Questions for those who have stained/treated their deck

[Luv2Roam]

Our (replacement) decks were just completed Friday.
(Upper, lower decks with flight of stairs connecting, short flight w/ 4x4 landing going into the yard.) We replaced with treated lumber.
NOW -- from what we have read we need to wait 2 - 4 weeks for the wood to dry out.
For new deck owners --
What have you treated your deck with?
Did you stain? If so, what color?
We decided agianst a solid stain, but are leaning towards a transparent stain.
Our house is painted. (Sherwin Williams color is called Mistletoe, but it is a LIGHT green, not dark.)
I am wondering what stain color to go with.
The deck builder said Olympic is the best.
I don't want to paint. Even what I have read says this is basically a bad idea.
And we do live with weather extremes. Hot/humid summers. Cold, snow winters.
Your thoughts, suggestions, experiences?

 

[DVC-Don]

We use Olympic stain, walnut is the color I think. We redo it every three years.

 

[CathyCanada]

I can't help but bumping back to page one to see if more people can!
CC

 

[RUDisney]

We like the Wolman stain/sealer. Their cleaner is also great.

The Olympic is a close match to Wolman. We had our deck done 2 years ago with that (it was the painter's choice of stain) and it is holding up very well.

Whatever you do... DON'T use Thompson's. They advertise heavily, IMO, just to get the rookies sucked in. That stain/sealer won't last you through the first summer.

Our deck is stained in a cedar color.