Super Fun Bubba Playground Right Here In Texomaland




If Texomans and Texomaland tourists have not discovered one of its newest entertainment treasures by now, I am positive that this article will help them find this super fun, pot of gold at the end of our rainbow. Extreme Sandbox opened their Texas location in Pottsboro in the spring of 2016.

What Is Extreme Sandbox?

Extreme Sandbox is the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel for big kids ages 14 to ??? around the U.S. Teenagers and more elderly kids alike can play on Komatsu wheel loaders, bulldozers, and excavators. From SH 82, take SH 279 north just a few miles past FM 120, and you will see a bunch of heavy equipment machines sitting on a 15-acre sandbox on the west side of 279.

People of all makes and models visit this playground to experience the adventure of a lifetime and the most fun one can pack into four hours. The company is aptly named Extreme Sandbox with two locations called the Texas Sandbox and the Minnesota Sandbox.

Do You Want to Play on Heavy Equipment Machines?

I sure did, and I was treated to a mini-experience on an excavator by Extreme Sandbox’s North Texas General Manager, David Beardsley, so that I could write this article with real adventure flowing out of my keyboard. First, you call David Beardsley’s office at 855-DIG-FOR-FUN. After that, the Texas Sandbox is everything about fun.

There are safety precautions before you jump into a big boy’s machine. Safety is Extreme Sandbox’s number one priority. Then the Texas Sandbox exudes passion for their guests and their experiences. Group packages are the most popular and deliver the most fun of all.

When you and your group arrive at the facility, you will sign a waiver and attend a short but comprehensive safety orientation. The orientation lasts 20 minutes. A training video teaches guests about climbing on the machine, how to operate the machines during maneuvers, how all the moving parts work, and more. Then, it is off to the sandbox.

Everyone, guests and management, wears safety vests, plus they use two-way headsets with microphones. You climb into a machine and the staff in the field communicates with you inside the machine’s cab while you become familiar with its controls and the moving parts of the machine.

Whoa! That part really scared me at first while I desperately tried to recall what I had learned in training only 10 minutes before. Yeah; right; that happened!

The staff practices with you for as long as it takes for you to get comfortable. Then, OH BOY! You are on your own while the staff takes multiple pictures of your adventure which are deposited by the next day in a shared Dropbox file.

Heavy Equipment Games

There are SO many things you and your family or amigos can do with this equipment. But, the things that you absolutely cannot do are hurt yourself, the machine, the staff, or the sandbox. I kept feeling like I was screwing up the machine which was the most difficult issue that I needed to mentally overcome.

Extreme Sandbox created a game that they call the “Gold Rush” where two excavators rip up a car, and there are prizes for that one. You can dig a bunch of holes, lift a bucket as high as it goes, dump big loads of dirt, watch the dirt explode on the ground, bulldoze mounds of earth all over the place, run over and destroy stuff, and so much more.

About the Machines

Extreme Sandbox partners with Komatsu. Their machines are leased, greased and power washed daily, and switched out for new ones after every 2,000 hours of use. The equipment cabs are climate controlled and as comfortable as a brand new Hummer.

At the Texas location, they use three types of machines. Construction contractors utilize the wheel loader to load and move materials on a job site. Most often, the bulldozer is used to clean up and grade sites and roads. I think the excavator is the most fun of them all because it digs and dumps dirt or whatever is there with great force. You cannot even run into a hole you just dug and flip over your machine of choice.

Texans Always Do It Up Big

A family man with three young boys in Minnesota named Randy Stenger drove by a construction site one day.

One of Randy’s boys asked, “Dad, wouldn’t it be fun to go play on those trucks?”

Out of the mouth of a babe, an Extreme Sandbox idea was born! Randy had no experience in the construction industry or as a heavy equipment operator; he toiled in the corporate world.

Randy opened his Hastings, Minnesota, location in 2012. Years of work went into locating the best site in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and planning with the local municipalities to obtain the proper site approvals.

Uncannily, a large number of Randy’s out-of-state visitors to the Hastings location hailed from Texas. The search for a site in Texas began.

Who Is David Beardsley?

David Beardsley helped Randy make the move to Texomaland. When you visit the Texas Sandbox and meet David, you will totally understand why the Texas location is so appreciated.

David is a people person and a highly experienced service industry professional with a calming manner about him. David retired from the U.S. Military and served 14 years active duty in the U.S. Navy. He went on to finish his military career with the U.S. Air Force National Guard. Thank you for your service, David!

