I have a theory that I need to try everything at least once to see if I like it or not (good things mind you). So when my friend Lorena invited me to go to a Monster Truck Rally, I thought, sure. Never been, would like to see what all the fuss is about.
I was not disappointed. I had to go straight from work so I didn't have a lot of time to prep accordingly but there were enough mesh hats and belt buckles there to go around. It was loud and crazy as I expected. But I was surprised when the drivers got out of their trucks to wave to the crowds. These guys are not guys, they are grown men (and one woman! Madusa!) I was talking to a co-worker about it the next week and I asked him if that was really every guy's dream. He said he would love to be doing it and he was going to start practicing on his way home. :)
The ironic thing was that the star of the event was Gravedigger. It's a truck from North Carolina and we actually drove by it's home on our road trip a few weeks before. I remember this because I was driving and I couldn't figure out why there would be an old bus buried in a hill of dirt in the middle of a random field. Then we saw the Gravedigger and it all made sense.
But I think the highlight of the night came during one of the inbetween acts. They had a 4-wheeler race, there were probably 15 or so out on the track. And apparently there was a DC team out there...which just seems like an oxy-moron. DC and 4-wheelers aren't really two things I would put together. But the crowd totally got into cheering for "their team". And they actually won the first round due to the winner bumping another guy out of the running. When they were talking to him after a few things struck me, the first one was how old he was!! I was expecting a teenager. Nope, definitely not a teenager as you can see from the photo. The second thing was that the guy he bumped off came over and they started fighting!!! It was quite exciting for a minute. This is a picture after the announcer and some other guy pulled them off eachother. Who knew 4-wheeler racing was so intense!!
I can't say that I'll be jumping to go to another one any time soon, but I had a great time!