You might be a redneck...

I used to chuckle because when I was growing up the directions to my house really did include "turn off the paved road."

Well, now I have ventured into another area that might be considered "red-neck"...or possibly considered "ways to torture your three year old who is terrified of loud noises."

Some parents take their children to kid's musicals or concerts or to the ice capades or something like that. We went to a Monster Truck Rally.
The pit party before hand was great. The boys (we left Jo with Nana and Pop) did really well waiting in line especially because it was raining (we were fortunately under a roof) and they had just woken up from a nap. Then they opened the doors and we went in and got to see the Monster Trucks before the event began. I have to admit I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but we walked in and there it was...Grave Digger (or at least one of the Grave Digger trucks because there are several) and I really was like "OMG! There's Pablo Huffacker!" He isn't the number one guy to drive that truck but he is up there. In addition there were four other trucks and there were a bunch of FMX Motorcycle riders all sitting around to give autographs. So we bought the cheapest souvenirs we could get away with, got every one's signatures on the back of the boys' shirts, and took pictures (to be posted another day). Then we bought over-priced dinners for the boys (Jim and I ate ahead of time while they were napping) and found our spots in the stands (the first row you could sit in since we bought our tickets far enough in advance and all tickets were the same price).
We did have ear-plugs and Doug was ok when they first moved the trucks to get ready for the start of the show. Then...well, then they started and Doug had a melt-down every time they would rev their engines. So Jim held him with ear plugs and hands over the ears and tears running down checks while they did wheelies. Doug and I left and walked the hallway circle around the outside of the arena during the racing. We went back in during the intermission and Doug was ok with the Motorcross guys whose motorcycles are not as loud as the big monster trucks. (I also thought these guys were in many ways more impressive because they were doing tricks off a huge jump and when you think about the fact that they are so high up in the air and don't have a roll cage around them, just their helmets....).
So for the second half Doug and I moved up to the very back row in the arena. It was still loud and Doug had ear plugs and his head pressed into my chest with my hand over the other ear, and he would startle every time they revved their engine...but now he actually watched and didn't cry. So we saw the doughnut contest and the freestyle (which the Grave Digger truck that had broken something during the intro was fixed for the second half) and by 30 minutes after the show Doug decided that he had had a "great time."