The great escape: A mad dash to Starbucks

U.S. discus thrower Stephanie Brown-Trafton of Galt is keeping a journal about her Olympic experience. Following is Sunday's entry.

My first rest day of the trip is here ... nice to just sleep in and mosey a little bit. I went down to breakfast and ate an omelet, bacon, steamed buns (a Chinese favorite) mini crepes and an egg burrito ... Chef Sacks says that since we do not have tortillas here he makes crepes for the breakfast burritos.

Next I finish up the signage to let people know about bible study, which we are holding in the movie room two days a week. The Monday group meets in the morning and the Wednesday group meets in the afternoon so we can accommodate people who have morning or afternoon workouts.

I go back to the room to get ready for a walk down to the beach. I take my camera with me. My first picture is of the cow statues that are grazing at the gold course. Not sure why they are here but it makes for a good picture. Next I walk out to the 9th hole on the course which is on an island. To get there I have to cross a rope bridge and I feel like I am in an "Indiana Jones" movie. One of the athletes, Lopez, is taking a stroll and we decide to take a walk up to a house that is perched on the sea cliff.

There are a few fisherman at the house playing cards and they invite us in to take a look. After a few minutes of watching the game I sat in on a round. It is probably called Zheng Shangyou but in USA we call it President. I'm sure if my husband were here he would be playing this all day and winning too! We stayed for a few rounds and I gave all of the guys American flag pins and said "Ni hou." One of my friends gave me a bunch of pins to take over here and they are great to give to people and trade for pins from different countries.

Lopez and I walked along the cart path of the golf course taking pictures of the scenery and spotted some scallop shells on the top of the cliff. We wanted to take one as a souvenir but thought it best to ask someone if they were available to take. There were several girls with little umbrellas crouched down in a sand trap about 50 meters away and we walked over to ask them about the shells. They were all plucking the crabgrass out of the sand trap and we asked if we could help out. Some of them spoke a little English and they asked us many questions about our sport and the Olympics.

They invited us back to their shack next to the clubhouse and we talked, took pictures, and signed autographs. The girls were so excited to see us and invited us back tomorrow. We decided it was time for lunch so we strolled back to the hotel. On the way we saw a few goats that were grazing on the golf course and went over to pet them ... Lopez was scratching one of the goats under its chin when I noticed that the goat was peeing all over the place. Lopez got goat pee all over his shoe and I laughed at him the whole way back to the hotel.

After lunch about 35 athletes and staff travel to a mall at Dalian Development Area. There are several multi-story retail malls as well as traditional Chinese shopping. I practice my Chinese term for "that's too expensive."

The bus drops us off at one of the malls and several security guards follow us around. We stroll through the mall which looks like a high-end department store with cosmetic counters and such. The whole procession starts to walk out on to the public street to look around but the security guards stop us before we leave. I think they must expect us to stay in that high-end mall for three hours. The athletes are not accustomed to being wrangled up and told where they can and can't go on a shopping excursion. There is a huge protest by the athletes and staff with the Chinese security trying to decide if they are going to let us roam the streets of Dalian.

They are treating us like small children and we have had enough. During the commotion, I along with some of the other girls head out a side door and walk fast for a few blocks until we arrive at another mall. We have made our escape and I know freedom is near. I am on the run and guess where I am headed ... Starbucks!

We all pile in to the Starbucks which is very well air-conditioned and order our iced lattes. This mall is much larger and has better stores for browsing. The basement has a Chinese open market with stalls of veggies, fish, spices, teas, etc. There is a nail salon and I sit down for a pedicure and manicure. I haven't had time to get a nail appointment back in the States and I figured it would be cheaper here anyway.

At the nail salon I meet a few ladies who live here in Dalian. Their husbands work for Intel and live near our resort. One named Mellissa is from Portland. I tell her about our stay in Dalian and I ask her opinion on the best places to shop around town. We chat until her nails are dry then we exchange numbers. My mani-pedi is finished and I pay ... total cost is 150 RMB which is probably more than what the locals pay but still it is way cheaper than California. It is probably the best foot scrub I have ever received and I feel like I came out ahead.

Back to the bus, back to the luxury prison. Tomorrow is a lifting and throwing day at the track and I watch some video footage of the previous day's throwing to get prepared. For dinner Chef Sacks has a surprise ... mini Chinese corn dogs!

I asked him if he could have a corn dog night and he came through for us. They are good but they just can't compare with hot-dog-on-a-stick.

I am looking forward to a good old-fashioned corn dog when I get home ... I will have to dream until then.

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