Three of my greatest passions in life are photography, music, and reading, as you no doubt have discerned by now if you’ve read any of my previous blogs.  These are three of the more important things I use to make my travels more tolerable, enjoyable, and, well, downright fun.  Though the first quarter of the year was set to kick off for us Friday night in Colorado Springs, CO, we still had a good day and a half of driving to get there.  Not only was this the first show of the year, but it would be the debut of the brand-new 2006 Rammunition, and the first look for most fans at the 2006 Raminator truck.

Leaving Champaign, early in the morning.

Tim and I switched off driving one of the team vehicles on the way out and back, which gave me the time to indulge in some deep thinking, reading, music, and photography.  When I drive, a part of my subconscious mind seems to handle the boring aspects of driving, while the more sentient part of my brain chews on deep thoughts, on topics that vary.  Who is the best rock drummer of the ‘70’s?  How to curb the rampant disregard for rules in the MT business?  What do I need to do to move into the house I’ve been looking at?  When the thinking gets too deep, I’ve always got my music to help pass the time.  Actually, on a boring drive, music doesn’t just pass the time.  It fills the time.  Though Tim and I’s music tastes differ drastically in some areas ( I like hip-hop and metal, he likes country and jazz), we both were able to agree on some classic rock.  Thus, my “Spirit of Radio: Rush’s Greatest Hits” CD agreeably found its way into the CD player.

How do I read and take photos when driving?  I haven’t figured that one out yet, though while riding I am more than capable.  I’ve found that some really great photo-ops often get driven past, under, around, or over (much to my dismay), so I have taken it upon myself in the past few years to shoot the best photos I can while riding shotgun.  Everything from cityscapes and rivers to funny billboards and people in general have fallen prey to my lenses.  This trip would be no different, and I’m pretty happy with some of my non-racing shots.  When photography was purely out of the question, or there wasn’t anything good to take a picture of (there’s always something to shoot a photo of, just not always something good) I immersed myself in my current literary fascination: “Traveling Music” by Rush drummer and songwriter Neil Peart.  I love the title of this book, and I borrowed it out of respect for this week’s article as it has provided me with some great stimuli in regards to the topics of my blogs.

Our convoy rolled through Central Illinois and the entire state of Missouri without incident, and without much to point my Fuji at either.  I-70 would be the main route of transit for this trip, and it makes a sentimental slice through my birthplace and original hometown of Kansas City, MO.  It is always neat to drive past Arrowhead Stadium, Kemper Arena, and Bartle Hall, and think of the Monster Truck shows I used to go to back in the late 80’s and early 90’s.  Then, when it re-dawns on me that I’m passing these mental landmarks in a Monster Truck hauler, I re-realize how far I’ve come since those days as a young, impressionable fan.
 

Passing through St. Louis.

Twilight fades in central Kansas.

Salina, KS would be our stopping point for the night, and it was there that the versatility of my new laptop truly was realized for the first time.  After supper, I fired it up while lying in bed in the Rammunition hauler.  Much to my happiness, the computers at the Bosselman Truck Stop were on an unsecured wireless network, so I had high-speed internet at my fingertips, free of charge.  I spent the rest of my evening checking email, dropping in on a monster truck chat room, and talking to Amanda and Ross (yes, the Monster Blogger himself!).  I also downloaded what few photos I had taken that day, mostly just silly stuff of the crew on the road.  Later in the weekend, I would use the laptop to send near-live updates and photos nightly to Ross.  For action shots of the Springs, check out the complete photo gallery in the Coverages section.

Thursday morning came early, as we left the crowded Bosselman a little after 6a.m.  Some neat photo ops arose between Salina and our eventual destination of Colorado Springs, ranging from the Rammunition hauler cresting a large bluff to a simple cloud formation on the horizon.  I really like the sequential shots of the hauler passing me as I stood on a guardrail in western Kansas.  Don’t ask how I caught up to the rigs (they made me walk!).  Actually, Tim and I were in a “four wheeler”, so catching up was quite easy.
 

Shouldn’t they all be???

You don’t see this every morning in Western Kansas.

“Okay Travis, you’ve got enough for the honey bun or the mystery meat, what’s it gonna be?”

Colorado owns one of the world’s coolest mile marker signs. This would look nice in my garage…

The high plains stretch out in front of us as the Rockies await us on the horizon.

This is a really demented food company. Between the frightening facial images created with food, the freaky Pillsbury-Dough-Boy-Meets-Care-Bear guy, and a name like “Bimbo”, I don’t think I’m going to eat any thing they make. Even if it is el carino de siempre.

