Roaming in Reno 2008 Hearing Loss Association of America Conference -
Reno, Nevada By Cheryl Heppner
The Trek West
Galaxy and I started our new Hearing Loss Association of
America (HLAA) adventure yesterday in very early morning
with a drive to BWI airport, which had better flight deals
than could be found at Dulles or National. After curbside
check-in with Southwest, we caused an impromptu staff meeting
as five skycaps got involved in trying to answer my question
of where we could find a relief area for Galaxy. They
finally threw up their hands so we still don't know.
After making it through security and the usual pat downs,
where Galaxy (mostly) was successful in restraining the impulse
to wiggle in delight, I gave her the usual banana to carry
through the terminal. We sat at our gate and shared
it before boarding.
What were the odds that Lise Hamlin and George Kosovich would
be on our flight? I had a great time catching up with
them, reading, and occasionally dozing off. This is
Lise's first HLAA conference as one of their staff, and will
be George's last one before he becomes an official federal
government retiree.
Arrival in Reno
During the stop in Chicago, the three of us moved from seats
at the rear of the plane to seats in the front, the better
for Galaxy's quick exit in Reno. After landing, Galaxy
and I raced through the terminal toward daylight and finally
found grass! Later we discovered that Reno Airport
has a Bark Park. There's a nice touch if you exit the
terminal at the far end of the baggage area, because there
you'll find paw prints leading to it.
Our arrival in Reno coincided with that of other flights
carrying many more HLAA attendees and exhibitors. We
couldn't all fit on the free hotel shuttle that arrives every
half hour, so some people took cabs. It's was a short
trip to the hotel. Despite the long line at the hotel
registration desk, the line moved very quickly and the staff
were friendly and efficient. The rooms here are very
nice, and I especially appreciate the alcove with a wall-mounted
microwave and roomy small refrigerator for storing and serving
Galaxy's food and any leftovers from my meals.
The Grand Sierra Resort and Casino is much larger than I
expected. In addition to 1,993 guest rooms and 825
condominium suites, large conference center, and casino there
are many amenities. It has a large outdoor pool, bars
and lounges, numerous restaurants, a health club and spa,
headliner entertainment, an indoor shopping mall, indoor
golf simulator, and wedding chapel.
Then there's a 50-lane, 24-hour bowling center, and a fun
quest center with lazer tag, bumper cars, a frog hopper ride,
spider mountain, video games. Next door is the Ultimate
Rush speed and thrill park with sky diving, bungee jumping,
hang gliding, a slick track for racing karts, miniature golf,
and a kid track. Around the back is an RV park.
What Took My Fancy
What most took my fancy was the Hilton Bay Aqua Range, which
I can see from my room on the 19th floor. It's a lake
on the southern side of the hotel that's open from 7 am to
2 am. For $8.75 you get a large bucket of golf balls
and for another $3 you get three clubs. The lake has six
platforms called island target greens that stand above the
water, each with an upright bulls eye target, placed at distances
of 75, 100, 150, 175 and 200 feet. There's a special
kind of lunacy involved in all this, both in the creation
and the playing.
I watched in fascination as a line of people alongside the
lake teed off at small greens atop a concrete walk. Mostly
the balls soared or slashed into the water and disappeared. I
immediately began to wonder what happens to all those balls.
The folks clearly get that all the time. As I walked
in to ask, I saw an old, stained sign saying that the balls
actually float.
A Special Reno Place
One thing I didn't fully appreciate until Galaxy and I walked
entirely around the resort was that it is strikingly beautiful
in how it's situated. On every side, you can see brown
mountains in the distance. They give the impression of a
natural warm and protective fortress.
The Conference Begins!
Already I have met some wonderful new people and reconnected
with some cherished old acquaintances. I look forward
to Thursday's 11 am opening of the exhibits and the evening
keynote with Ollie Cantos. There are other activities
going on Thursday, such as the HLAA board of trustees meeting
and annual business meeting, a pre-conference program on
What Children with Cochlear Implants Need at School, a newcomers
orientation, state leaders meeting, and an evening Block
Party Bowlarama. Friday and Saturday are packed with
many more workshops, demonstrations and events.
The Technology Doesn't Cooperate!
My plan to send regular conference reports has hit a major
glitch. I can connect to the internet and I can, through
a rather painstaking process, read and respond to email,
but I can't access my work computer as I usually do to access
the email news subscriber list or a number of other features. After
hours of work, I gave up last night and decided to just type
up news reports to send to Melody Hotek in the NVRC office,
and have her access my computer to send them.
I spent well over an hour typing up a first report last night
which was more elaborate than this. To my horror, it
disappeared when I hit the the send command. My hotel
internet connection had timed out due to inactivity. I'm
wiser now, copying first to text and then pasting to an email!
