We found G. a brand name pair at Goodwill for $5 but L. and I didn't have any luck finding our sizes there. L. found a nice used pair at Play It Again Sports in Portland for $20 and I bought a new pair there (I couldn't find any used in my size). As for safety gear, we had knee pads and helmets from our various other sports activities so we only had to buy wrist guards to complete our shopping. And with the addition of this new gear, our basement has truly been taken over with sports equipment.
After getting all our gear together, I realized that finding paved trails was harder than I had thought it would be. There really aren't any in the Sebago Lake area where we live. So we decided that our first day in our new gear would be at Deering Oaks Park in Portland.
I liked the park's trails because when I had trouble stopping, I just ditched myself in the grass; it was much softer. And yes I admit to throwing myself on the ground to stop when I can't gain control of my speed, regardless of the sport. It's what I did when I learned to snowboard and since pavement is a lot harder than snow, the grass was a more appealing option. The only complaint we had about Deering Oaks were all the rocks, twigs and sand on the trail. But it was manageable. And the barely-there "hill" in the park was just enough to pick up speed but not feel out-of-control. The kids liked that a lot.
The next day G. insisted we go rollerblading again so we headed to Bug Light in South Portland. That trail was great; it was flat and rock- and twig-less. Although we did dodge some lettuce, tomatoes and olives, much to the amusement of L.
We're going to try out the Eastern Prom over the weekend but we're still on the hunt for other paved trails in southern Maine. If you have a suggestion, post a comment.
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