Salt Lake City - Spring Market - travel day

Life marches on and I'm now sitting in my hotel room in Salt Lake City waiting for the rest of the world (on the west coast) to wake up!   

I did manage to get my new Everyday bag together on the day before leaving, but what a struggle. My heart and my head just weren't into sewing. I even managed to get everything packed in my carry-on luggage.  I'm not big into bringing tons of stuff with me on a trip - the more I bring, the more chances I have of leaving something behind! 

Getting to our seats on the first leg of the trip was an experience.  First, I have to say THANK YOU NEXUS.  I got through the security line and the customs line in no time flat.  I think I waited about 5 minutes in the security line and zero time in the customs line and I was through. My biggest issue was that I hadn't had time to check the monitor to find out what gate we were at so I was wandering down the aisle until I could find a monitor.  Two of my non-NEXUS colleagues were stuck in the lines for about one hour. Spending that money on the NEXUS was well worth it.  We can only hope now that not too many people get a NEXUS card, otherwise, that process will get bogged down as well.  But in the meantime - I love it!

Then we got on the plane.  There were four of us travelling and we ended up in the LAST row on the plane.  I got the window seat!  Yeah - except there was NO window!  Just a blank wall.  So now I'm jammed into the corner and nothing to look at.  Fortunately, there were three empty seats in front of us and I was allowed to move up.  Yeah - a window seat. OH - there is a big honking engine outside my window and I can't see a thing!!!  But at least it was a window seat!

We had to change planes in Minneapolis which went smoothly except we were again at the back of the plane.  This time, we were one row from the back, but a long walk to get on and off the plane.  No big deal, however, we sure kidded the person who booked our tickets - not mentioning any names here (to protect my job), but it wasn't me!!!

My knee did NOT like sitting in one position for that length of time and was pretty stiff, but after taking a few steps, it seemed to be OK.  Made it to the hotel, rooms were ready - yeah.  A quick lunch and then we were off to the convention center which is right across the street.  I love when it is a quick walk to the venue.  I hate having to rely on a shuttle or waiting for the others.  Independence is the name of the game!!!!

Was nice to meet up with the others from the US and then we were off to the races to assemble the booths.  I hate those metal structures and despite my best efforts (why did they all look to me to make it right?) and I goofed up again.  However, I think I now have it figured out how it all goes together so the next show in the fall will be a piece of cake.  I can hardly wait!!!!

 

We won't have a ton of time here in Salt Lake to visit around, but I can see the Salt Lake Temple from my hotel room.  I'm not sure why I was expecting something more modern looking.  This reminds me of the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal.  

Salt Lake Temple

Notre Dame Basilica

OK - I know the scale is off, but this is more what I was thinking the temple would look like. 

Church in Reykjavik, Iceland

The good news, Salt Lake is a very friendly bike city or so it appears.  There are dedicated bike lanes with dividers, cool bike racks and MAY is bike month.  There is also a bike share program here.  

I would load some pictures, but I'm having trouble getting my phone connected to the internet in the hotel.  Will try later.

Had a good sleep and now I'm ready to rock n roll today.  We made good progress putting our booth up.  The structure is up, the lights are up, the big signs are up. Today, the rest of it has to happen - we have lots of hands so that is good and it is also School House.  I'm heading over to the convention center early to get my hands on the schedule to see if there is anything that I would like to listen in on and then we have two presentations later in the afternoon. It's going to be a whirlwind day. 

If I was better prepared and not wasted so much time on the internet, I could have visited the temple.  Hmmm - there might still be time for that before breakfast.  

Have an awesome day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!