Inspired...

I spent the weekend with a 1,000 roller girls in Las Vegas for the third August in a row. I wasn't really wanting to go when I bought my ticket - I was experiencing derby burn out. I was overwhelmed at my job and wasn't sure that spending 5 days with a bunch of roller girls in blazing hot Las Vegas was the remedy. Turns out it was just the thing.

I took some classes with skaters I've always admired from blockers like Anna Maul, Ginger Snap and Carmen Getsome to jammers who amaze me like Sadistic Sadie and Fortune. I skated with other rollergirls (and guys) in open scrimmages on a polished cement floor which was like "Bambi on ice" (remember in the film). Some people were upset about the floor (it truly was impossible to skate on) but it made me laugh and it was a great equalizer. We ALL sucked. We all struggled and it made most of us, dress in black or white shirts for scrimmaging, laugh - a lot. (It also gave an an excuse for just about anything we didn't do correctly - you just blame it on the floor.)

I saw a lot of the Freemont Street bouts which were outside and usually very fun themed - Star Trek v. Star Wars, Amazons (tall skaters) v. Shorties (obvious), Ref v. Skaters. They are held in Old Vegas which has it's own charm and is far away from the Disney-esk modern casino of the Las Vegas Strip. I managed to eat extremely well as there was a Whole Foods near the facility where most of the classes were held (we weren't outside in the parking garage). Even early morning plyos were indoors.

There was the usual "roller girls taking over the Imperial Palace Casino" at 3 a.m. Patrons would walk in and you could see their jaws drop at the spectacle. I learned from a bartender at the Margaritaville that the locals, who knew about it, LOVED it when the roller girls came to town. They knew how to party - they were generally very nice (a lot of us work in the service industry) and are very fun. I did spend Friday night out but I didn't roll in past 3 a.m. any time... and that was ok.

When Bess and I went to drop of the car rental, I thought of just taking off on Highway 15 and heading into the Spring Mountains surrounding the city or even heading east to Utah to go to Bryce Canyon. I was feeling inspired...

* even Vegas can be inspiring - they have a Farmers Market!