Dreaming of Garbanzo beans at a Bomber's bout weekend in Worely, Idaho...

Friday afternoon, Arson Annie picked me up from work at 2 p.m. heading to the airport to pick up our rental car for the weekend. Three Jet City Roller Girls who played on the travel team the Bombers, (Arson Annie, Weed Wack-Her, myself) a JCRG ref, (Penalty Le Pew) and an Rat City friend (Maude Elletee) were all going to carpool out to Spokane for a travel team bout playing the Lilac City Roller Girls Saturday night. We returned to Arson's condo to pickup the rest of crew and I took the first shift driving on the warmest day yet this year "over the mountains" on I-90 to the east side of the state. It was a pretty uneventful drive - I got us there, with my characteristic lead foot, in four hours. (At one point, on a side road by our Econolodge, I saw some sand piper type birdies in the road and yelled, run birdies run! as opposed to slowing down.)

Meeting up with Audrey Headburn (another Bomber), TJ (our announcer) and Jason, a friend, we went out to dinner at Europa on the recommendation of a skater who use to live in Spokane. It was pretty dead (though the city was packed because the Lilac Festival, a golf tournament and a tattoo convention or something like that.) The food was great - the desserts were amazing and our server couldn't have been better! She was super friendly, fun, recommended a very tasty place for breakfast and actually knew the woman who started the Lilac City roller girls (who wouldn't be playing on Saturday as she suffered a compound fracture in her leg, skating at a parade!) The Econolodge was a great deal, clean, with energy efficient lights, and comfy beds.

Relevant note: I did have a very strange dream that we were playing Sacramento (instead of Spokane) and I was very afraid to play them. Having a rather poor reputation of being rather dirty players I was afraid we were going to get very seriously hurt.

Saturday morning we went to a lovely little "French" cafe for a very delicious breakfast (or in Weedy and my case, two breakfasts) and then headed downtown, without much purpose except to find the "Lilac Festival" before heading to Worely, Idaho where our Bombers bout was being hosted (at the Coeur d'Alene Casino). We found streets lined with chairs in anticiaption for the evening parade (at 7:45 p.m.) We got some directions from some people and headed down to the city park down by the river. There was a classic car show, shaved ice (yum), a goat statue/vacuum that sucked up garbage (hilarious), a giant Radio Flyer, and tons of people out along a riverfront park in downtown Spokane. It was an absolutely lovely hour before we packed back in the car and headed to Worely for our bout.

The Casino was in the middle of NOWHERE (thankfully we had stayed in Spokane where there was plenty to do.) We got checked into our rooms, rested a tiny bit, changed into our uniforms (or bout-fits) and headed down for the game. The venue held about 2,000 people (in a side showroom off lobbies full of slot machine, card games, and hundreds of other digital games, all whirling lights, mirrors, whistles and bells.) The bouting floor was laid out on carpet and though it wasn't like skating in quicksand, it was still rather difficult. (You have to lay the floor out on hard floor, to keep it even and smooth. Otherwise, every time you push off in a stride, your feet just sink and it's like skating in sand or as Weedy said, skating on a mattress. If you stop moving your feet you stop rolling). Other than the floor, it was a great venue, with very professional lights and sound. Since this was our first bout as the "visiting team", we didn't have anything to do with setup. Though it was relaxing, it was slightly boring considering I'm use to starting "bout" day at 12 noon with floor set up and don't end until there is a beer in my hand at 10 p.m.

We finally got started with our bout. I wasn't in many line-ups... The first one I played Pivot with Molly Python (a Bomber who also plays for the Pink Pistols) and we held the front like it was nobody's business, holding the jammer back and knocking her down for a couple of laps. I jammed twice, scoring 4 points each time (before they were called off by the other jammer). My third time up to jam (as the lineups were on their way to getting mixed up), I took off at the whistle and entered the pack, I scooted past the back blocker (B3), one of them totally whiffed trying to hit me but came back for her second attempt and hit me head on - helmet to helmet. There was a loud crack and I was suddenly outside picking garbanzo beans with my fellow skaters. We were all dressed in our bouting uniforms, in the bright sunshine, picking beans (that were already cooked and ready to eat - yum!) in the fields like those that lined I-90. We were having such a good time. I heard the whistles being blown and medics by my side trying to get me to turn over onto my back which seemed impossible at first. (I was actively trying to get up the whole time but couldn't.) She asked kept asking me if I was alright and I kept saying "where are the beans." (According to Gus, the jam ref - the one who keeps track of my penalties and points - I was crying when I finally sat up. Who knew?) I finally got up, seeing double, and went back to our team bench where I just looked at everyone (so confused that we weren't in the fields picking beans) and took off my helmet (convince my head was bleeding) and told everyone that I was fine - um though I was clearly wasn't as I had been knocked out and was suffering from a mild concussion. There was one more jam and then halftime. I thought I would be fine to play but in the end, Audrey took off my skates and I sat out for the rest of the game (which was rather anti-climatic).

The Bombers ended up winning! Our very first win! However, the game didn't end without a few more injuries including a broken collarbone and a sprained knee. They were all exhausted from the not-quite-but-almost-quicksand floor. There were plenty of issues with understanding how penalties were being scored and communication between refs. But it was a learning experience for all teams involved. We headed to the bar within the Casino for an after party and it was a great time hanging out the gals we just clobbered around. They were all very nice. I went to bed reluctantly (because being the social butterfly that I am, I still wanted to hang out, concussion and all), was awakened every two hours (just to make sure I didn't slip into a coma) but otherwise slept very well.

We had the Casino breakfast buffet with a gaggle of skaters and hit the road. It was a nice drive back, stopping at the Gorge for some sightseeing and Ellensburg for some late lunch and ice-cream. I stopped by my P-Patch on the way home - thrilled that my lettuces enjoyed the 90 degree Seattle weather this weekend! Maude helped me out by watering them as I picked a few weeds. They're almost ready to be picked and eaten! Yum.

What a fantastic weekend - all around.