Ah, UK Monster Truck Show

If you have been following my posts for any length of time, you already know the Bean has an affection for Monster Trucks. Well, as soon as we found out there was a Monster Truck show in Bury St. Edmunds - we were there. The folks hosting this little get together were Monster Trucks Live.

If you purchased your tickets on line before the show you were allowed access into the 'pit party'. This was a no brainer due to the fact they had, among the various classic cars, the van from the A-Team, the Ghostbuster's wagon, K.I.T.T from the much loved Knight Rider,  and the Duke brother's General Lee (woot!!!). Much to our delight a few other favorites were at the show as well. The 'Back to the Future' DeLorean, complete with a hover board in the front seat. I really loved the bombed out police car featured in the righteous Blues Brothers movies and the Trans Am from none other than the Smokey and the Bandit series. As a fan of the Archer cartoon, this was icing on the cake. I told the Hubs he should have worn his 'tactle-neck'. He responded how I should have worn a 'Don't Hassle the Hoff' tee. I told him I needed one. So here some of the pictures:

Squee! A-Team van!!

There were two dudes dressed up as Ghostbusters. I was disappointed they did not have their proton packs on. Amateurs. 

Bean and me in front of K.I.T.T. He had a voice loop with comments like "Right away Micheal' and 

"I must say Micheal, this adventure does have a certain appeal." Two phrases they should have had: "Micheal, please put your pants on" or "Micheal, you know you can't handle your liquor."

Much to my dismay, there were no mullets at the show. I thought that must be a prerequisite.

These people were neither Jake nor Elwood.

Speaking of rules, when you're at a outdoor festival (here they call them fetes) of any type, you must partake in the food. There were sausage baps, hamburgers (meh), brots, hotdogs, french fries (chips), fish and chips, ice cream, and those delicious funnel cakes. And beer. When it's hot outside and the beer costs less than the soft drinks, you drink beer. (Bean did not have beer - he drank the juice boxes we brought with us. I don't like him to drink tons of sugar or fake sugar. We did let him have 'Lemonade' which is the Brit Sprite.) Plus there is no fear about where to toilet, because England has some of the most posh porta-potties I have ever seen. There were vases of fake flowers super glued to the back of the tank, framed pictures nailed to the walls, curtains on the windows and the sink (which had running water) was also inside the structure. Yep. Quite the departure from the old honey pots back in the states. Next time I am in one, I will have to take some snaps. I haven't before out of fear that others would think I was daft. Oh well- this is for documentary purposes!

After we checked out the cars and ate some lunch we ambled towards the arena so we could nab a decent view of the show. The arena was farm fencing and some hay bales about a half a football field in length. It is hard to explain to an antsy five year old why you are standing still in the hot sun crammed in with tons of other people when there is nothing to see for another 30 minutes or more. After waiting for what seemed like hours, the sponsor and the drivers each took the microphone and proceeded to ramble on for about 15-20 minutes each. You want to know what kids are even less interested in than history? A monster truck driver yammering on about how happy he is to be a monster truck driver. GET IN THE TRUCK ALREADY!

When the show did finally start, and quite frankly after seeing a 'real' monster truck show in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, the Bean was like, "Meh, I'm ready to go". We thought we'd be smart and go back to the pit area and see if we could take a look at the cars while the masses were watching the show, but the pit was deserted. We let Bean jump at one of those gymnastic-harness things(?) which have become popular with outdoor festivals these days.

I have to say, the pit party was much better than the actual Monster Truck show. They only featured four trucks and it took forever for them to get the show on the road- er, off road. There was almost an altercation in the stands, when a couple of parents shoved their three kids in front of me, the Bean and another kid and his Dad. The Dad looked at me and said, "Wow, cause we haven't been standing here in the hot sun." I just smiled and responded, "That's ok, I'm sure it won't be a problem when the Hubs gets back from toilet." The people took the hint and promptly removed their children from in front of us. The Dad gave me a smile and said, "Nice." Then when the Hubs got back he looked at the Hubs and the looked at me and said, "I would have moved, too." Yep, speak clearly and travel with an angry Husband. As with most things in life, this can be summed up by a Patrick Swayze quote. This one from Roadhouse: "I want you to be nice - until its time to not be nice." That's also kind of a Southern thing, too.

Heading out, back to the cow field where we'd parked the car, we came to a startling revelation. The best view of the stunts and the trucks was outside the gated area. I'm telling you, next time, we're packing a picnic lunch and watching from the field. You could actually see the trucks and the noise level was much more manageable. It would also be so much more enjoyable not to be crammed in like a sardine with 9,234 other people who came to the event with you.

I'm not saying we had a bad time - quite the contrary - any experience is a educational one at the very least. There were several times when one of us said, 'keep it classy' and  I got to ponder why women contentiously choose inappropriate footwear for certain occasions. I'm not a hater, but I just cannot see who in their right mind would wear stiletto heels to aerate a cow field in the middle of the English countryside. That may just be me.

I am shocked that I have not posted this adventure until now. I knew I had been busy, but what a travesty to have neglected the Monster Truck experience for so long. Oh well, it makes up for the post drought!

Until next post!

Lisa