Paintball!

So, I've been meaning to write a bit about this for 2 weeks now, and I'm just now getting to it. This is why I shouldn't have blogs. I neglect them. I'm lazy.

Anyway, when I was about 15 or 16, maybe younger, a place called Mad Zone Paintball opened up in my hometown of Kingston. I'd played laser tag a few times, but I'd always wanted to try paintball, so off I went with a friend. It was an indoor field, full of sand, and not too big, but it was glorious. It was just the tow of us, so we ran around like mad, diving, jumping, sliding, shooting, and I fell in love with this crazy new game. While I was never a huge laser tag fan, paintball was exactly what I expected. It hurt, it got the adrenaline going, and you actually 'died,' instead of just flashing when you got hit. It was amazing.

So, I had a birthday party at the same place. And I played in a single tournament. But then it closed. Enter my aunt's boyfriend (at the time). I'll call him G. To me, he was a paintball guru. He played all the time. He even owned his own marker. And he took me to my first big game.

It was at Wasaga Beach Paintball, a 5 hour drive from home. This was before they moved to the new location (which sadly, I've still not been to). We showed up the night before, set up our tent in the pouring rain, got up the next moring, and went to play. Everyone knew G. He was kind of like a fixture. He chatted up the owners, introduced me to people with crazy gear that I'd never imagined existed, and made sure I had everything I needed to play. Then, the game started. I think there were around 500 of us there, and I think the field (usually split into multiple smaller fields) was somewhere around 50-60 acres. It was amazing. There were objectives, missions, spies. I got shot so many times, and I shot at more people than I can remember. We played right from 10:00am until 10:00pm. If I wasn't hooked before, I was now.

The big game became an annual thing, and I went out to each one for the next two or three years. We had smaller games at local fields (some places had opened up just outside of Kingston), but Wasaga was the pilgrimage. G bought me my first mask, helped me pick out my second marker, and was always around to obsess over all things paintball with me.

But, then I joined the military. And it's hard to find time during the summer to play paintball when you're in the middle of training. So I think I made it out to one more big game, and a couple local games, one with the guys from my squadron. But, after I left the military, G and my aunt had broken up, I got married, and paintball kind of left my radar.

The last game I played was probably 6 years ago. I still had my gear, but finally decided holding onto it was pointless (and most of it was kind of junk anyway, when you're 17/18 you tend not to take care of things properly), so I sold it about half a year ago.

But then, two weeks ago, 3 of my friends and I decided to try the local field here in St. John's, Frontline Paintball. It was wonderful. They rent Tippmann 98's, which I've always loved, have some great woods fields (as well as a town, speedball field, and a 'road' field), and have some (mostly) awesome refs. I fell in love all over again. I came home exhausted, with a dozen or so welts, and quickly started trying to figure out if I could afford to replace my sold gear (I can't, by the way, so that'll have to wait, it seems).

One of the friends I went with fell in love too, and he almost immediately bought his own stuff. Mask, marker, upgrades, everything. So, we went back out again today with a few of his friends. And it was just as good. The only problem that I have is that I get so caught up in the games, that I forget everything else. I went out this morning at 11:00. I had a fruit bar for breakfast. I didn't eat again until we were done, around 5:00.

But, after nourishment, I quickly got back on the computer and started trying to figure out what set up I want to buy. It's always nice to have dreams. I think I'm officially hooked. Again. I can't wait to get back out and shoot some more people.

Hello World!

So, this is my new blog. I originally started Rambling's of a Travel Junkie to write about my travels, and about travels I want to take. Well, I don't write on there often, mainly because I don't travel as much as I'd like to. And because I'm not really that good about writing about where I want to go. There's just some block there. But, there are times I want to write about things other than travel.

And that brings me here. A place that I can write about anything. Well, almost anything, I'm not completely anonymous here... I can't guarantee I'll write often, but it might see more traffic than my Travel Junkie blog.

As always, if you want to click on the ads that Google is so kind to provide me, I'd appreciate it.  Eventually, it might help me get on another trip, or buy something cool to write about.