With my new job I have zero vacation until after six months on the job. This made our annual trip to Oregon a bit tricky this year. My boss and I compromised on a few days unpaid, and a few days borrowed from the time I will have available after my six months are up.
So I HAD to fly while Sheri GOT to drive all the way there. She drove from Arizona to Utah one day and picked up Ryan's kids. Then drove from Utah to Boise the next day, spent the night in a hotel, and drove the rest of the way to Oregon on the third day. I flew in at 2am that night, and had one day at Grandpa's before we left for camping on the coast.
As always, we had a very nice time. Below are some fun pics... although we didn't have the camera with us when we were doing some of the most fun stuff (sandboarding, jumping off the bridge, tubing and skiing etc...).
Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Paint Ball Playa
A few weeks ago I got a phone call late on a Friday afternoon letting me know that a few guys from church were getting together at 6am Saturday morning to play paint ball, and that I was invited. I didn't have any gear, but was assured that they would have enough there for me, so I agreed to go play. Bright and early Saturday morning, I show up wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a long sleeved t-shirt. All the other guys are dressed out with full camo, and are looking pretty fierce. I immediately thought... "holy crap - they just needed another body to shoot at... that's why I'm here - I'm gonna get creamed"!
We had parked our cars on the edge of the desert, and walked about 100yds out into this big dense area full of cactus' and mesquite trees, with several dry washes running through it. I was loaned a gun, gloves, and a face mask and explained the rules. The first round was team play... 3 on 3. Two hits and your out, last team with members that haven't been hit twice wins.
I walked out into the desert with my teammates, excited and nervous. After walking about 75yds out, we called back to the other team that we were ready. Then it was game-on!
With my big black t-shirt and blue jeans, I must have made a pretty easy target, because I started taking fire pretty quickly. As I was laying on my belly, with my torso and legs behind this big bush, and my head, arms, and gun sticking out far enough for me to see the other team, and return fire - I literally started to giggle. I'm a big fat, out of shape, 35yr old man, and felt like the biggest little kid on earth. Running around the desert, taking and returning fire was soooo fun!
We lost the first two rounds, and won the third. After that we played capture the flag. We put a flag out in the middle of the area, both teams moved equidistant away from the flag. The object then was to move in and grab the flag and take it back to the main base. If you get hit, while carrying the flag, you have to drop it, and go back to your base before you can get back into the game. We won one, and lost one of capture the flag.
Three and a half hours of running around the desert, hiding behind trees, climbing in and out of washes was way more fun than I ever thought it could be. For the record - getting hit by a paint ball does sting, but you have so much adrenalin running through you while playing that it doesn't really hurt... until later. I had baseball sized bruises and welts on my legs and a nice golf ball sized bruise on my belly.
While my wife questioned my sanity, using the logic of "how can getting hit so hard that you get bruises like that be fun"? All I could do was giggle and reassure her that for some odd reason, the bruises are a very small price to pay for the enjoyment I got out of it.
I have since found an ex-military guy on craigslist here in Sahuarita that was getting married, and was getting rid of ALL his paintball gear. So for $100, I'm completely geared up and good to go for next time.
So, please come visit... I've got a new hobby I'd like to share with you - hehe hehehe heheheh...
We had parked our cars on the edge of the desert, and walked about 100yds out into this big dense area full of cactus' and mesquite trees, with several dry washes running through it. I was loaned a gun, gloves, and a face mask and explained the rules. The first round was team play... 3 on 3. Two hits and your out, last team with members that haven't been hit twice wins.
I walked out into the desert with my teammates, excited and nervous. After walking about 75yds out, we called back to the other team that we were ready. Then it was game-on!
With my big black t-shirt and blue jeans, I must have made a pretty easy target, because I started taking fire pretty quickly. As I was laying on my belly, with my torso and legs behind this big bush, and my head, arms, and gun sticking out far enough for me to see the other team, and return fire - I literally started to giggle. I'm a big fat, out of shape, 35yr old man, and felt like the biggest little kid on earth. Running around the desert, taking and returning fire was soooo fun!
We lost the first two rounds, and won the third. After that we played capture the flag. We put a flag out in the middle of the area, both teams moved equidistant away from the flag. The object then was to move in and grab the flag and take it back to the main base. If you get hit, while carrying the flag, you have to drop it, and go back to your base before you can get back into the game. We won one, and lost one of capture the flag.
Three and a half hours of running around the desert, hiding behind trees, climbing in and out of washes was way more fun than I ever thought it could be. For the record - getting hit by a paint ball does sting, but you have so much adrenalin running through you while playing that it doesn't really hurt... until later. I had baseball sized bruises and welts on my legs and a nice golf ball sized bruise on my belly.
While my wife questioned my sanity, using the logic of "how can getting hit so hard that you get bruises like that be fun"? All I could do was giggle and reassure her that for some odd reason, the bruises are a very small price to pay for the enjoyment I got out of it.
I have since found an ex-military guy on craigslist here in Sahuarita that was getting married, and was getting rid of ALL his paintball gear. So for $100, I'm completely geared up and good to go for next time.
So, please come visit... I've got a new hobby I'd like to share with you - hehe hehehe heheheh...
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