The girls tried on Crocs. Just in case you can't recognize them ... Courtney red, Megan green, Katelyn pink. 
I liked the colors of the Crocs and decided to use software I forgot I had with a whirlpool setting in the effects manager. 
The whirlpool setting is zero for the original, 250, 500, 750, and 1000. Just having some fun. I made Croc tile from the second picture for my computer background.
Kevin, Kate and I headed to Vermonster. The weather was supposed to be sunny and low 60’s but it turned out to be very warm in the sun. It was a coincidence but we all wore black shirts … hot … next time it is better weather data and a change of clothes just in case.
They started and finished with the "Monster Trucks". Towasaurus Wrex looked good. Jeff had engine work done by M E St. George Engines so his troubles were behind him. M E St. George had a monster truck too. Many of the trucks at Vermonster have had engine work done by them. Sounds like the place to go if you want big horsepower. Scorpion was a new truck we had never seen before.
The XDP truck is the only diesel monster truck around. It had a big Cummins diesel engine which made very little noise and billowed black smoke 
every time the accelerator was pressed. It was an impressive looking truck with the smoke and very different with the lack of the usual LOUD engine noise. During Monster truck freestyle the XDP truck jumped the school bus … the front left crunched on landing and the big tire and rim took off for a couple hundred yards breaking through the 6 foot chain link fence at the end of the field. No one was hurt so a good way to end the day.
There seemed to be more fast cars this year in the "Head to Head" mud racing. There were some nice looking rigs. There are some real fast trucks here this year.
The Hill and Hole is a timed 300 foot straight course with jumps and water hazards. "Bad Apple" had some nice color and "No Mercy" won the "Hill and Hole". 
The trench is always fun. We went on the second day of Vermonster and didn’t see any of the trucks complete the course and leave the trench without help. I’m sure the previous days runs made the ruts and holes deeper. The deep mud hole at the end of the trench made some interesting pictures.
"Rock Crawling" is relatively slow. As you go through the course you often can’t see due to the hood of you machine so there is typically a spotter telling you to go right or left. If you get stuck or break down the excavator will lift to reposition or get off the course. 
"Rock Racing" is a bit different. Speed … maneuvering … going air born … fastest guy wins. I saw individual trucks go through the course in both directions. They also had a run off where 2 crawlers make loops at the same time. They start together going the opposite direction and race to opposite ends of the rocks and go through the rock crawling course as fast as they can passing each other somewhere on the rocks. When they complete their loop they turn around, and go back over the course in the opposite direction. First one to complete loops in both directions wins. 
It was interesting watching them try to pass each other on the rocks in the middle of the course. I saw a little NASCAR bumping. One crawler got stuck on the rocks so another ran up and over the front tire of the first trying to pass. Lot of bouncing around … looked like lots of fun. I’m in.
