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Sunday, September 30, 2007 |
| More Show and Awards |
 Kevin, Boss Hog, and Mikey headed out together this morning, and as you already know, Mikey ain't the best Interstate driver out there, so it'll probably come as no surprise to you as you hear that not far from Springfield, Mikey got lost...for the first time! He did it again shortly thereafter! He's gonna have a tough time making his Old Guys Probation!
Meanwhile, the rest of us went to the show. We zipped right into our parking spaces, right across from the Old Capital Building.
We walked through downtown again, checking out the cars, and waited to hear from Mikey (he never called).
We had lunch at the local sub shop (cheap and good), and walked a little more. The weather, by the way, was perfect again today...there's nothing like driving with the top down in sunny, mid-50's weather!
We talked to a guy with a 1951 Buick Riviera (yes, they made them...starting in 1950). He was leaving this show, and heading for the Cruisin' The Coast show in Biloxi.
You know the Old Guys; all we saw was Road Trip! We would have to wait until we got back to the hotel to check it out on the Internet...the logistics might be a problem, but we were already thinking of excuses to give to our spouses for coming home a few days late!
The awards were presented at 2:00 PM. Sonny got the Best Mercury award, and I was confident we would get one at least of the three Long Distance awards. Well, two cars came from California, and one from Washington (probably all trailered), which is a couple thousand miles, so we got nada!
And speaking of trailering, Sonny saw a great T-shirt today..."I Drove My Car To A Trailer Show!"
Back at the hotel, you know what the Old Guys did first! But the logisitics of attending the show in Biloxi (actually covers the entire Gulf Coast) were next to impossible. The good news is that we won't have to create any spouse excuses!
The bottom line is that the Route 66 Festival, including the Cruise, the Parade, and the Show itself, was one of the best shows the Old Guys have ever attended!
So we're outa here first thing in the AM, and since we've got a 500-mile run to Tupelo, we're going to leave here by 6:00.
If there's Internet access in Tupelo (not likely), we'll have an update tomorrow. And before you ask, there's no pics because I left my camera in the room today!
UPDATE: Packard Bill took some pics today, and they're posted. |
| The Saturday Show |
 The show gates open at 9:00 AM, and we felt compelled to be there on time. Even though we weren't in a hurry, Boss Hog did a hotel burn out that was, accoring to him, his best ever! Sorry, but he's the only one who got excited about a 45-foot, ONE-tire burn!
NOTE: After a review by the Old Guys Judges', the burn out was measured, and it was SIXTY feet! The Old Guys apologize...yeah, right!
After a couple wrong turns downtown, we found the show entrance, and after an hour's worth of idling, we completed our registration, and headed into the show field. Packard Bill stopped at the Firestone store to get rid of his morning coffee, and I stopped behind him. I turned off the engine (shoulda never done that!), and when he came out, the Cougar wouldn't start. The rest of the gang headed into the show, and convinced one of the parking guys to let them park (temporarily, they said), so they could come and help push the Cougar. Ten minutes later, the Cougar's engine cooled enough to start, and I joined the group in what is considered prime parking...right next to the entertainment stage, and just up the street from the Capitol building! We had breakfast downtown, and Kevin, a growing lad, wanted more than just four sausage biscuits. He got a double order, which more than filled the plate. Needless to say, the plate was clean when he finished! Along comes some guy with only a couple teeth (even low for Springfield standards), and mentioned something about a "Cheap-assed Monte Carlo." Most of us knew he was referring to Boss Hog's MC, but Boss Hog swears it was the MC across the street. By 11:00 AM, there was close to 1000 cars on the downtown streets. We checked out the swap meet, Gasoline Alley (where they did automotive demonstrations), and looked at several hundred cars we've never seen before. In the Old Guys opinion, this is a must-attend event. There was a rock-a-billy band playing on the stage, warming up for the Elvis impersonator...both were really good, but the music came to a screeching halt when some woman drove her car (NOT a show car) down the street, and was stopped by the crowd watching the Elvis guy. She refused to move her car, and the police ended up in a major argument with her. We were chanting, "Taser, Taser," but they never zapped her. Eventually, they DID get her turned around, and she left. So much for the excitement, until... Kevin and Jamie were cruising around on their Heels (shoes with wheels built in), and the police sargeant apologetically warned him they couldn't be used around the cars. Of course, I told the sargeant that we had already warned him twice, and maybe he should Taser him! Kevin quickly ratted out Boss Hog's burn out, hoping for a reduced sentence, but it didn't work. About 5:00, we'd had enough, and exited downtown. An hour later, we were piggin' out on Corky's BBQ. First thing in the AM, Kevin, Boss Hog, and Mikey are heading north. The rest of us will go back to the show for a few hours. Meanwhile, it's still cocktail hour, so we've gotta go! More tomorrow... |
| Friday Evening Route 66 Parade |
The Old Guys aren't big on parading down the street, but this ten-mile parade down Historic Route 66 was well-planned, and well-executed, and the fifteen hundred cars parading into downtown Springfield was quite a spectacle!
