Youth

I recall asking my mother for a laser tag birthday when I was 10 years old. I got mini golf instead. Little did I know, twelve years later my dream would finally come true when I would find myself ringing in 22 at the Kalahari Resort playing none other than...laser tag.

Welcome to Pat Hurley's debut on my blog.

Yes, after 10 exhausting weeks of PA summer school, I got on the first train I could and headed to the 'Boo. There is nothing more intellectually relaxing than stomping through a stream, dressing up as a lumberjack's wife, and yelling out Shake Yo' Foot. But before campers came, celebrations naturally needed to occur. A group of us, affectionately referred to as the "old" people, headed to Damon's after placements on Friday. Camp Gray icons like Joe Van Tassel, Mr. Patrick Hurley, and Nicky Kaeler were in attendance and the yucks and grub were good. After at least 19 people had celebrated birthdays around us, my dumb friends decided mine was close enough, and we also celebrated mine.Note the Camp Gray style celebration (aka head rubbing) post-birthday song.

Now, after our meal was finished and they began to turn the lights off, we considered our options for the rest of the evening and also our proximity to the brand-new Kalahari Indoor Adventure Park (as if the Kalahari needed anything else). And we decided to just "take a look".

Well, after giving the terrifying ropes course a look, Mr. Hurley and I decided it would be necessary to check out the laser tag facilities. After going down into the deepest, darkest crevice of the adventure park, we found it. And it looked good. So we loaded a card with enough cash for all of us to play one round and headed to the Kalahari basement for what was sure to be an enjoyable throwback to our childhood.

Lindsay was crucial to the success of this adventure. She was confident that if we worked the employees just right, we could get more than one game out of this. I was skeptical. Nonetheless, there was a bit of a wait before we were able to enter the laser tag arena, but this provided a wonderful opportunity to establish a relationship with our laser tag employees. They were no doubt a bit surprised at the sight of us...I think the average age they typically see down there is 9. But this lead to some jocularity and a bit of a guessing game as to what Mr. Hurley's actual age is. Let's just say they overshot it a little bit (...33!) So as Mr. Hurley repaired his damaged ego, we set out into the laser tag arena. Black lights, bright scenery, it was truly a sight to behold! I discovered several things while we were there: #1 I am not very good at laser tag. #2 Although I am not good, I am consistently not good, and there is something to be said for that. #3 Never wear a floral print shirt to laser tag (you will "light up like a Christmas tree!") #4 Kids, small ones, are ruthless and have no mercy on people who wear inappropriate attire to laser tag (thus contributing to #1). Despite these things, it really was exhilarating and I felt like I was channeling my youth. Dodging lasers, beaming up the sirens, trying to physically harm the children who were playing with us...all around fantastic. And Lindsay was indeed right. After finishing our first game, it only took a few minutes of schmoozing before the laser tag people beamed us up again for another go at it. And another. And another. Yes, four games for the price of one at the Kalahari Resort. We were even so much fun that the employees came out to play with us (again, they make a living at this, so see #1). I'm not really sure why they thought we might be any sort of competition, but I think we made their night, and they certainly made ours. Well played, fellow tagees, well played.


Back row: Joe Baker and me (looking friendlier now than we ever would again--we had just met)
Front row: Mr. Hurley, Carol!, Lindsay, and Bill Van Wagner