Road Trip with Number Fifteen...

The alarm sounded louder when it buzzed at four o'clock the morning of Regan's Volleyball Tournament in Spokane. Tim scrambled eggs, microwaved bacon and stuck the half empty gallon jug of milk in the freezer for an extra chill before serving us breakfast. We would have stopped on the road to eat... but he insisted.



Booking a room at the Fairfield down the street from the giant red wagon outside Riverfront Park was a given since I wasn't interested in making the return trip home after the tournament. Our only pending decision was where to have dinner. Neither one of us remembered our bathing suits nixing the hot tub idea altogether.

The games were played at a middle school off the Newport Highway. It appeared the school was a converted elementary explaining the two very different sized gyms. There was very little seating in either venue.

Regan's Strike Force team dressed in green and black was scheduled for a bye first match of the morning giving me time to sneak off to the grocery store for snacks. Chilled mandarin oranges, grapes, cheese sticks, pistachios, bagels and cream cheese and of course... the essential lunchables - ham and cheddar for me and nachos for Regan.

We brought folding chairs careful to choose the two most comfortable from our family's supply knowing we'd spend extended time during the day sitting ... and waiting to either play or keep score. The open area between the school's library and gymnasium was transformed into base camp with blankets and camp chairs marking the boundary lines between opposing teams. Ours was nearest the restroom proving both a benefit and a bother.


Halfway through the day the team changed from short sleeved green to long sleeved white jerseys allowing the La barrow to do the same which gave her the opportunity to wear a cooler short sleeve jersey the rest of the day. The team advanced to the finals only to be eliminated in a sudden death match sending them home around five pm. I'm not sure which one of us was more ready to go.




Back at the hotel Regan enjoyed a shower in happy oblivion of exactly how much hot water she used while I updated our Face Book status to read -- "We're going out to dinner." We split a Steak Fajita Quesadilla at Azteca and nearly a whole basket of warm salty tortilla chips. Water with lemon for Regan and club soda, no ice with lime for me. On the way back we stopped at Perkins for chocolate chip cookies perfect for a five second microwave back at the hotel. Regan talked me out of a dollar for a pack of red licorice from the vending machine.

Within thirty minutes of settling into our side by side queen sized beds, Regan was snoring. The movie we had discussed seeing earlier in the day definitely would not have worked out. Madea Goes To Jail would have to take a rain check. I closed the heavy curtains flipping the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle and watched TV in the dark.

We slept in past the hotel's continental breakfast on purpose and lazily packed up... double checking under the bed for personal items we didn't want left behind. After turning in our key card we walked to Perkins for Eggs Benedict and Double Over Easy with Hash browns.

Another successful Buddy Date for the books.