SFO + DEN

Wednesday, Oct. 28-Sunday, Nov. 1: ATA Conference + Family Fun for Halloween

My October conference season continued with the American Translators Association (ATA) annual gathering, this year in San Francisco. On Wednesday afternoon, I flew Southwest out of Midway to SFO. Due to a flight delay, I was able to get some additional work done on my thesis project research, but then I also ended up stuck in traffic during rush hour upon arrival. When I got to the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, I decided to pay the extra fee for access to the top floor, 360-degree rotating Regency Club, which included a lovely selection each evening of "heavy" hors d'oeuvres with an honor bar for wine and beer along with a morning breakfast and afternoon snacks.

I was just in time for the opening reception of the conference, where I met up with S from CHICATA to complete the pillow hand-off. (Our WhatsApp group chat earlier in the day led up to some interesting logistics and arrangements when he realized he'd forgotten this item and managed to get a friend of his to pick it up from his place and drive it up to Evanston before I left for the airport so that I could transport it for him to SF. Glad it all worked out!). I saw and chatted with C from MSTI at the reception and then headed to check out the Regency Club, where the yummy grilled veggies and hot entrees were sufficient for dinner.

Thursday started off with breakfast with a view in the Regency Club.

Given the time of year and the pre-conference encouragement, I wore the ghost costume that J had gifted me during my trip to Austin, including the little handbag to store my essentials. In the morning, I volunteered at the CAPIT hospitality table with my MSTI friend, L, which was a great way to connect with lots of conference attendees, including B, our terminology class professor at MSTI. I then headed back to my room for some more thesis project work before attending three afternoon sessions and meeting up with L at the end of the day to enjoy a glass of wine and the panoramic view in the Regency Club before she caught the Cal Train back home.

My room on the 12th floor overlooked the Bay and the Bay Bridge, so I enjoyed those views as well.

Since my body still seemed to be on Central Time, I woke up early both days. I decided to take advantage of the extra time on Friday morning to walk / jog to Pier 39 to visit my sea lion friends. Unfortunately, there were only a few brown lumps visible, but lots of seagulls on the floating docks amidst the larger creatures. At least I got to enjoy a mural replica of them along the way!

I had enough time that morning to attend most of the keynote speaker (slow elevator + one elevator out of service for the Regency Club = tardy arrival to the morning session) and all of the annual meeting of members. Then back to SFO to catch my Southwest flight to Denver to meet up with Mr. E at the airport and spend the weekend with A and family to celebrate Halloween. SFO had a really great display to honor Dia de Los Muertos as well!

 

I was lucky enough to have an empty middle seat during my flight, and Mr. E was there at the gate to greet me. We picked up our rental car and drove to the Residence Inn Denver Southwest / Littleton, which we discovered later was only about a 10 minute walk from the retirement community where A's dad M is now living. Small world! Mr. E picked up takeout dinner for us from a nearby teriyaki spot and also procured some beverage options.

On Saturday morning, I took advantage of the small but straight hotel pool to swim laps before doing my yoga practice in our room. Mr. E made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients for family breakfast of sausage & biscuits, cheesy scrambled eggs, and mixed berries at A's house. We got there about 20 minutes before they all returned from C's soccer game, so the timing worked out quite well. 

After breakfast, A and I took Zelda for a walk to the nearby Starbucks. Then I went back to the hotel for about an hour to do some homework while Mr. E hung out with the family and picked up provisions for dinner. I met up with everyone at the Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farm to explore the corn maze and other fall festivities, including a tractor ride, funnel cakes and caramel apples, and a pumpkin danish.

At that point, it was time for the boys to go back to the house to start dinner prep. A and I went to the hotel instead to chat for a bit and then joined the rest of the family, including her dad, for the pre-trick-or-treating dinner of grilled swordfish and steak and veggies. I had managed to fit the unicorn onesie in my carryon so was nice and toasty warm during our candy hunt with C. R had taken F over to a friend's house before dinner for his evening activity, which was a nice way for both boys to have their own unique experiences. We took a bio break at the nearby DQ, giving me an opportunity to indulge in a small vanilla cone with cherry dip (childhood memories...). After C decided he was done, we went back to the house, where he was generous enough to share some of his haul with us since he can't currently eat chewy candies due to the expander he has to wear for his upper jaw. Mr. E and I finished up the evening at the hotel with drinks and snacks.

I repeated my workout routine on Sunday morning, and we then welcomed the family to the hotel for breakfast. The boys were able to borrow a basketball from the front desk for the sports court for a bit before they had to leave for C's soccer game and we had to pack up to go to the airport. So glad we could make the timing work for another Halloween family visit! And this time we also got to catch up with M as well, given his new living arrangements.