Salt Lake City

Long time, no write. Well at least in long form. Earlier this year I decided to use Instagram to "micro-blog" the miscellaneous photos of daily life on the homestead rather than waiting for a huge pile of unrelated photos and attempted to write a cohesive post...it took more time than it was worth. But I did just have a longer trip for work that deserves a little bit more documentation than another photo of chicken eggs.

My supervisor and I traveled to Salt Lake City for the Rootstech genealogy conference. Having been sick for so long at the beginning of the year, in advance of the trip I started immunity-boosting remedies--drinking echinacea tea, sipping elderberry syrup, and downing apple cider vinegar shots. Both flights on the way there were surprisingly smooth, I managed to stay hydrated with no nausea. Woot!

The Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountains surround Salt Lake City were beautiful from the sky and the ground. I enjoyed beholding their snow-capped majesty on all my walks from the hotel to the convention center. Thankfully the weather was milder with a hint of spring in the air, so no need to tromp through the snow and icy rain. Just a bit windy a few days, but nothing a jacket and scarf couldn't handle.

The conference was HUGE--something like 25,000 people signed up for it! The genealogy classes were hit-or-miss. Example, one presenter recycled almost half of her presentation into the second one I attended by her. Um...the descriptions said they were supposed to be about different subjects. Another was supposed to be about colonial censuses, but the presenter spent the whole hour talking about her family in the US census...Womp womp. That being said, I did have several classes that provided some great resources that I look forward to testing out at work in the coming weeks.

On one of our longer breaks, we briefly explored the Family History Library--5 stories of genealogical goodness. I spent some time scanning some indexes for Pennsylvania and Virginia ancestors but wasn't having much luck, but my co-worker found a great deal of records. In wandering around we took note of signage, organizational systems, and more that could prove useful for our own library's collection. It was located right across the street from the Morman Temple Complex.

Let's back up a minute to mention that my co-worker came down with the flu on the way to the hotel. Eek! She thankfully was able to get in to urgent care and prescribed tamiflu to abate the virus, but it was a rough 2 days for her. Being in a shared hotel room, we were both wearing masks to try to prevent my catching the flu as well. Special thanks to all of your prayers for health, she bounced back in 48 hours and I was spared.

The third day included an unanticipated event. On our walk back to the convention center we heard squealing brakes,  metallic impact, and looked up to watch a pickup truck flipping and sliding down the street in our direction and pedestrians scrambling in its path.

A young driver in a larger truck was recklessly speeding (35-45 mph over speed limit) and running red lights on the cross street when he clipped another car, smashed into several parked cars before sending the another truck flying. My co-worker called 911 as folk ran to check on the drivers (miraculously no major injuries).

As we waited for emergency services to arrive, we hear shouts of “STOP HIM!” The at-fault driver was running off on foot right at us. I stepped in front of him and hollered hoping to slow him down as more athletic runners were gaining on him. He evaded grasps there, but they caught him just beyond me and held him ‘til authorities arrived.

Local news reports later that day mentioned that he was possibly impaired and had previously been arrested on drug charges. Super thankful that we were not injured. Took a few afternoon genealogy classes to get the adrenaline to calm down after such a crazy incident.

The rest of our time there ended without incident, there were plenty of Uber available at the indecent hour of 4:00am, and we made all of our flights with plenty of time. That being said the weather systems on the way back made for a rough ride. Our SLC to Houston flight had some roller-coaster worthy drops and jerks--even while landing the plane was shuddering. By the time we got home to GSP I had a bit of motion sickness.

The Farmer warmly welcomed be back to the green hills of SC and our sweet puppy snuggled and gazed at me adoringly the whole drive home. The Farmer had filled the house with our wedding daffodils, surprised me with a fun new houseplant, a clean house, and a completely re-organized garage. He knows me well. :-) Now to recover from jet lag #2. Zzzzz