A Park for Everything??

Paradise for my Hobbies

So a week or so ago I hosted the first Laser Tag game at my new house.  Since it backs up to a big park, we used the backyard as our staging area to meet up to start and end each game.  Also, since the park is really TWO parks conjoined in the middle, we were able to use different setups that forced players to change tactics with each new setting.  On top of that, there's a lot of wide-open space in the bigger park that would be ideal for a super soaker or outdoor Nerf game too!

The park layout really helps keep things fresh during games.  Unlike other parks that we've played at, there's really 3 ways you can use the area.  The southern park is called "Southridge Meadow Park".  It's got a dried up creek bed that runs through the middle with high ground on the east and west borders.  The cover in the middle is pretty decent with some nice big trees and a few bushes, but it's also got a mowed lawn all through it, so you can move pretty quickly.  The eastern edge is wide-open, a prime spot for our Laser Tag snipers to take up a position far enough away from their opponents but open enough to take a good shot.  At the northern most part of this part of the park is a bridge over the creek bed and some thick cover.  There are dirt paths woven through the middle of the north of Southridge Meadows Park and the southern part of Millard Highlands Park North (the second park) that connect the two, although it's still pretty obvious where the boundary between the two is.

Millard Highlands Park North has much of the same features as Southridge Meadows Park except that it's more like a big bowl.  There's high ground surrounding the middle and cover along those edges.  Pretty much, you go to the center of the park to die since there's no cover to take there.  The usable part of this park is a little smaller than Southridge, since there are Tennis courts and a playground up in the northern corner of it, which changes the tempo of the game.  Battles are much quicker in this park.

Because the two parks are connected and the thickest (and most fun) cover resides along the border, having teams start on either side of that border makes for a great game for larger groups.  Also, that green box on the eastern side of the park is my home.  The fence in the back yard has a gate that leads right into the park!  We now have access to all of my tools for quick repairs of equipment, bathrooms for folks to use, and just a nice place to chill out at between or after games.  If we're having a water gun war, the hose in the back makes reloading a breeze.  Nerf, Super Soakers, Laser Tag, it's all accessible with 3 different play options for the park!  I didn't realize just how versatile the park could be until that inaugural laser tag game we held.  I'm really excited to see what we're able to do now that I've got this new home.