (3-15 years old).  The Museum of Westward Expansion ( the museum about how the Arch was build) was under construction and therefore, closed.

We arrived at the Gateway Arch at about 6:00 p.m.  It was still raining outside and we got soaked walking from the car to the arch entrance. We went to the entrance to the museum, but were told that we were only allowed to enter 20 minutes before the time on our tickets to go up in the Arch. Our tickets were for the 7:15 tram ride, so we had an hour to wait.  We stood under a tent they had set up , until we were finally allowed inside. We got in line to board the tram that went up in the Arch. We had to wait in about 4 more lines until we were finally able to board the tiny tram! My dad, Kiran, Svara and I were in one tram. Our mom stayed in the museum because she thought that the tram would be too claustrophobic.

Waiting for our ride up the Gateway Arch. The opening sure looks small! (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Waiting for our ride up the Gateway Arch. The opening sure looks small! (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
What a view! The view from the top of the Gateway Arch! This is the tallest monument in the US (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
What a view! The view from the top of the Gateway Arch! This is the tallest monument in the US (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

After being in it, I agree, the small capsule would’ve been way too small for our mom’s liking. The view from the top was magnificent. We could see the buildings on the other side of the river. Then we took the tram back down again. We picked a keychain from the gift shop and watched a 30 minute movie on how the Arch was made. By then it was 9:45 p.m., so we went back to the hotel and fell asleep.

I thought the Arch was much taller than this!!? (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
I thought the Arch was much taller than this!!? (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
The mighty Mississippi river in the background (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
The mighty Mississippi river in the background (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

 

 

Olympic Trials Trip – Day 3

By Simran Jayasinghe

We woke up in Omaha to see that it was raining (again!) and packed our bags. We were heading to Columbia Missouri, on our way to St. Louis Missouri. We were going to stop on the way and visit the Nebraska Statehouse in Lincoln. The drive was about 1 hour to Lincoln, and very dreary as it rained the whole way.

As we entered the statehouse, we all had the same thought, that it looked like Hogwarts. There were stone passageways and staircases, inscriptions, and carvings on the walls, ancient clocks, tiny elevators with doors that looked like they were made of oak.  All these ancient looking features made the statehouse look like what we had imagined Hogwarts to be based on the harry potter books and movies.  We wished we could have explored all the hidden passages! The architect chosen to design the capitol building was Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue.  The building started in 1922, and finished in 1932. The capitol building has 15 floors above ground, and on top of the tower is the 19 foot tall bronze statue of the Sower. The Sower signifies that Nebraska is an agricultural state.

Inside the Nebraska State Capitol Building (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Inside the Nebraska State Capitol Building (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Outside the Nebraska State Capitol Building (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Outside the Nebraska State Capitol Building (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

We would’ve loved to get a souvenir or two from the Nebraska statehouse, but unfortunately the gift shop was closed on Saturday. By the time we left the statehouse, it was still pouring outside. We ran to our car and started our 6 hour drive to Columbia, Missouri to visit one of our grand dad’s friends (Susil Seeya). The drive was not that fun because it was raining again. We only stopped once, to get ice cream even though it was raining! We got to Columbia at about 6:00 p.m. We were going to stay the night at our Susil Seeya’s house. Kiran and I got a bedroom in the basement. Svara was with our mom and dad in their room. We slept soundly and were surprised to hear the next morning, that there had been thunder and lightning. Our mom also told us how at 2:00 in the morning, she woke up because her phone was beeping with a flash-flood warning. We were in an area classified to be a flood zone, closer to the Missouri river. Because we don’t get a lot of thunder and lightning in Southern California, our mother was awake most of the night, although we slept through all of it!

Olympic Trials Trip – Day 2

by Kiran Jayasinghe

With Kaitlyn Sandeno, Olympic Gold Medalist (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
With Kaitlyn Sandeno, Olympic Gold Medalist (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

We woke up late, again, but early enough to catch the last fifteen minutes of the free breakfast provided by our hotel, the Days Inn. We ate waffles, cereal, toast, and drank orange juice. This was our second day in Omaha and we headed back to the Aquazone to by a few more Olympic Trial shirts for friends.  We also managed to get one more autograph from Kaitlyn Sandeno, a gold medalist, and a former world record holder.

Once we’d finished all our shopping, we drove to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. The bridge stretches across the Missouri river, and you can stand on it, with one foot in Iowa and one foot in Nebraska at the same time.

