Conference in Kentucky!

Eli and I have recently returned from what is becoming a bi-annual tradition of a visit to the US for personal (visiting and holidaying) and professional (conferencing) reasons. As per usual, the conference I like to attend - Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) formerly known as the North American Benthological Society (NABS) - no prizes for guessing why they changed the name! - took us to a part of the US that we'd probably not otherwise go to. This year, we started our trip off with 3 flights across about 33 hours of travel to get to Louisville, Kentucky. We planned to arrive a few days before the conference, to acclimatise and have a good look around the place.

We were especially lucky to have Grandma Susan on board both for her child-minding and tour-planning skills and she'd really done her homework prior to our visit. Making the most of her groundwork, we set off for a fossil deposit on the west-side of the river...where we were able to search along the rocky river bank for marine fossils that are between 300-400 million years old. 

 

It was amazing - I've certainly never seen anything like it - and Eli had a lot of fun leading Grandma Susan and I all around the shoreline in search of fossil treasures... some of the sections of shoreline were completely littered with the fossilised remains of corals, shells and other creatures...

The weather in Louisville was hot and humid, so it was always nice to retreat back to the hotel in the middle of the day. Here's a photo I really love of Eli relaxing on the bed with his soft toy collection (which started with just one and grew as the trip went on).

We went for quite a few walks around the city and along the river - there was a really nice park that ran for miles and miles along the river not far from where we were staying - and we were amazed to see heaps of people swimming in a water fountain - especially since it had a sign saying "Do not swim - water contains unnaturally high levels of hydrogen!"

While I was busy at the conference, Eli and Grandma Susan had a lot of fun playing - they also ventured out to visit the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum - this is the place where most of the baseball bats in the US are made. Eli was pretty happy with that visit and he came home with two small baseball bats as a memento. 

 

Following on from this baseball theme, the conference dinner was held at the Louisville Bats (a nice play on words) home ground. I knew Eli would be keen on coming along, so I sweet talked his entry and he came along with me. Here's Eli down on the field and at the batter's plate...

This photo shows Eli about to smash me into the outfield! He actually did really well and once he hit the ball (on the third pitch!) he decided that he'd just keep running (with no stops at bases and a little short cut around 3rd base!) until he got back home. Fortunately the fielders showed him enough mercy to not run him out, although now he thinks that he's hit a home run and he likes to tell people about it (without the details).

 

I enjoyed having a hit too and for those that care, there was a big gap through what would have been mid-off, so I smashed it through that area of the infield and scampered off. I eventually made it back around to the home base plate too, but not in one big arcing run like Eli!

After our hit of baseball, we then tried our hand at the cornhole or bean bag toss - a 'traditional' game played in this part of the world. The idea is to throw bean bags onto a slightly raised platform with a hole (the cornhole) towards the end. You get points for getting your bag either on the platform or, better still, in the hole. Wikipedia tells me that there is an ongoing debate as to whether or not the game was created in Kentucky - either way, it is simple and pretty good fun - and Eli was very good at it. 

We then had a bit of dinner - classic baseball food - hot dogs, burgers and popcorn - before finishing the evening off with some fielding back on the baseball field. At one stage the infield was completely occupied by Australians and New Zealanders, which I attributed to the fact that there were no baseball mits on offer...

All in all, we had a great time at what I think was one of the best conference dinners ever. We got home at about 11pm, which is a bit later than Eli's normal bedtime, but it was worth it.