SLA: the third post

(This post will be the third in a detailed series of the week I spent in Phoenix for vacation and the Special Libraries Association conference.)

If Thursday was a best decision/worst decision today in travelling to Sedona to hike, Friday's early-morning trip to see the Desert Botanical Gardens was much much easier. Waking up early, we were there at 730AM (the gardens opened at 7), armed with our full water bottles. At the entrance, there was a sign, showing how many cups of water one should drink based on how long they planned to be there. It was roughly 4 cups for every hour spent walking around. We were there approximately three hours, and each had a 1-liter water bottle, which we refilled 3x more in the Gardens. All water refills finished.

The photos below are a mere sampling of the plants we saw. While there, we also saw several Quail, a roadrunner, and a few different rodents. Apparently, seeing the roadrunner is particularly lucky, as it does not always come out.

Once we saw everything, we headed back to the house for lunch. While C. went back out in the afternoon to catch Pokemon, I elected to stay at the air-conditioned house, and worked some on my current knitting project.

Dinner that night was also a lively affair. While I was to be at the SLA conference, C.'s plan was to go down to Tuscon to spend time with his aunt. On the Sunday was a family reunion of mostly cousins on his father's(and aunt's) mother's side. Ahead of this , his other cousin (the brother of the cousin we were staying with) drove down from Idaho with his partner and son for the reunion. They stopped at the house for dinner before continuing to Tuscon. This was significant as this was the first time I had met this cousin.

(The cousin we were staying with, I had met when we were in Hawaii for C.'s father's funeral. But they did the burial, then had an "end-of-life" ceremony a week after. Due to time limits I could take from work, I was only able to go to Hawaii for the "end-of-life" ceremony, but not the burial. Obviously C. was there for both. The cousin I met was also in Hawaii for the "end-of-life" ceremony. This cousin I had not previously met was there for the burial, but left before the "end-of-life" ceremony.)

We chatted, both in the living room and around the pool while the kids swimmed, before dinner. It was great finally getting to meet them.

Saturday was the day the conference started. I'm on the 2018 Conference Planning Committee, and had a meeting scheduled for the afternoon. Saturday, the cousins we had been staying with were also leaving for their own vacation. Knowing this, we took a drive to Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's west coast home. It was gorgeous. We got there just in time for the 9AM tour, which was a 90 minute tour of the house and property. Well worth the trip.

Then it was off to downtown Phoenix, where I attended my meeting, and C. caught Pokemon, until we met back up for me to check-in to my hotel, and Mexican food for a late lunch.

Saturday night, I went to a Meet Up/Social to open the conference, and C. got ready to drive to Tuscon the next day.

Next entry: we get into the SLA conference officially, including an opening kick-ass session and an equally kick-ass opening plenary speaker.