April 9, 2005
On Friday afternoon, Michelle had an idea and wanted to go Paintballing. My best friend Vince is a hard-core paint baller and I do know what Paintball is, but have never played it in my entire life. It seems that my kids have grown up, and my teenager wants to try Paintball. At first I was reluctant, but I was curious too. I told Michelle to ask the Neighbors if they wanted to come also. That afternoon, Michelle was able to gather our good friend Val, our neighbors Nick and Candace and her two brothers. I invited Vince to play, but he had plans set for this weekend already. Maybe next time he'll come.
That Friday evening, Candace and her mom, Christina came to my house to talk about the Paintball game for tomorrow. I told her I really don't know much about it, but my best friend Vince was going to stop by that evening, so she can ask him all the questions. When Vince came over, he explained to us in detail the game, strategy and safety precaution in playing Paintball. That following morning, all the kids rode in our SUV and Candace mom followed us along with one of Candace younger brother since he wouldn't fit in our SUV anymore.
We went to Paintball USA in Simi Valley.
Counter-Striker aka "The Death Squad"
(L-R) Val, Nick, Michelle, Steven (front), Me, Derek, Candace, and James
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We were in the beginner playing field... |
We had our private game, we also played with other people too. |
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That's me in green crouching and Michelle in front of me. |
Candace behind round barrel, me crouching, Michelle behind me |
The Newhall location of Painball USA was closed for remodeling, so we went to the Simi Valley arena. It was approximately a 30 minute drive from our house in Newhall. When we arrived there, a nice gentlemen greeted us and gave us a tour of the playing field. He gave us an orientation, and told us that we can play in our own private game. This was very helpful to us beginners. After the orientation, we proceeded to the battlefield. First we played a private game, then we joined with other players, then played a private game again.
There were two fields in the Simi Valley arena. We were not quite ready for the advance field, so we played over at the beginner area. We rented everything there --- the masks, the gun, the ammo (we bought) and the CO2 tanks. It was not very expensive, approximately $40 per person - which is about the average of any amusement parks around Los Angeles. It was a lot of fun! We would definitely go again! Your adrenaline goes up for you DO NOT want to get hit. The bullets will sting you (depending on your clothes) once you get hit. The paints are water soluble, so you can just stick your clothes in the washer.
At the end of the day, we were all tired. It was a good day.
My son Stephen Jr. and I during one of our game breaks
