Enjoyed my time in Rochester! The second half of the northern jaunt brought me to Hartford, Connecticut for the NAD conference. It was the first time I attended and it was held concurrently with the National Deaf Education Conference at the same venue. NDEC is every year while NAD is every two. 

From my hearing perspective, the accommodations team did a remarkable job making sure the hotel was accessible. I've been places where accessibility seemed like an afterthought or where there was only one person that had a clue. That didn't appear to be the case here. Interpreters abound in the lobby for checkin, pens and paper plentiful, captions on and working, visual menus that could be passed around. The presentations themselves had various interpreters and captioning devices. 

I can't say that it was perfect because I'm sure there were things I didn't notice, but what I saw was very good. Most of my workshops were with NDEC, but I attended some with NAD as well. Had some friends present and it's always great to see your people shine! 

My experience as a hearing person returning to NTID or attending NAD is nothing like that of a Deaf person, but I felt really good nonetheless. Conversations happening in ASL, everywhere, about everything was awesome. Yes, this happens with every language and no, I'm not awestruck like people seem to be responding to a coach signing to his kids, but when you see people not have full access all the time in situations where they do have full access, #FeelsGoodMan. 

Saw some friends, acquaintances, and former colleagues -Deaf World is small yo- and sat in some very good workshops. I proooooooobabbly wouldn't go every year, but honestly, that just speaks to the quality of the school where I work. I went to an hour session on Lead-K. I didn't take away anything from that session that I didn't already learn from our staff meetings or conversations in the hall with colleagues. I'm lucky to work with some good people! You can learn something from every conference you attend and I look forward to going back. 

After Phoenix and Denver and a handful of days in Atlanta, I flew to the first place I knew as home. And I wasn't in Michigan. NTID had their 50th reunion and I felt I wanted to be a part so I flew up. The five days I was in Rochester was the longest I'd been there since I'd left in 2011. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Marketplace Mall was familiar, though the Bon-Ton was closed. I could never really get behind the Bon-Ton; I was always a McKurdy's man. Or was it McKirdy's? I don't remember, but it was that before it was Bon-Ton. Anyway, both are closed now, but Henrietta Hots is still open! And they still have that vat of pickles and Tekken 3. I didn't find time to make my way to Country Sweet, but there's a Duff's now where a Friendly's used to be. Of course, I had to make my way to Wegmans. 

Rochester feels comfortable in a way no other place has. I lived in Buffalo for thereabouts 8 years and I'm coming up on the same for Atlanta, but Rochester is the only place where I'll keep driving without a GPS because eventually I'll see something familiar and will navigate home. 

It wasn't all food and driving -- I did have the pleasure of seeing some friends. Not all by any means, but my baseball buddy Mike (the no longer anonymous) and his wife opened their home so some familiar faces could catch up and play games. Felt good and was well needed. 

Sooner or later I'll get better about updating this entire site. That, however, shall not be right now. I'm trying to think if I went anywhere between Christmas and June and I'm not sure I did. Nothing that would end up here anyway. 

Baseball Trip 2018 brought us to Phoenix, Arizona and Denver, Colorado. I'm not certain if I wrote about it or just spoke about it, but these trips are becoming less about the baseball (though that's still an enjoyable part) and more about traveling to and exploring new cities. Neither Phoenix nor Denver is exactly off the beaten path, but baseball gives us a reason to fly out there for a couple days where one might not have existed before. 

Sedona is beautiful! 

I'm definitely a novice hiker. In fact, I wouldn't classify myself as a hiker. I am someone willing to hike on occasion. Preferably on a paved path or at least a well-worn one. Stayed with a buddy in Arizona and between baseball games, pool parties, ice cream, and burritos, we went hiking in Sedona. 

Pronoun Note and buddiness: I've made the conscious decision to, in general, not mention anyone by name on the site. I want to respect individual's privacy and don't want to vet every picture or dalliance more so than I already have to being a teacher and all. I'm certainly being overly cautious and maybe that'll change, but for now, it'll be a lot of "buddy"s and non-descript "we"s. 

The Diamondbacks stadium wasn't memorable evidenced by the fact that I don't really remember it, but I wouldn't mind spending more time in Phoenix. 

​Here are some pictures, mostly from Sedona. 

Then, we flew on to Denver.