The Staff

David trains his staff for the rigorous trials of serving up super entertainment and highly energetic fun. The staff does not typically come from construction backgrounds. Safety and customer satisfaction are the main requirements for employees to conquer at Extreme Sandbox. This company knows that you and your group or family are creating a lifetime memory when you visit them. OH! My Goodness! Extreme Sandbox sure created one for me!

The Experience

I’m short. I have a bad hip. I can’t stand or walk for more than 15 minutes at a time, but I was not about to let that stand in my way. I diligently took notes during the training session. I put on my vest and headphones and David led me through the rough dirt to an excavator.

I put my two feet and one hand and vice-versa on the crawler tires and various body parts of the excavator as I climbed into it. Climbing and stretching far up into the cab proved the only painful part of the whole experience for me and my disabilities. The day that I played Bubba Construction Worker was hot and the AC worked fine. David guided me through all of the excavator’s maneuvers.

You operate the machines with foot pedals and joy sticks on each side of your comfy captain’s chair. You are supposed to learn to use the controls slow and steady in training so that you don’t jerk the machine around. Of course, I jerked, and jerked, and jerked it again. Slowly, I started to move the controls in a steadier and smoother manner. That’s when the big, fat, fun begins.

I clumsily operated the boom, dug big holes with the bucket, dumped buckets of dirt from way up high, got the bucket stuck and unstuck in the ground, did donuts in the cab above the crawler feet as they stood still, and just had the biggest blast in the whole wide world. Since my trip to the Texas Sandbox was a media visit, I did not spend four hours playing around. But, I can, for real, imagine all the different kinds of WOW their various machines and games provide.

Why Everyone Should Play at Extreme Sandbox Once

Extreme Sandbox likes to say that it is not the cheapest entertainment option but that it will definitely be the most unique experience of your life. Extreme Sandbox does advertise sparingly on national and local levels, but Randy does not rely on advertising because his company lets their products speak for their selves. The company’s Facebook page blows up with praise and Extreme Sandbox is one of the top-ranked attractions on tripadvisor.com.

Extreme Sandbox can accommodate most group sizes and budgets. Extreme Sandbox specializes in family outings, parties, corporate gatherings, and team building events.

Texomans may have latched on to the concept that the Texas Sandbox in Pottsboro costs too much for them to indulge in such a man-sized pleasure, but that is just a consideration of comparison. Texomans who play golf, boat for fun or to fish, and enjoy many of Lake Texoma’s nightlife entertainment spots will spend about the same amount per person at the Texas Sandbox.

Please take a trip to the Texas Sandbox for your special parties, corporate team building experiences, or for just good ol’ family fun. The Texas Sandbox will blow y'all's minds plum loco.

Check out their website @

https://www.extremesandbox.com/

To schedule your Texas Sandbox event,

Call David Beardsley

@ 855-DIG-FOR-FUN

Visit the Texas Sandbox @

80958 N State Hwy 289,

Pottsboro TX 75076

or @

https://www.extremesandbox.com/locations/

Check out their Facebook page @

https://www.facebook.com/ExtremeSandbox

 




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GOOD. Water normal stain; 57 degrees; 1.35 feet below pool. Striped bass fishing is good using live shad on main lake ledges and flats in 30-40 feet of water. The bite has improved drastically around 10:30-11:00 A.M. each day, so stick it out if you are not seeing active fish early. Backs of coves and around the mouths of the rivers are good with swimbaits in 8-15 feet of water where the water is dirty and warmer. Catfish are slow, anchor in shallow water near the rivers where the inflow is using whole gizzard shad or cut buffalo for big fish. Smaller fish showing up on the flats in 20-30 feet of water. Crappie are fair in the creeks in 1-5 feet of water using jigs and minnows on brush sticking up or lay downs from the bank. Mo glo and black/chartreuse on a slip cork in shallow creeks. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are fair on swimbaits along the bluffs and on sandy points with stumps in 5-8 feet of water. Topwater bite will be on soon! Report by Jacob Orr, Guaranteed Guide Service Lake Texoma. Striped bass continue to be caught with Alabama rigs or sassy shad targeting structure. Somedays fish are in 5 feet and some in 40 feet of water. The water clarity is clear near the dam and muddy where rivers enter the lake. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.

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