Austin's Fascination

On the way to the wedding in the Outer Banks we were plugging along and eager to finally get there, when Austin spotted something that practically sent him into convulsions. We always pass this particular place and even stopped one time before, but Austin was too young to remember. Mark and I had agreed that we would make a stop there on the way home because Austin had been sleeping and we didn't want to wake him up. However, about 10 minutes before, he woke up and as we started to pass he caught a glimpse and said with a guttural growl, "monster truuuuuuucks." Mark and I cracked up laughing and knew that we would have to turn around and let the boy enjoy his own little wonderland.
So, what is this place. It is the "home" of the Grave Digger monster truck.


Austin could hardly wait for us to unbuckle him from his car seat. He darted out to see the trucks and in particular the huge wheels.
As you can see, the wheel well is big enough for him to comfortably sit inside.

Which of course, he thought was awesome. Don't be fooled by this calm looking face. The kid was taking it all in and stared in wonder at each detail of the trucks.

I don't know enough about trucks to tell you what part he is examining under this monster, but he was fascinated by all the cool, easily observable parts.

The view from the top of the truck wheels was great, but being up there was a little scary.

But, jumping down was a lot of fun. In fact I am pretty sure he wanted to do it "again."

So, he and Daddy decided to get up there together. Actually they were hoping to get into the truck bed, but it turned out that was a little more diffucult than it looked.

The one thing that was a little confusing and frustrating to Austin was why he couldn't push the monster truck like he pushes his trucks around at home. He tried quite a few times and we even encouraged him along with some other passersby, but it wouldn't budge.

For those of you who have never seen one of these beasts up close, Austin is 3 feet tall so that should give you an idea of just how large those tires really are.

Finally, I leave you with the monster truck world's version of a "hybrid."

Are they kidding??? This was not on display, but I was able to capture it with my zoom lens.