Year 5, February 9th, 2020: Monster Jam 2020

No, this isn't a remake of Winter Jam, this is MONSTER (truck) Jam. We felt Abishai was old enough to actually remember going to an event like this, and since it was near his birthday, Jared and I took him. Of course we went to church first, and then lunch at Grandma's house. After helping Keturah clean up the mess she made from dying her hair this morning, we left for Monster Jam about 2pm. It was snowing big flakes and snishing on our way downtown to Lucas Oil Stadium. There was a bunch of traffic, and everybody seemed to be going to the stadium. I don't know what it's like on football game days, but I've never seen these particular roads backed up like this before. That was frustrating and it made us late. We missed the first presentation of all the trucks. We ended up parking a few blocks over in the mall parking garage. Safe and dry. But then we face the bitter win and snish all the way to the stadium and rain on the way back. Abishai had to walk to the whole way with us, too. It wasn't fun and we were drenched. But we found our gate and did just fine. I had checked what I could bring, and they (at least for game days) wanted clear bag and suggested the size of a 1 gallon ziplock bag, so that's what I brought. It was weird not having my full purse, and carrying around a ziplock bag, but it made the gate keeper chuckle when he saw it because it made his job super easy in the rain. The ticket scanner was also kind. We made it inside and then had to walk for 5-10 minutes up these long twisty ramps to get to the inside of the stadium. THAT'S why the stadium didn't feel as big as the outside of it suggests! There's also this concourse and ramp areas! Duh!

Anyway, we ended up getting about 6,000 extra steps in today, so that was my exercise. Little man was exhausted from that part as well. We easily found our seats, which were in the middle of a row, so the people had to get up for us.  Whoops. But the view was perfect. We had borrowed a pair of noise muffling headphones from church but the noise wasn't constant so Abishai only wore them for part of the time. And he didn't mind wearing them either. We got there when they were "racing" two trucks at a time. Kind of lame. They did a couple of jumps and one barely beat the other. Then the had a skill contest and THAT was cool with their nose hops and back tired hops or "bicycle" driving (being on the two tires of the same side). There was one female driver and she did extremely well! She was my favorite! Her truck had a Mexican theme with a bull and named something "Loco." They had the audience get on a website to quickly enter scores for each performer. That was kind of fun for me and kept me interested! After that was freestyle, where most of the action is. They had a lot of jumps with big air times, a few wheelies and several attempted to do a flip. Only 1 or 2 out of 4 or 5 actually landed it.  In fact, there were 5 cars that needed help out of the arena today, including Grave Digger, the most well known monster truck on the circuit. After all the scoring was complete, The Black Pearl came out on top for the afternoon.

It was fun seeing the inside of the Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time. I got to see the announcer's booth from the back and the front. I loved seeing the bits that don't make it onto YouTube videos like clean ups and ramp building. I was disappointed that there were no pylons with fireworks, no fire shooting out of vehicles (on purpose) and most of the tricks were just driving up ramps and getting air time. I expected a lot more. Abisahi even asked why they didn't show any cars being crushed. I'm not sure we would go again or not. Abishai stayed engaged most of the time, although he ended up watching the jumbo tron inside of the live show, lol. He did sit down and stand up, sit in laps, and be squirly. But he was not obnoxious. He asked for popcorn, and Daddy did get him some ($5 for a little bag). Oh, per usual, no outside food or drinks, but still cameras with a short lens is allowed. Weird. Abishai did take off down the inside ramps a couple of times on our way out. Daddy had to catch up to him and catch him by his coat. He wasn't happy about that. Otherwise he did great.

Afterwards, we waited for a few minutes and watched the Grave Digger be put back on its' feet. Then we actually walked past our parking garage and ate dinner at Steak and Shake. Abishai wasn't very talkative while we were eating, but he did have some comments and questions when we walked in the rain. You could tell he was very tired though. He was only upset when we were told we couldn't bring the kid Steak and Shake cups home. But he asked things like "why can't we go in this (gated) door (under the train bridge)." and "why did we park in a garage?"  He will also remember that Daddy accidentally threw away the garage ticket and we had to pay a lost garage ticket fee of $25, when our actual cost could have been $7. But the ticket lady was kind, got our license plate number (I'm sure to verify time in the garage) and sent us on our way quickly. We were definitely met with Hoosier Hospitality today.  The lady server in Steak and Shake was very sweet as well. There were several of the older ladies in there today, and they work hard, that's for sure. Abishai had a quick nap on the way to Monster Jam but was just tired and quiet on the way home. The drive home was very rainy, but fine.

Meanwhile, Benaiah took our car and his siblings to church for 4pm rehearsal for him and for the middles to serve in our usual place at nursery. We typically make our normal serving hours a priority and plan things around them, but Monster Jam was either last night at 7pm or 3pm this afternoon (and $5 off per ticket). So, we told Miss Joanna we wouldn't be there, but made sure our kids substituted where there was a need. They ended up in the preschool room, but that's ok. And then they all went to youth group and Benaiah drove them all home after that. That's both freeing and kind of scary that they can do that now. I can leave them home together, and they can remember to lock doors and get to their commitments on time. Today we got a little taste of what it's going to be like when they are all graduated from high school and we only have one at home. It was fine, but also weird. Jared said he doesn't think about these things much. Benaiah graduates high school in a little over 3 months. How?! How do they grow up so fast! But they are all still kids, too. It's a difficult balance to maintain as they grow older.

