Monster Jam Date Night

So, Empire provided the equipment used for Monster Jam. As a perk, the company received several tickets that they handed out to the employees. I was going to let Kevin take Troy, but since our anniversary was a little messed up, we decided to make it a date for us.

I was a little nervous...the commercials you see for this kind of thing show a lot of tattooed, pierced, screaming people holding beers, so I was a little worried I would stick out a little. I was pleasantly surprised that sprinkled in with the folks I just described were lots of families. I felt a little overdressed until one of the co-workers showed up with his girlfriend and she was wearing a cocktail dress...after that I was completely comfortable. :)

Since University of Phoenix Stadium is so stinkin' far we decided to make it a day trip and our first stop was Cabello's. We have wanted to go there since it opened. It was an interesting experience. I guess for all the hype I thought it would be bigger, have a better selection and be super-special in some way, but it was just another sporting goods store. The one thing it did have that other stores don't was a museum of stuffed animals...some native to Arizona, others not, but all pretty neat.

I love this polar bear's face...I'm seriously thinking of making this my profile picture for facebook. :)
The Arizona displays were so neat...I love this one of the mountain lion chasing it's prey.

And this one of a mountain lion grabbing it's prey...the stuffer guys (can't remember what they are called...early morning seminary is frying my brain) really did an awesome job in posing these animals as life-like as possible.

In the display of African animals there was a rhino and an elephant, but the lion is king after all and needed his picture displayed. As life-like as these are, I was really glad that this scene wasn't bloody in any way.

After wandering around Cabello's and finding a great deal on bullets for Troy's birthday we decided to check out Westgate...the shopping and restaurant area next to Jobing.com arena. We decided to eat at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. While we were waiting for a table, we sat outside and watched the fountain in the center square. It is set to music and watching the water dance was so much fun. I could have watched it for hours, but our beeper finally went off and we got to go and eat.

It's like a giant marina inside and all the servers wear Hawaiian shirts. There are TV's all over the place and they show several videos of Jimmy Buffet's songs and a few other artists. The food was good (a little overpriced) and the experience was awesome.

Kevin at our table next to the stage...I was curious about what kinds of bands come in and play but I forgot to ask.

The airplane hanging from the ceiling.

This guy on stilts went all over the restaurant making balloon animals and hats. He was very talented and fun to watch.

After dinner we headed over to the stadium. It's a lot bigger than it looks...we were surprised at the sheer size of the thing. (I still think it's ugly, but it's impressive anyway)

When we got inside they were running little car races and also racing quads. Finally they started to prepare the course for the monster trucks. Since we got the tickets for free from Empire, I figured I should take a picture and do a little free advertising. :)

Here is Grave Digger and Maximum Destruction after their first heat.

Escalade getting ready for it's run.

Superman...I loved the cape. :)

Blue Thunder...one of my favorites. The Patriot...my other favorite.

The race was fun, but Freestyle was the best. Each truck got 2 minutes to jump, climb, pop wheelies and do donuts. Several crashed...Escalade came down off a jump, turned too sharp, rolled completely over and then just kept going. I was quite impressed.

This truck in Bulldozer...when he came down off of one of his jumps, the front axle broke and he had to be towed off the course.

Superman at the end of his Freestyle time. He actually parked the truck on top of the cars, got out and did the Superman pose. I missed the pose but did catch him climbing out. Maximum Destruction rolled a couple of times during his turn. He was the first that had to be turned with the Caterpillar.

They basically hook a huge chain to the monster truck and then back up and slowly bring it over until it is upright. The drivers were never hurt, but some trucks will need some TLC. :)

Maximum Destruction back where it needs to be, but out of the competition.

And finally Grave Digger....Kevin's favorite. He won the Freestyle competition and then while showing off a little rolled his truck. It was pretty funny.

We had such a good time together. I can't wait until next year and I think we'll try to take the kids...they will love it! :)