Sunset on the South Saskatchewan River
Sunset at City Hall
Saturday & Sunday however are the parts that I will truly never ever forget! My friend & teacher, Kelly from La Crosse Photography is the Official Photographer for the Sheer Insanity Racing Team - which is Kathy (who drives TNT) and her husband Ged (who drives Sheer Insanity). I have never been a big truck fan, and esp. not a big Monster Truck Fan - however, this weekend changed all that - although I will always be EXTREMELY BIAS. The only trucks I will ever drool over is TNT & Sheer Insanity!
Sheer Insanity (left) and TNT (right) - as well as driver of TNT - Kathy Willis at the tail end of TNT
Kathy is the only female Monster Truck Driver In Canada - her and Ged are also the only husband and wife team and Sheer Insanity is the 2010 Champion. Kathy & TNT are official Breast Cancer Awareness Sponsors and TNT is pink camo and drives to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness, raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness and also drives in honor of all those Breast Cancer Survivors, Fighters & their families.
TNT's Flag
I have talked with Kathy in the past when I first heard about her from Kelly. As some of you know my mum is currently an 8 year THRIVER after having stage 4 breast cancer, which entailed a mastectomy, 6 mo chemo. and 6 mo radiation. At one point we almost lost her to a virus she caught in month 5 of chemo. So what Kathy does is touches me very deeply! This weekend I was very excited hearing they would be at the festival all weekend long!!! When Kelly found out I was going to be down there and she couldn't be for the entire weekend, she asked me to help her take photos of the trucks and team for her! I was over the moon with excitement, joy & a few nerves for sure! For me it was a very big honor to be asked by Kelly to do so and also a very big honor to get to finally meet Kathy in person at long last and to thank her in person for all the amazing work that her & TNT do!
Kathy and I posing with TNT (photo taken by Kelly with my camera and edited by me)
On Saturday, the trucks arrived and I sat waiting nervously for them to arrive. I had just texted Kelly asking if I had the right spot. Two cars lay in the middle of the blocked off road - which I thought had been to remind people not to park there. It was then I heard the Rumble and Grumble that sent shivers of excitement down my spine. With haste and not much coordination I flew up from my seated position on the bench and tried to juggle my camera bag, coffee and camera to get photos! I turned and there was Sheer Insanity flying down the road with grace I'd never think a big truck like that could muster! It was when Ged turned Sheer Insanity around I realized with a giggle why the cars were REALLY there lol Ged parked Sheer Insanity neatly on top of the newly crushed car.
Sheer Insanity coming down the road
I sat back down when the excitement had ended to tell Kelly that they had arrived - and I had no sooner hit send then I heard another set of Rumbles & Grumbles from the top of the street! Once more with uncoordinated grace - I tried to coordinate my bag, camera & coffee to get shots as I got to feast my eyes on the magnificent TNT coming down the road! Ged parked her just as gracefully on top of the second car that awaited to be crushed.
TNT sitting pretty on the newly crushed car
After the trucks were parked I kept watch for miss Kathy, but couldn't see her and as there were 3 men who came along with the trucks I had no idea which one was Ged, especially as I'd missed him slipping out of the trucks. So I texted Kelly and awaited Kathys arrival with nerves and excitement. While I waited, I took as many shots from a very cautious distance of the trucks. Kathy had broken her finger Thursday night and would need my help getting things all set up. As the green blazer pulled up I'm sure the look on my face was something to see, it was somewhere close to a kid on Christmas morning I'm sure!
We sat and chatted away while we awaited Kellys arrival and at last our happy band was complete! We had an amazing afternoon & evening sitting watching all the fantastic people coming out to check out the trucks! The kids were amazing and we questioned all of them asking which truck was better - Ged's Sheer Insanity or Kathys TNT ... in the end it was a tie! It was great seeing the reactions from the adults as well when they found out Kathy was the driver of TNT as well! There was a lot of excitement and drooling action from adults and kids alike which was fantastic to watch! There were even a few four legged visitors who were so humorous seeing the trucks, you could see they had the urge to go up and pee on the tires, but they are so big it scared them into NOT peeing on the tires. As we chatted away, we even had a surprise celebrity drop in to visit the trucks! Gene Simmons!! (please note this is just an impersonator but man did it make our day)
Kathy & Gene
Kelly & Gene
After going home and pretty much passing out at the keyboard trying to get a few sneak peeks up, and applying copious amounts of aloe vera for the sunburn I got on my face, arms and chest; Day 3 was off to a later but great start! Fueled by a big brunch I meandered down to the festival again. My first stop was at Colleens Henna booth where I got this amazing Henna in honor of my mum before heading down to see Kathy, Ged & the trucks.
First Applied
The morning after
I headed down to see the trucks, Kathy & Ged afterwards and we sat and chatted and compared sunburns as we waited again for Kelly to arrive. After spending time with Kathy checking out the trucks, I was no longer as intimidated about getting a little bit closer to the trucks to get shots. Respectful, ALWAYS of these magnificent beasts - but also in awe and not as afraid of them as I had been initially. In fact, at one point I even laid down in front of TNT to get a photo - and scared poor Kathy (she thought I had passed out lol sorry Kathy!) After Kelly arrived we got a few more truck shots and headed over to check out what else was fun and exciting going on at the festival! We got quite a few great shots! Our first stop was to see Colleen, but her tent was rockin!!!
But there were some other pretty cool things going on as well - like the bubble balls, the actors walking around in costume, the Light Horse Infantry Display, kids playing guitar atop the park gates and even a giant game of chess!
There were TONS of four legged companions wandering around as well and I was glad to see so many responsible owners taking care with water bottles and keeping their furbabies shaded!
We had some fun in the sun as we returned to the trucks and enjoyed our last few hours of the festival together! When the time came to load up the trucks as they revved up it drew another crowd and I was sad to see them go up on the truck! I cannot wait to see them in their smashing & crushing setting one day!
It was an amazing and phenomenal weekend spent with some pretty spectacular and fantastic people! It is one I will never forget and I cannot thank Ged, Kathy, Kelly & the trucks for a kickoff to summer that I will never ever forget!
Be sure to check out all the amazing photographs from both my time spent with TNT & The Sheer Insanity Racing Crew and as Spectrum on my website and my facebook fan page as well!
2 comments:
lol what an awesome blog post! geesh i took forever to get there this weekend didn't I? thanks for waiting for me and covering for me while i took care of my other shoots and responsibilities! It was a fantastic weekend with great friends, and amazing trucks!
lol np hon was def. an honor and a privilege to work with you & the team as well! I cannot thank any of you enough for such an amazingly spectacular kick off to summer! I will never forget it and I can honestly say next time i see monster trucks on tv or around in my travels ill be excited and checking them out instead of turning away with disinterest lol But TNT & Sheer Insanity will always be nearest and dearest and my hands down fav's ;)
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