A very curve Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. The bride straddles two states, Nebraska and Iowa (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
A very curvy Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. The bride straddles two states, Nebraska and Iowa (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Look Ma...In two states at once! (image by the Jayasinghe family).
Look Ma…In two states at once! (image by the Jayasinghe family).
Standing over the state line (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Standing over the state line (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

We also saw the Louis and Clark museum. Next, we drove to Souix City, Iowa. We visited another Louis and Clark museum. This museum was larger, and had a interactive exhibit. It had talking, human-like robots, acting out Lewis, Clark, President Jefferson, and other important people.

After browsing the museum, we drove back to Omaha, watching acres and acres of green corn sway. When we finally got to the hotel, we ate Subway, and fell asleep.

Corn, corn and more corn! (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Corn, corn and more corn! (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
More corn ... (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
More corn … (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

Olympic Trials Trip – Day 1

By Kiran Jayasinghe

Kansas City experienced a thunder storm on June 30th. After a three hour flight from Los Angeles to Kansas City, we drove in that storm, to Omaha, Nebraska. We had left Los Angeles International Airport at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 29th of June, and had landed in Kansas City at 1:00 am on the 30th (there’s a two hour time difference).

We drove in the storm, luckily for us it was mostly a dry storm with a lot of lightning, for two hours to Omaha. For the first half an hour, none of us were sleeping. We were too occupied trying to figure out how to turn off the seat warmer on our mom’s seat. Apparently, since it gets cold in Kansas City in the winter, the Infinity rental car we had, had a seat warmer. Also, we were all nervous about the lightning. When we finally reached our destination, the Days Inn on Miracle Hills Drive, we checked in and almost immediately fell asleep.

We woke up after about six hours, around noon, to eat breakfast, and then got ready for the Olympic Trials. We were so excited! This was what our week long trip was all about!  We were in Omaha, Nebraska, to see the 2016 Olympic swim trials.  We had tickets to see the finals on Thursday night.

Just before I fall into the water! Rolling a plastic log (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Just before I fall into the water! Rolling a plastic log (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

We would get to see Michael Phelps, Ryan Lockte, Katie Ledecky, Missy Franklin, Maya Dirado, Natalie Coughlin, Nathan Adrian, Conor Dwyer, and all the other big athletes swim for a spot on the 2016 Olympic team to Rio! First, we headed to the aqua zone, where we could participate in activities like standing on a rolling log, and swimming in a Michael Phelps swim spa. The Michael Phelps swim spa is a small spa that Michael Phelps trains in every day for 12 minutes. He swims against a powerful jet of water. I lasted seven seconds.

We also got to take picture with past Olympians and get their autographs! It was amazing! We got to hold their medals and even wear them! We got to take pictures with Debby Myer and Brian Goodelle.

With Brian Goodelle and his Olympic gold medals (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
With Brian Goodelle and his Olympic gold medals (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
My own gold medals! I borrowed from Debby Myer, olympic gold medalist (Image but he Jayasinghe family).
My own gold medals! I borrowed from Debby Myer, Olympic gold medalist (Image but the Jayasinghe family).

At about 5:30 we started heading for the Olympic trial pool. There was more security than I thought there would be. They checked our bags, and then we turned our tickets in. We had to walk through metal detectors. Next, we bought some keychains to give as sovaniors to our friends, and hot dogs and nachos to eat. We found our seats,  we were so close to the water!

In front of the Olympic trial pool. The pool was brought all the way from Italy (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
In front of the Olympic trial pool. The pool was brought all the way from Italy (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Waiting for the Olympic trials to start (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Waiting for the Olympic trials to start (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

We were amazed at how many people there were, almost the whole arena was full! The swimmers were warming up, and we sat and ate while watched them and also some races from the night before that were on the big jumbotron. Soon, the whole arena went dark, and a light show started.

They never show the light shows, and other activities they do to keep the audience engaged, when the trials are shown on TV! It was very exciting.  One time, water spurted out from beneath the ground, and fire blazed on top! Light reflected on the water so it looked like the fountains were red, white, and blue.

We saw the women’s 200 meter breaststroke (my favorite!), and the men’s 200 breaststroke, men’s 200 meter back, men and women’s 100 meter free, and men’s 200 meter individual medley. The 200 meter IM was especially exciting, with both Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte racing!

Overall, everything was wonderful!

Unfortunately, it only lasted two hours, and then we went back to the hotel. Before we went to sleep, we had Panda Express while watching the cooking channel on TV.