Part 2 - On the Road: Women's Series

By: Missy Bellinder

This week the PBA and PBA Women’s Series travelled to Thruway Lanes in Cheektowaga, NY for the Etonic Championship.

Every week of the PBA Women’s Series, we (the women) are bowling at the same venue as the PBA tour. We are also bowling the qualifying portion of the tournament at the same time as the men, crossing with them but competing in our own separate tournament.

This week the scores were high! Getting to the pocket was not too difficult, but getting all 10 pins to fall was another story for some. If you could figure out how to carry, you were going to shoot big numbers! Joy Esterson out-scored everyone with +661 for 14 games, averaging 247, while Todd Book led the men with +625, averaging 244.

I personally couldn’t quite figure out the carry, missing the top 8 cut to matchplay by 26 pins.

Matchplay had many high scores and in the end Shannon Pluhowsky and Tish Johnson advanced to the live ESPN TV show, with Pluhowsky finishing on top.

This week, my father Frank flew out to watch the PBA Women’s Series. While my dad was in town, we decided to take in some sights. So we drove into Canada and visited Niagara Falls.

Being from California, the whole week in Buffalo was pretty cold, with the highs in the low 40s. My roommate Tennelle and I even went and bought snow boots to combat the snow and slush that had stuck on the ground the day we had arrived.

Niagara Falls was even colder than nearby Buffalo! Getting too close to the mist was like walking into a rain storm. However the breathtaking power of the falls was well worth all of the Goosebumps!

After taking several postcard-like pictures of Niagara Falls, my dad and I decided to see the falls from a different viewpoint. We ate at Skylar Tower in the revolving restaurant that sits high above Niagara Falls. Dinner with a bird’s eye view of one of the Seven Wonders of the World was absolutely breathtaking.

After dinner, we saw the festival of lights, a spectacle of Christmas lights arranged in intricate designs, spread throughout the falls area. A whole section of the designs were Disney-themed, complete with Sleeping Beauty’s Castle from Disneyland. We ended the chilly night with an amazing firework show over the American Falls.

Rounding out the week with two trips to the movies and two visits to the local mall (both of which seem to be popular past times for many of the bowlers), we headed to the next stop. With 515 miles behind us, one outlet mall stop and three halls of fame later, we arrived at our next destination. Did you know that from Buffalo to Merrillville you pass three Halls of Fame – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The College Football Hall of Fame and my personal favorite The RV/Motor Home Hall of Fame?

Stay tuned for Part 3 of “On the Road: Women’s Series,” where next week we will be bowling at Stardust Bowl II in Merrillville, IN for the PBA Women’s Series Lake County Indiana Classic.