My Weekend Experience with My On-Line Friends in Gatlinburg, TN

Gaming. Who hasn't played an on-line game? With so many systems available and so many games to pick from, I can't imagine a household without one. Many will argue the fact that "gaming" is addictive and a bad influence and that the "gamer" spends more time playing than doing anything else. Is it really that addictive? Yes, it is.

War games put you in the center of a battlefield where you either learn to play, and play well in order to stay alive, or you die constantly and give up. To those that choose to be persistent in shooting at least one person before they die AGAIN know and understand the adrenalin that takes over. Add on-line multiplayer action and the ability to speak live with fellow gamers shooting with you or on opposite sides shooting at you, you will realize that your screen is a window, and the room you are sitting in has become a tank and the only way to survive is by an exact click of the mouse to send an AT4 soaring into the air in hopes it will hit the sniper hiding out in a tower across the terrain.

I began gaming at least 9 years ago from watching my son playing a pc game known as Delta Force. I think anyone that started out on a computer has played the game. After standing over his shoulder yelling "there's one, shoot him!" on a constant basis he finally said try it. Well I did and began playing every night of the week till 2 am most nights and who knew I'd eventually become part of a squad. Some may say gaming is just for kids but how WRONG that actually is. On-line gaming gives anyone opportunity to play in any server and if they offer an on-line chat such as Ventrilo or Team Speak, you can talk live with the people you are playing with.

So after being asked to join the squad, I joined in on their Ventrilo and realized they were all adults and mostly all married and all having kids. Just like me. And the more we played against other squads, we found there were more older people than not. Some of the members on my squad had been together for years and about a year after I joined we decided it was time to take our nightly get togethers one step further - ROAD TRIP! We were from various parts of the US: New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana and decided that Gatlinburg, Tennessee was our destination. Two brothers from NY picked me up and 11 hours later we pulled into a gas station at the same time ones from VA, ALA and LA did too. No one needed gas but we just pulled in, full of excitement, stopped the cars anywhere and just ran to meet each other. Hand shakes, hugs and maybe even some tears of joy (but no one will admit to that) went on for a bit, then it was off to our hotel to await the 2 brothers from Ohio. When they finally arrived, our squad was complete. The weekend was about to begin.

We checked into our hotel, which had adjoining rooms, making it easier to hang out. Our first stop on the agenda was a late dinner at the Hard Rock Café in the center of Gatlinburg. The food was great, the talking never ceased, the laughter was constant . It felt like we had always been together. And what made it even better was that we called each other by our "game names" and didn't think twice about it. Afterwards we sat up for hours in one room, playing cards, talking, watching tv and laughing.

Saturday was a buffet breakfast then off to Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN where we all piled into a van with a tour guide onto the track and had our group photo taken on Winner's Circle. The view from the press box was amazing. Once again, so no one thought we were out of our minds, we had to explain to everyone what the deal was with our names. It was a great rush to be able to walk the steep embankment of the turns! That lead us to none other than a few races of our own on Go-Carts! Pigeon Forge, which is a tourist strip before Gatlinburg, had great track layouts. I even managed to win one race!

We had a nice dinner while a band played live that evening after walking around the main drag of Gatlinburg as we all wanted to do some shopping for our families back home. Back to a room, once again we piled in and watched tv and talked some more.

The breakfast the next morning at Ihop was a bit sad for me as I knew it would be last meal we would all share together as our squad that weekend. The departure was the same as the first day, handshakes, hugs and tears. Some of the guys had spent 7 years playing together. A weekend was just not long enough but it was a trip we will never forget.

So gaming does have some wonderful advantages. It allowed me to get to know and meet the greatest guys in the world, just from playing some first-person shooter game known as Delta Force Black Hawk Down. I wish all the members of the squad were able to go on the trip, but believe me, they were deeply missed by us all.

Thank you Firestorm, Bullseye, Big Daddy, Devil Dog, Maverick, Konig, ViperG, and 7Mag for a great weekend. You guys are the best!!!!!!!!

M.Soozan - aka the one and only MadMom