Things to Do in Gilroy

Extreme Paintball’s outdoor park spans fields fortified with pieces of giant corrugated tubing, sloped grounds, and inflatable obstacles. As players maneuver behind stacks of industrial spools, referees keep watchful eyes over the action to ensure players remain safe and demonstrate sportsmanship during each game.

The staff also facilitates a smooth transition to the playing fields by posting an FAQ page that covers topics such as field rules and which color paintballs are edible. Beyond the fields, Extreme Paintball encompasses a pro shop where a knowledgeable staff advises on gear from brands such as Empire Paintball and Tippmann.

Since 1960, the city of Modesto has been the minor league home to six different big league franchises including the New York Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Oakland Athletics. But despite all the bouncing around, the Nuts have consistently won, and have captured five California League championships over the years. Now affiliated with the Colorado Rockies, the team is still looking for its first title under the Nuts moniker, which it officially adopted in 2005 as a nod to the region's farming products and any fans who try to catch foul balls in their mouths.

The instructors at Skydive Hollister conduct their highest jumps at 18,000 feet—the greatest height from which one can dive without supplemental oxygen. Even at this altitude, they have to pump oxygen into the plane’s cockpit before a jump. Once outside, the 120 mile-per-hour free falls last little more than one minute. They help students navigate this rapid descent on tandem dives, during which they strap into the same harness as their student and coach them in proper body position, steering, and parachute release over the sound of roaring wind. At 5,000 feet, instructors deploy the parachute and instruct their partner in parachute control and landing techniques as the blue waters of Monterey Bay and the hills of San Francisco unfold below.

Instructors also train students seeking skydiving licenses through two programs. In the Accelerated Free-Fall program, they teach skydiving principles and technical basics in a four- to six-hour ground school before strapping students into their own parachutes for seven jumps. The Instructor-Assisted Free-Fall program precedes this solo training with two tandem skydives, during which instructors teach their protégés the basics of free-fall turns, altitude awareness, and filling in for the lead goose flying in V-formation.

Blue Water Ventures owner and naturalist Kim Powell and her trained staff of naturalists lead adventurous groups on tours of trails and waterways from the East Bay of California to San Jose's Elkhorn Slough, exploring caves, forests, and wildlife-rich areas on the way. On protected Elkhorn Slough, groups of up to 20 make their way on stable kayaks as their attentive tour guides give rich history of the area and point out wildlife including seals and sea otters. In Florida's Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, groups snorkel and canoe to observe wild west indian manatees and their notorious poker habits.

The company also does specialty tours for school groups that include tide-pooling adventures and trekking through a redwood forest to see some of the country's oldest trees. Tours for women-only groups include private cruises where ladies can spy whales and a variety of seaborne wildlife, including fish, dolphins, and long-lost swim fins.

A golf ace at the club professional level of the PGA, Lance Johnson spruces up golf swings with morsels of advice culled from 17 years of teaching experience. Formerly head golf pro at two golf clubs, Lance possesses enough swing-honing savvy to adjust his teaching approach for each client, helping them conquer unique goals such as eliminating a chronic slice or revising the rules to allow for gunpowder-assisted drivers. Lance operates out of the lush expanse of Escalon Golf Course, where he conducts focused swing analysis at the driving range and imparts more strategic, mid-round advice at the golf course. Pupils without their own set of sticks can use a set of Lance’s during lessons, saving them the hassle of molding irons out of titanium-plated wax.

Flow Yoga Studio's team of passionate instructors leads 13 classes in a variety of athletic and relaxing modalities. The robust schedule of classes takes place in an inviting, earth-toned studio, including athletic Vinyasa classes, in which students work through sequences of continuous poses linked with mindful breathing exercises, and mat Pilates sessions that incorporate floor exercises to tone muscles and bolster cores. Exercisers can sweat through dance-based Zumba classes, which feel more like a Muppet wedding than a workout, the room filled with upbeat Latin tunes that students accompany with simple dance steps, shedding calories, inhibitions, and back-dwelling monkeys in the process.