After spending a month driving a shuttle bus at the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada, Durant resident Bart Granger is finally home.

“I’m glad I did it, but I’m glad I’m home,” Granger said.

Granger, owner/photographer of Granger Family Photography, has been a part-time commercial bus driver for about six years. He had his Olympic opportunity through Roadrunner Charters, out of Euless, Texas, when the company was asked to send drivers for the event.

The Olympic committee sent approximately 148 busses and 254 drivers from the U.S. to help, Granger said, but the number of busses total at the event was more like 1,500 at least. However, Canada still could have used more.

The Olympic games were held in Vancouver Feb. 12-28. Granger left early Feb. 7 and reported in for training Feb. 9. He said the ride up to Vancouver was a 2,200-mile trek. He returned to Durant on March 3.

Throughout the Olympics, Granger said he transported media members to the Olympic Park in Whistler, and sometimes he and his other driver made as many as 10 runs in one day. The drivers made a stop at the athlete’s village for one route. Granger primarily drove up in the mountains for his routes.

Granger, who was first contacted about the opportunity in July, said he stayed in college dorms in Squamish. The wooded dorms were built into the side of a mountain, and some of the windows sit at ground level. The drivers were told to look out for wild animals such as bears and mountain lions, he said.

All of the drivers’ expenses were taken care of, including breakfast and lunch daily, a radio and a cell phone to use for in-country calls only.

Some drivers, though, got to stay in a cruise ship that was specially brought in for the occasion. Granger heard that the rooms were small, but the food was great and the drivers there received three meals a day.

Granger said everything was very expensive compared to U.S. prices. One person who ate at a pizza place with a friend told Granger that a pizza with two drinks cost a total of $42.

In an effort to save money, Granger said he and the three other drivers he was rooming with bought food at Walmart, but the products were still two to three times more expensive than in the U.S. For example, a can of soup costs $3.39 and a gallon of milk costs $9.99.

Granger said his dorm was equipped with a microwave and fridge, and he budgeted and bought what he knew he could cook. He also went two weeks without ice in his drinks.

Perhaps the cheapest item to buy was a soda at their bus depot, which cost $1.50. “At a restaurant, you would pay $3-plus,” Granger said. Since he was working most of the time, it wasn’t convenient for him to eat at restaurants.

One detail of the Olympics that greatly impressed Granger was the security at the games. Every morning, he would shuttle approximately 40 miles from the college to the bus depot where a media center was located, about a 40-mile trip.

Upon arriving at the media center, Canadian authorities used bomb sniffing dogs and mirrors to make sure no bombs were on board, he said.

The busses carrying athletes had even greater security. If the busses went 60 meters off course, they were quickly surrounded by law enforcement officials, Granger said.

Even though Vancouver was difficult to travel through, he said the Olympics were very well organized, and snow plows and wreckers were on call 24 hours a day.

Some adjustments Granger had to make were learning how to read his speed in kilometers per hour instead of miles per hour and feuling up gasoline by the liter. Most speed limits were between 30 to 90 Km/h, or approximately 18 to 54 mph.

Granger worked quite a few double shifts while he was in Canada, but he got three days off as well. He made one trip to the town of Squamish and enjoyed Canada’s beautiful country and sights.

During his off-time on Feb. 27, which was his daughter Ashley’s birthday, he went to Vancouver and saw the Olympic rings, which were placed on a barge, and the Olympic torch. While there, he also visited Chinatown and ate authentic Chinese food.

Granger said one platform that was open to the public allowed spectators to see the torch from above, but that had a two-hour waiting line. Also, a store with Olympic items had a line two blocks long.

Granger said he bought some souvenirs — laniards, key chains and pins, for his two daughters, Ashley, 19, and Abbey, 10.

He tried to buy the “hottest” souvenir of the games, a pair of red mittens with a white maple and “Canada” on them, but they were never in stock for very long. Granger said he will try to order a pair online for his wife Annette, who co-runs Granger Family Photography, located at 316 W. Main St.

Unfortunately, Granger never saw NBC’s “Today Show” crew and was unable to get Annette their autographs, but that’s okay with her. She’s just glad that he’s finally back home.

Annette said she instant messenged Bart a lot while he was in Canada, and he asked a lot about how his family was doing and about the business. She said she told him not to worry and that everything was going well.

“I wanted him back home,” she said, adding that the time difference made it a little difficult to have long conversations. People also offered to help her while Bart was at the Olympics.

“It’s a blessing to have good friends and family,” he said.

Also, Granger, who is a member of the Durant School Board, said he wished that he could have attended the school board meeting March 1.

Annette said Bart was asked if he wanted to drive a group to New Orleans, La., for five days this week, but he declined. He also said “no” when he was asked to shuttle spectators for two days during the para-Olympics, which is being held in Vancouver March 12-28.

However, he did take a job driving a Sherman, Texas, high school track team to a one-day trip to Wichita Falls, Texas, two days after he returned.

Business is also picking up, Annette said.

“It’s a juggling act,” Granger said. The bus companies ask him if he can go on trips and if he can’t, he doesn’t receive any static.

While he was in Vancouver, Bart said the weather was very mild in regards to snow and they received a lot of rain. Annette said she had heard that approximately $6,000 had to be refunded at one Olympic event because there was no place for spectators to stand.

People were everywhere, he said about the Olympics. The trip was pretty uneventful; however, he did see some ski jumping.

He watched the opening and closing ceremonies and some of the events on the TV, including the gold-medal round men’s hockey game between the U.S. and Canada.

He was also only half a mile away from the Sliding Center when Republic of Georgia luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed at the facility before the opening ceremony.

Granger said he also saw the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, also known as Mounties, and met drivers from all across the U.S. and Canada.

On his next to last day in the country, he talked to a man from Australia was volunteering. The volunteers were nicknamed “Smurfs” because of their blue coats.

Granger said the monetary exchange rate was pretty even. He said his daughters thought the names for some of the money was funny. One-dollar coins are called “Loonies” and two-dollar coins are called “Toonies.”

Granger said he would like to return to Vancouver, Canada, for vacation.

He said Annette did a great job managing the business while he was away. He also might help with something similar to this event in the future.

“I told him he was a celebrity,” Annette said regarding the reaction she received after the first article was published. “They all said they would’ve done the same thing [had they been offered the opportunity].”