RootsTech 2024 T-1

Well, that was a long day! But uneventful, so not complaining. After getting up at 4:15 a.m. we made our way through Hartford’s Bradley International airport security. I was a bit worried about how long it would take us to get through, since I have TSA Pre-Check, but Cheryl does not. I think the tide may have changed. The line for regular check-in was much shorter than that for Pre-Check!

After a quick pass through Chicago Midway, we arrived in Salt Lake City, where we sat for a while, waiting for our gate to be cleared. After being sent to three different baggage carousels, they finally decided which one our bags would enjoy riding on. I was not one bit worried though. Thanks to Scott and the air tags he bought for our big trip last year, I was confident our bags would arrive at any moment. A half hour later, bags in hand, we trudged through the terminal, found the ground transportation area and proceeded to hail a taxi. The taxi people must have been trained by the same people who run baggage claim. We were directed to three different taxis before a charming young man from Kenya took us in. During the ride to the Radisson Hotel, he agreed to pick us up on Tuesday at 4:30 a.m. for the return trip. So, that’s taken care of!

Check-in at the Radisson was a breeze. It has been four years since we last stayed there. I didn’t even recognize the place. Total renovation! Beautiful and modern. But, let me ask you this—what is it with minimalist design? Is that why we have no dresser in which to place our clothing? I guess we will be living out of the suitcases. But currently, many of our items can’t be put away anyhow. They are hanging all around the room, drying. Yup! Guess our luggage sat out in that awful rainstorm in Hartford.

We had things pretty settled by 4:00 p.m., so we walked next door to the Salt Palace Convention Center, the venue for RootsTech. That’s why we stay at the Radisson. It can get pretty nippy in SLC in February and the Salt Palace is literally a two-minute walk.

We enjoyed a nice chat with Jayton, the volunteer who printed up our Attendee Badges. He also gave us our “special button,” that identifies us as “RootsTech Insiders,” the elite group of people who were among the first 1000 to register for the conference. It sounds more important than it is.

Back in the room again, we reviewed tomorrow’s schedule and chose our sessions. Out of the six time slots, I filled four of them with sessions about using AI (Artificial Intelligence). Another is the keynote speaker, Henry Cho, and the last is a genealogy trivia game with Daniel Horowitz at MyHeritage.

I enjoyed a nice phone conversation with my daughter Caitlin while waiting for dinner. It’s not often we are in the same time zone. Today she is only 874 miles away from me, instead of the usual 1674!

By 6:30 we were back in the room. We decided to skip a dip in the pool in favor of showering off the airplane funk. I settled in to write this post while sipping a cup of chamomile tea. Between that and the Chlor-Trimeton allergy tablet I plan to take, I should sleep through the night. 7 a.m. will come pretty quickly!