Our October Adventure is our most elaborate and ornate adventure of the year, and 2024 was no different. We rolled out as much fanfare for our paleolithic friends as possible! After all, how many times in your life are you given a chance to battle with T-Rexes, Raptors, and security forces to save the day? Each team was armed with their very own Gel Blaster weapon to use as protection against the dinosaurs and security threats. This time, they had a little more to worry about. The security forces ALSO had Gel Blasters, so teams had to move quickly and efficiently in order to keep from coming under fire.

Our days started as the sun began to set over the Carlsbad mountains, illuminating all of our glow-in-the-dark gellets pummeling their way through the skies. We had over 800,000 gellets, and nearly 0 after the day was over.

As our day got started, we also had a fun surprise in store for our Gold Star wives. Per tradition, as each adventure starts, our Gold Star wives' responsibilities end. Our intent is to give these women a private and relaxing experience, so that after a few hours, they are rested and rejuvenated. This adventure, we had a special and sparkly experience waiting for them. Kendra Scott came and provided us with an incredible experience. Each mom got to put together their very own custom necklace and earring sets, and as a special surprise, mommas with daughters got to make a custom necklace for their daughters as well. These women deserve far more than some sparkly jewelry, but we were happy to provide some fun memories and a piece for them to happily remember the day by.

Each participating team had to rely on teamwork to make it through the day successfully. Because we know every person is different and responds differently to learning obstacles, we had a variety of challenges in store. Some required observation, while others required problem-solving, speed, agility, stealth, and even some numerical challenges. Overall, our teams did a fantastic job of reminding each other of the mission objectives, keeping each other in check as they moved along.

We want to say a special thank you to all of the volunteers who gave up an entire Saturday to fulfill all of our dino dreams. Each and every volunteer gave their all, stayed in character, and provided our Gold Star kids and veterans with an unforgettable experience. We enjoyed watching all of the teamwork between everyone who came and just wanted to provide the best display of humanity we've seen in a long time. This was a day of collaboration, dinosaurs, digging, puzzle-solving, being transported back in time, jumping into the future, and an overall incredible time.

Please take a moment to enjoy the day with us by watching the event recap below!