![[Image description: The four corners roadtrip logo depicts the four states that form the four corners; New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, in bright colors. A red location pin, with a white heartfinity logo, marks the site of the four-corners. Text, in black and white, reads “KODAheart’s Four Corners Roadtrip. Behind the logo is a photo of an empty two lane highway during the daytime. In the background are fields of grass, and far off into the distance are the Rocky Mountains.]](http://kodaheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/RoadtripBanner1.jpg)
After almost a year of planning, in July 2016 the KODAheart team embarked on “The Four Corners Road Trip,” a month-long trip through the American Southwest that included events and activities in five states. With overstuffed bags and big goals, we climbed into a van and hit the road. The trip took us through major cities and small towns as we visited Deaf residential schools, local Deaf clubs, international Deaf gathering places, and hosted our own koda-family events.
The trip began in Austin, Texas at the 31st annual CODA Conference. The conference was held at the Radisson Hotel overlooking the famed Congress Street Bridge. Over 380 codas from 12 countries and 34 states traveled to Austin for a weekend filled with wonderful conversations, great workshops, and amazing keynotes! For the team, the conference started early- our KODAheart shuttle offered attendees a ride to/from the airport and hotel. These shuttle rides afforded us the opportunity to have great conversations with Codas from across the country and around the world! We were so grateful to these riders for their support!
Our very own KODAheart secretary, Jannelle Legg served as the conference Notekey, opening the conference with a presentation on Coda Histories. The next few days were a blur of workshops, breakout sessions, and edifying conversations about K/Coda experiences and opportunities with Coda scholars and leaders. The conference concluded with Su Isakson’s endkey about her personal coda experience, highlighting challenges unique to the experience of minority codas. Isakson expressed gratitude for being able to share her story but also expressed the need for more diverse coda experiences within the CODA organization. Conference ended on a high and after shuttling the last of the attendees back to the airport, we set their sights on hitting the road.
Then we hit the open road. Our rambling journey included stops at major Deaf community landmarks and events as well as National landmarks and local curiosities along the way. From the Grand Canyon and the Great Salt Lake, to camping in Aspen and a pit stop at Cadillac Ranch, our trip took us to some amazing places and put us in contact with some fantastic people. Our trip across New Mexico included a visit to the New Mexico School for the Deaf and a tour of Santa Fe, before we headed to Albuquerque for a Play with KODAheart event at a local trampoline park, Gravity Park. After hours in a van, an afternoon of crawling, climbing, and dodgeball tossing was a welcome diversion!
Soon, however, we were on our way, stopping at The National Association of the Deaf 53rd biennial conference in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Deaf Nation World Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over twenty thousand members of the national and international Deaf community attended these two events. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet and chat with these attendees, to share with them information about KODAheart, and to support Deaf community organizations and businesses with booths and exhibits.
![[Image description: Two photos stacked on top of eachother- First photo is of 4 people pose for a photo. In between them is a white sign with the CODA International logo. A blue circle of words reading "connecting codas around the world". Inside the circle are 2 nondescript adult figures signing to 2 nondescript child figures over the words "CODA Children of Deaf Adults International", is all in black print. Beneath the sign, two of the people are holding a blue flag with the same exact logo. In the background are teal and purple drapes and a white sign reading "CODA International" in black lettering.The second photo is a selfie style photo of 3 people in front of a white banner that has the DeafNation logo and website in blue, red, and black lettering.]](http://kodaheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PhotoGrid_1471270631060.jpg)
Soon we were back on the road and back to work. In both Utah and Colorado, the KODAheart team organized fun family KODAheart Game Show events at local deaf clubs. The Game Show activity was first tested with members of Austin’s Deaf community and some visiting codas. Based on their feedback, we were able to unveil the Game Show at the Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Silent Action Club in Aurora, Colorado. With both communities we had a fun-filled, and competitive, night! At the end of the event, one of the contestants- Cody shared, “The KODAheart gameshow was super fun,” his mom Nadelle Payne agreed, “It was awesome, we had a great time!”
![[Image Description: A photo from behind a table wit three young boys shows the boy in the middle holding up a white board. One of the boys is smiling and looking at him. In the background of the photo a man is standing behind a small podium with his hands in motion. To the left of this is a white backdrop and small stage.]](http://kodaheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Screen-Shot-2016-08-04-at-12.01.53-PM.png)
Our final destination was to journey back to Austin, Texas where it all began. Looking back on the trip, we spent 21 traveling 6,000 miles through four new states, but the most important part of the trip was the wonderful experiences we had with great people from across the US and around the world. We are grateful to all the people who contributed their time and energy to this whirlwind tour, and a heartfelt thank you to the families that came out to our events- we can’t wait to come back again!