Monster Jam Feb 9, 2020 Playlist Indianapolis, IN, Lucas Oil Stadium

Onward to Abishai's birthday week!

Hm,...not sure I can journal all of these, but I wanted to share what great shots I got just with my iPhone! I didn't risk taking my big camera because I knew we would be walking a ways and the weather was yucky. I did run out of room on my phone though so I had to quickly find stuff to delete! Eek! Here goes!

Well, I'll be. There's the monstrosity in all it's glory. So much money spent on an arena where the roof can open. Sigh. Not sure it's worth it yet.

All in the name of a football game.

It might be an optical illusion but it doesn't look much bigger than Banker's Life Fieldhouse. Great seats though!

We got in a little late because of traffic, but they were racing two trucks at a time, two times around the arena.

We borrowed some muffs for little ears. He was a great sport in wearing them. It was only loud for a minute or two at a time when a truck or two were driving.

A lot of these photos will be jump shots. That's the main trick they did.

These two cars make me laugh. I love the fins and the hairdo. They add so much character and remind me of movies like Cars where the cars have personalities.

Yeah, I guess it's big.

Abishai did like it a lot! He got antsy towards the end, but that's ok. He managed to not complain and not dance around too much. He did ask for popcorn and Daddy obliged. We came in with very little, so no water bottles and such and I put all my stuff in a clear plastic gallon sized ziplock bag like the website suggested. It was raining and the gate keepers weren't being terribly picky. The ticket scanner lady was nice,too.

Aw, selfie time!

The "pop" truck, aka the Monster Energy Drink truck.

There she be in all her glory, the famous roof that opens. Wowzers!

I love all the natural light even without he roof open and on a dreary day.

After racing, the crew demolished a couple of little barriers to get ready for the tricks round. They worked pretty fast and knew exactly what they were doing. Cool!

Nice photo! They got some big air, that's for sure!

A lot of their tricks were getting the truck to stand up on two wheels, either front or back or two wheels on the side aka "the bicycle." Only one truck attempted that one.

This truck is driven by a WOMAN and she did some impressive stunts!

They were good about using the whole stadium and almost redoing tricks on both sides as time allowed.

The air on this one!

Trick shot on the nose!

Whoops, he got a little stuck.

You can start counting how many trucks got stuck. That's pretty much the worst of the accidents, just a little bit stuck, nothing too big or fancy or life threatening.

Beautiful!

Scary staring down at dirt, isn't it?

Then he revved the engine and "danced" across the floor like this!

First one to give us a spin.

The bicycle!

Sitting on the back end.

Scores for tricks.

I love the look of this truck!

Whoops! A piece of fiberglass came off! Actually, Jared said that they are purposefully made of flimsy material as an effect for the audience to go "woah" when a piece falls off. They had an area "behind stage" where they could fix new pieces on.

Daddy got us some popcorn. $5 of the little bag. Sigh.

At intermission, they had some kids racing electric monster trucks to see who won. The show was about 2 hrs long.

There they go!

Is that the broadcast room? Like what you see on national television? Cool!

More air.

First one to attempt the flip! Does he make it? I included all the still shots so you can see the progression.

Having fun!

Great photo!

Oh man, there he goes!

And he doesn't stick the landing. He needed some help.

Oh no, engine trouble! Are you still counting how many trucks have been rescued? I think we are up to 3 or 4.

Nice one of the infamous Grave Digger, a multi generational truck run by the Anderson family.

Oh no!

Oh no!

Phlat. He's done. Didn't even make it one lap. Disappinting.

Another crash.

That's my girl! Loco moco!

No!!!!!!!

Good run, sweetheart!

First one to try this ramp and flip!

And he's done. He's got a little engine fire, the one and only one we saw.

Black Pearl is still on top.

Black Pearl won today's triple header elements.

Time to fix the problem when the show is all over.

So sad.

Check out that tire!

Most of the trucks that performed.

I finally got to see the inside of the stadium! Yeah! I don't like all the  ramps, but the elderly will love it.

Gotta have a racecar!

Cool! Nice balcony on this side of the main concourse.

Broadcast studio! Wow!

The stadium is beautiful, no doubt.

Mommy, what does the sign say? No trespassing. So no bad guys are hiding behind there. I think the boy has watched too many car police chases through city scapes.

Bundled up and ready to walk in the freezing rain/snow.

Such a cool old building.

Time to warm up with dinner at Steak and Shake downtown. Well run restaurant for sure. Little man was tired though from all that walking. He sat pretty quietly putting his car together.

Yup, that's what you get when you park at the mall parking and walk many, many blocks to the stadium and go up a zillion ramps to get to your concourse.

Virtual tickets with expensive fees, but ok. And really, I don't think we absolutely had to go to the east gate, but on game days, I'm sure it helps with crowds.

I think after a long day of walking and all that excitement, little man deserves to sit where he wants too. He did walk the whole day. Daddy can't carry him anymore. And Abishai didn't complain about walking either. It was definitely a breathe of fresh air doing something with just one in tow.  It was a lot of fun! And soaked clothing. Lol.

The End