SOFT USA conference

Wednesday 8th July
Went for a run through Wendover (Casino Town) and then breakfast at the hotel which was one of the best free hotel breakfasts we've ever had.
We visited the Bonneville Speedway Salt Flats.  We had a good hoon around the salt flats shhhhh don't tell Alamo (the rental car company).  It looked like the car was covered in snow when we were finished ha ha ha.
We drove through the desert to Salt Lake City Utah and arrived at the hotel around lunch time.  We checked in and then went downtown to Chick-fil-A for lunch and then to the car wash to wash all the salt off the car.
Back at the hotel we started running into old friends and making new ones.  I so love conference.  We decided to get a microwave meal from the front desk for dinner it was surprisingly good.
The first conference event was an ice cream social, having never been to one before we were quite excited.  The ice cream was from Cold Stone Creamery (Cold Rock for those playing in Australia) and was delicious, they had a servery set up with stuff to add to it and hot fudge two flavours it was fun.  We met some new parents and kids.  There was a troup of girl scouts there who have made owls for the balloon release gift  and when I mentioned to them that one would be coming back to Australia with us they asked to have their photo taken with us.  They were such lovely girls and the owls are gorgeous with a little peice of paper stuck to them that says 'Owl always love you" yeah corny but very sweet.

Thursday 9th July
This morning we went to the fitness room early and went for a run on the treadmills, I have never run on a treadmill before and it is very hard!!!  ran about 6km.  The hotel breakfast is great and we spend some time catching up with people.
After breakfast we went up to the cemetery to see the Christmas Box angel (it is an angel statue dedicated to bereaved parents, some people bring toys to place at the bottom, we put a 'Trisomy Strong' bracelet on her arm.  We sat for a while and took some photos (we visited last year and I didn't take photos and I regretted it).
Today we were given a delicious boxed lunch which we ate at the picnic table outside the hotel with Jude and Bill and Edith and Mimi.
After lunch we have a quick nap and then go to the Moms only and Dads only sessions.  It's a great opportunity to talk about our kids and issues that we have with living with a child with trisomy or the grief associated with losing one in a non-judgemental group while sipping wine ha ha
Tonight is the Welcome dinner and we sit with Trevor our friend that we met last year in Norfolk, Valorie, Dave & Simon, Caitlyn, Jesse & Twila.  We had a lovely dinner and had a chance to meet and chat to a lot of different people that we hadn't met before.  The speaker is a young woman who has had a child with trisomy, she shares her story and her struggles.  Dr Carey was given an appreciation award and a standing ovation  There is a silent auction on some art works that some of the kids have done.  We buy two one done by Dom  Nan Welch's son.  I shared some vegemite chocolate around which is a big hit.
Friday 10th July
We head down to the fitness room again and warm up on the treadmill and then head outside to finish our run.  After running on the treadmill running on the road feels sooo strange. 
This morning we catch the bus out to Red Butte Gardens for the bereavement outing.  There is a short ceremony in the children's garden and we are given rainbow coloured ribbons to write our child's name on and then as we tie it to a trellis we speak our child's name out loud it's a lovely tribute to our kids.  We are then given a packed lunch to take and eat where we want in the garden.  We enjoyed the garden and then it looked like rain so we went back to the front and were just in time to catch the bus going back but we were in the shop buying something and they left without us (apparently we wanted to walk back ha ha) so we got caught in the rain and went the long way. 
Tonight we went into town with Trevor and George, Atousa & Patrick.  We caught the tram it was easy and fun.  We arrived in town and thought we would go to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner but there were heaps of people waiting so I went in to find out how long the wait was and Atousa went into the Italian restaurant along the way to find out how long the wait was.  The Cheesecake Factory was a 30-40min wait and the Italian restaurant could get us in straight away so Italian it was.  It was a great night and Atousa got carded so that made her night!! 
Saturday 11th July
This morning was the business meeting where we voted for board members.
Then we had the Stroll for Hope.  Families got dressed up and some were sponsored and then we all went for a short stroll down the road. 
Todays lunch was a really yummy picnic and then the Ryan Cantrell Memorial Balloon release.  It was so lovely as usual but some of the balloons getting caught in the trees made me feel a little better about our balloon release on the Central Coast last year.  Thankfully we managed to keep Louise's out of the trees. 
Tonight was the auction and I spotted a couple of things I really wanted.  An angel bear.........got it, a plaque.........got it and a  T-shirt...........got it.  I love it when I get everything I wanted.  We had pizza and cake for dinner yum.

Sunday 12th July
We had a rest day from running today.  Saying goodbye to everyone is always hard.  We made our way around the dining room and said our goodbyes and still missed out on saying goodbye to some :( It was great to be able to share our photobooks with lots of people and catch up with many of our friends and meet some new ones.

We drove down to Arches NP today and went straight to the visitors centre to get our backcountry hiking pass.  The Ranger gives us the rules of hiking in Arches.

1. leave no trace  - so we have to pack out our rubbish, only hike in washes or on rock, camp only on solid rock and dig a hole at least 6 inches for...well you know.
2. you need to camp at least half a mile from any Arch and not be within eyesight of any Arch.
3. no pets LOL
4. make sure you have adequate water.
5. your tent must be up before sunset.
We were planning to hike out and camp in a section called Windows but the Ranger tells us that due to recent heavy rains it is not possible in that area.  A hiker returned the other day and said that she ended up waist deep in quicksand in that area....gulp!

So we drive up to the area known as Sand Dune Arch and pack our backpacks and hike over to broken arch nearby to follow the washes down from that to our proposed campsite.  It is fun picking our way along the washes and rocks until we found an area far enough away, not in eyeline and flat enough to camp on.  It really was beautiful camping on this rocky outcrop.  The silence was amazing and I found myself whispering because of it.  We watched quite a lot of wildlife (chipmunks, birds and bats) while we sat and ate our dinner and then watched the sunset.  We camped without the fly so that we could watch the stars thankfully the sky cleared and we got a good view of the stars.  The dehydrated meals we got from Walmart are quite tasty and we finish off with a nice cup of hot chocolate.  Thankfully no 6 inch holes required.