We stopped for lunch in the small Colorado town of Limon.  I vaguely remember passing through Limon a few times as a pre-teen when I lived in Denver.  The Flying J truckstop would serve as our final refueling point before the Springs, and the small diner inside catered to our lunch needs.  The haulers were a popular attraction at the surprisingly busy stop, garnering plenty of questions and hero card requests, which Mark and Dale were happy to oblige, as always.  By the time we had left the place, nearly everyone on the premises it seemed had some Raminator and Rammunition pictures, but a new addition to our day’s agenda held us over in Limon for a bit longer.  The waitress at the restaurant was the wife of an employee at the local Dodge dealer, whom Raminator had visited once before.  At the request of the dealer, our convoy made a brief stop at their store to visit with them, and by the time we left they had arranged a visit by some of our trucks later this year in August.

We were then back on the road, now on US-24 after departing I-70.  US-24 would carry us the rest of the way, around 70 miles or so, to the Springs (as Coloradans call it) and the beckoning World Arena.  The Monster Nationals had visited the World Arena for the first time back in January of 2005, so we were looking forward to seeing the friendly crowds once again.  It seems like the first weekend of the year is always a really long one, regardless of how many shows you have to do.  It takes a bit of time to “knock the rust off”, so to speak, and get back in the groove.  Even for our team, which remained quite active during the so-called “off months”, there were still a few cob webs needing cleaned out.  Our guys hadn’t driven since the RCA Dome show the previous November, with the last non-dirt show being in Las Vegas the previous August.
 

The name says it all.

The World Arena.

We almost always tow our trucks into the arenas during the winter, as it is usually too cold to start them.

The first drivers’ meeting of the year is always kind of neat; its like the first day of school or something along those lines.  You know most all of the faces in the room, and you know what you are supposed to be doing that particular night, but there are always a few new faces and its probably good to be reminded of how things are supposed (emphasis on supposed) to happen.  I took the shot you see below of the meeting, capturing most of the attendees in one shot.  Upon further examination, I noticed that everyone was focused on the meeting…except for my buddy Travis, who looked intently focused on his chicken wing.  Chicken wings, as you know, are very complex things and require intense concentration while eating….ok, so I’m just bustin’ Travis’ chops a little.  He was actually paying attention, and later reported that the chicken was somewhat less than desirable.
 

The drivers’ meeting at the World Arena.

Gotta love the pit party.

Thar she is!  The new graphics looking sharp in the limelight.

My mom, dad, brother, and sister made the trip south to the Springs from Cheyenne, WY (my most recent home, prior to Rantoul, IL) to attend all three shows at the World Arena.  They were a far cry from disappointed, as they got to finally see what their (misguided?) son does for a living, and meet the people he essentially lives with.  Travis has become pretty good friends with my family since his first visit to Cheyenne with me in August of 2004, so it was almost as much of a treat for him as it was for me to have them with us for the weekend.  My schedule and hectic life being what it is, my family Christmas was held in the Rammunition haulers, as we all exchanged gifts.  I’m really thankful to Tim and Mark for their hospitality while my family was around, to George Eisenhart for hooking them up with weekend passes, and of course to my family for coming down and seeing us.  We won all three races with them there, so I’d say they are probably a good luck charm.
 

Yes, that’s George looking goofy, while passing out Frisbees.

Hurry up Jessie, you’re holding up the show!!

After the Friday night final, I started tearing into what we suspected was a broken outer axle on the right rear of Raminator.

With Rammunition being in pretty good shape, Travis assisted me, though the broken u-joint we found along with the broken axle would delay repairs some.

Sway bar adjustments on Rammunition were in need after the Saturday afternoon finals.

Jeez, now Scott’s holding up the show.  Where’d George find these guys?

Mark doing one of his viscous donuts.  No Krispy Kreme or other donut jokes required.  His are just plain bad.

Our pit box is always a little unorganized at the end of the weekend, but I don’t know what we would do without it.  It has won races for us more times than I can count.

Mark being interviewed by George after his third win of the weekend.  That’s a happy dude right there.

I would have to concede that we left Colorado Springs a lot happier this year than we did last year.  No racing wins and maybe one freestyle win to our credit left us frustrated and determined in 2005.  This time, a complete sweep of the three rounds of eliminations plus some wheelie and donut contest wins and great freestyle showings found us in much better spirits, and looking ahead two weeks to Cleveland.  A group of very tired individuals left the Springs Sunday morning, exhausted from early morning TV appearances, long days at the arena, three explosive shows, and short nights of rest in between it all.  The weary crew arrived in IL Monday afternoon, looking forward to a restful evening.  I ran a few quick errands before heading home, stopping along the way to pick up Rush’s 3-CD live album “Rush In Rio”.  As I hauled all of my gear into the house and got cleaned up, it was time to kick back on the couch and enjoy my new CD’s, and my book.  Yep, it was time for some traveling music.

- KD

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