Yes, I'm aware that mud jams, monster trucks and the like are not usually sporting events for the disabled. However we went to this event in Hale, Michigan because our nephews and their significant others and friends wanted to go and make a big party of it. It's just not a party without Uncle Wild Bill, and I couldn't see any reason why I couldn't enjoy it to, and I did, BUT, it is not an event I feel comfortable recommending to my fellow Gimps.
This event was held at the Iosco County Fairgrounds and some neighboring property. It was open to anything from monster-sized mud trucks like Dennis Anderson's King Sling to your more run-of-the-mill lifted farm trucks and boggers all the way down to side-by-sides and 4-wheelers. We took our crew cab side-by-side Polaris Ranger, but there were people there with everything under the sun--even their 4WD everyday trucks, cars and SUVs! One of my favorites was a Volkswagen Beetle, lifted, on mud tires, and damned if he didn't even pull a stuck pickup truck out of the mud! (We demanded the driver of the pickup relinquish his man-card immediately!) Another favorite of mine was a lifted lawn tractor with big mud tires. I don't know how they did that, but I think it would be great of Wild Bill built one of those! The only thing we didn't see were any 3-wheelers. They were expressly forbidden. And I have to tell you, that was the ONLY rule I heard about ahead of time.
The weekend was odd for me because of it's lack of rules of any kind. Even if there WERE any rules, there was no one around to enforce them! No one wore helmets, and people drove around in the mud and up and down the roads with as many people they could pile onto their vehicles--such as 5 people on one 4-wheeler, a dozen or more people on one Ford F-150, etc. That was okay early in the day except for the CHILDREN! So many young kiddies under the age of ten that had no safety precautions taken on their behalf whatsoever! I'm usually not big on child advocacy or child safety laws, mostly because I have no kids, never raised them, and in general I'm not interested in them. But seeing all these kids riding on their dad's lap on a 4-wheeler through a mud pit or a big pond, or just zipping down the roads through the camping area. We saw a pickup tip over in one of the mud ponds, and there were unrestrained KIDS in it, for crying out loud!
Except for to logic-challenged parents, it seemed like 98% of the people there were cool. That is, they didn't MEAN to be rude, and if you pointed out to them that they'd run over your tent stakes or blocked you in so you couldn't move your ATV, they'd move for you. But as Saturday passed into the afternoon hours, the campers grew drunker, rowdier, and uglier. We heard people start yelling at each other over stupid things, and there was no one around to keep the peace. If your camping space was next to theirs, you were on your own! When it became obvious it was unsafe to even drive your toys in the mud bogs because the drunks were now taking over, we packed it in and left for home. From what I understand from our friends and family who camped there the whole weekend, Thursday night and Friday things didn't get so ugly. People drank, of course, but it was more of a "cool," laid-back kind of drunk, the kind I actually enjoy now and then!
As a Gimp, I had hoped that although the grandstands had no handicapped seating, there might be a place where I could stand and people might allow me to see the action after a few quiet coughs and "excuse me's" but no such luck. I even had trouble walking down the road--thank goodness by Saturday no one was allowed to drive in the grandstand area because I'm sure I'd have been run over! The road was bumpy and deeply rutted, and mine was the only rolling walker I saw, but I saw two wheelchairs and lots of walking canes. It was extremely HARD to get around the area on foot, and I was shoved and bumped like a pinball. Here again, in most of the world people will be more polite about running over an obvious cripple, but not here. I saw one old granddad who had brought his grandsons to see the big truck show get knocked right over by a group of guys in their mid-20's who didn't even seem like they were wasted, just rude, rough thugs.
So in a nutshell, although I DID enjoy myself to a certain degree, I now have a much healthier respect for rules, regulations and security. I'd LIKE to think that people are cool and you don't need rent-a-cops at every event, but now I've changed my mind. Later I'll comment on the organization of the Michigan Mud Jam.
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