Tagging In Alaska

I am serious about my goal to play laser tag in all 50 states and figured I may never be closer to Alaska than I was on this west coast trip so I boarded a flight to Anchorage and then rented a car to get me to Wasilla and the Extreme Fun Center. I had called up to the center a couple of times in advance to make certain that if I could work out the logistics that I’d be able to play even though I would be getting there on a Wednesday evening. However, I never imagined what an experience I would have once I arrived.

No sooner did I get there than I was told a game was going right in and I was shown to the briefing room. To my pleasant surprise there was a good quality group of players in the game. The laser tag arena manager, Erin, had made special arrangements coordinating with members of the National Guard to come out and play on this night. That was perfect and such an honor to play tag with them!

As it turns out the Alaska National Guard is the sponsor for this laser tag arena.

I learned that they come out to play once or twice a month with civilians. I think this is a perfect pairing for recruitment as well. We played three rounds of team games with this group and included some public players, employees and a special guest…they had also invited the local press to cover my visit so there was a newspaper reporter from the Frontiersman there to interview me and he played in the games as well! It was a really fun experience and something completely unexpected.

Before one of the games an off-duty staff member commented that my name, Tivia, sounded like Activia yogurt. So I decided for fun to sign in for a game as “Yogurt”. :)

While I was at the Extreme Fun Center I met the owner and CEO, John Schweiger and was also introduced to Laura O’Neal of TrainerTainment who helps improve Family Entertainment Centers. It was such a treat to have the opportunity to chat with them both.

When the tag games were done I sat down with reporter Jacob Mann for an interview for the newspaper article he was writing.

And then before the night was over I even got to try out the race cars around the indoor track. I have never done this before!

And I purchased a few souvenirs before calling it a night after an amazing time laser tagging in Alaska.

And speaking of souvenirs, there was one more place I wanted to visit while in Wasilla. As it turns out they still have Blockbuster Video in Alaska! Had to see it for myself and take home a t-shirt. 😊