The Today Show

We took our guests to the Today Show set yesterday. They tape on the beach at about 8:30 in the morning. Actually, as I'm not a Today Show groupie, that might be live in

New York. Not sure. Anyway, they are doing their taping from a stage on the very north end of Copacabana Beach (the blue dot is our hotel and the blue pin is the Today Show stage).

Apparently, Gail and I have been having breakfast in the Windsor Atlantica breakfast buffet every morning with Matt Lauer. I had absolutely no idea until yesterday. Still not a big deal but interesting at the very least.

We're beginning to "wind down" some of the functions and looking at what we can prepare to "pack out." It is amazing to note what we actually shipped down here and how handy everything becomes. We shipped everything from paperclips to Hot & Icy pads.

There are printers, hand sanitizer, decorations for the suites, removable wall hangers, maps, trash bags, cases of Rice Krispie Treats and Pringles. You name it, we probably shipped it and it all must go home. For those of you familiar with my current aversion to humus, I now also have a huge aversion to Rice Krispie Treats and Pringles.

Those of us staying until 25 July, which is the bitter end, we are attempting to arrange a private tour of Sugar Loaf Mountain. I am hopeful we can make that happen.

I made the decision not to go to the Closing Ceremony. There are many factors and primarily it is going to be a very, very long night; transportation is sketchy at the very best and the stadium is just not in the best part of Rio. Putting all those factors together, I think I'll just stay in the hotel with a couple of adult beverages and get a good night's rest.

I hope you enjoy these little blogs. For many reasons this Olympics is significantly different than the other two I attended. I am also ninety nine percent sure this will be my last. I think Rio presented itself well (up until now). For the most part the people are friendly, the venues nice and the food good (except for that bout with Montezuma at our previous hotel). Traffic is the biggest problem! It is horrendous on a good day and there just is no plan to handle it properly.

By the way, I'm still looking to see my first mosquito!