It started in the Department of Transportation's parking lot. We arrived about 5:00 PM, and the lot was already 3/4 full. Keep in mind the parade doesn't start until 6:30! Just walking around the parking lot was a show in itself, and it's always good to see cars you've never seen before. Precisely at 6:30, the parade began, with police stopping traffic in the intersection. A couple of the participants did short burn out's as soon as they entered the highway. About the 25th car in line, an orange 'Cuda AAR, did one, and he lit up the tires for what seemed like about a thousand feet, before losing control, spinning around, jumping the media, and coming to rest on top of it. We could see the front tires were blown out, and are sure this idiot did some serious frame damage. Even worse, since ALL the roads were blocked to traffic, and there was no way for a wrecker to get to him, he had to sit there while the rest of the pack passed by him! We all tried to get a pic, but unfortunately, none of them turned out! Once we left the parking area, we never had to stop, because the police had EVERY street along the route blocked...they did an EXCELLENT job of traffic control! The entire route was packed with spectators, cheering us as we slowly paraded down Route 66. Packard Bill's wolf whistle horn was a big with the female spectators, but from the looks of most of them, they would have been much happier if we were tossing out candy, or Big Mac's with fries! As we arrived downtown, a police officer stopped me, and asked if I would do a burn out for the spectators. She even had the crowd cheering for it! My engine was running a little hot, and I didn't want to heat it up any more than it already was, so I sent her back to Packard Bill, who we know can burn the tires for several city blocks! She walks back to Bill, and encourages him to do a burn out. Bill thinks he's being set up, and refuses! Parking along the streets in about a dozen square blocks was limited to parade cars. The organizers did a very smart thing, having us park nose in instead of backing in. We were parked in a matter of seconds! The stores and restuarants were open, there were vendors throughout downtown, and the Route 66 Festival (official show merchandise) tent immediately sold out of the best item they had...a blue, zipper-front pullover sweatshirt, with the show logo embroidered on it. We ALL wanted one of those $20 sweathsirts, but the only ONE they had left was a medium...not nearly big enough for even the smallest of the Old Guys! We walked around, looked at the cars, had a Subway sub, walked around some more, chatted with a few of the car owners, and before we knew it, it was about 9:30 (getting close to the Old Guys' bedtime), so we exited the show, and drove less than ten miles back to the hotel. We rate the Route 66 Cruise earlier in the day a ten out of ten, and if we could, we'd give the Route 66 Parade an even higher score. Springfield is super car-friendly, puts a lot of work into the planning, and so far, the execution has been perfect! |
| The Route 66 Cruise |
We had almost no information on the cruise, but we were going anyway! It was rumored to start at the Chain of Rocks Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River about 100 miles south of Springfield. At 7:00 this morning, we headed south. We passed a lot of cars, but none were classics. About ten miles from where we thought the cruise would start, we were certain we were heading in the wrong direction! But the GPS came through, and took us right to where we needed to be. After a brief orientation, we crossed the bridge (cars not normally allowed on the bridge), and headed north on Route 66. We made a brief stop at the Route 66 Flea Market (a HUGE waste of time), but made up for it by stopping at Kountry Klassics, a car lot featuring nothing but classic cars and trucks. The sign says they have 600 cars, but we think there was more! Most were in need of a complete restoration, and few were bargains, but EVERY one had "Runs and Drives GREAT" sign on the windshield. And the Corvette gang showed their butts...again. This time they decided to cruise at about 15 MPH, and had traffic backed up through a couple light changes. We took care of that once the one lane road became two lanes, and left them in our dust! We're back at the motel now, but in a couple hours, we'll be parading in downtown Springfield...woo hoo! Everyone says hey, and we'll have more for y'all tonight or tomorrow. |
| Arrival In Springfield |
We planned for the easiest day of the week...just 350 miles, and only a couple turns. We could leave late, and because of the time change, we would still arrive early. But we were wrong...
When we woke up, it was raining. And not just rain, but a monsoon, with thunder and lightning. In fact, lightning struck the hotel next to ours, and knocked out the power. We decided to leave when...well, if...the rain stopped.
It finally stopped, and in the dark, we headed for Louisville. Traffic was barely moving into Louisville, and the Old Guys were bumper-to-bumper. But as we exited towards St. Louis, Mikey blew by us, heading for Indy! We stopped for a half-hour, and waited for him to get turned around. Poor Mikey...an ol' country boy trying to find his way to the big city!
Then there was the great Route debate...I said it was Route 121, and everyone else stuck with Route 127. So we took Route 127, and they were right...guess I can't tell the difference between a 1 and a 7 anymore!
The weather cleared up, cooled off (mid 70's), and the tops went down! We ran the two-laner for about 50 miles, and arrived at the hotel just before check in time!
Then we waited for Kevin, Jamie, and Boss Hog, who were hopelessly lost, and finally arrived just in time for dinner. Corky's BBQ was next door to the hotel, and pretty good...NOT Smokey Pig or Sims, but better than most!
Right now we're working on tomorrow's Route 66 cruise, which we expected to start somewhere close by, but actually starts 100 miles south, in St. Louis! |
| Brooks, Kentucky |
As always, the Old Guys were heading north early in the morning. Not only was it dark, but it was a little too chilly to drop the tops. An hour later, though, the tops were down! Just before we entered the Tennessee mountains, my speedometer was turning all zeros...for the second time...and we pulled over to celebrate. As Packard Bill pulled over, one of his carefully-restored hub caps left the Packard. We formed a search party, and fifteen minutes later, Bill and the hub cap were reunited. And yes, Bill was the one who found it. We forgot about the time change in Nashville, so we were dining in the Smokey Pig's Executive Dining Room a little early. You need to know that the Pig has been upgraded again...a new parking lot, and it even had the spaces striped! Unfortunately, Mr. Pig was out of town, but Junior Pig was there, and says hi to everyone! So far, it was the perfect day. Then we got back onto I-65, and five miles up the road, traffic was at a complete stop. It took us an hour to go a couple miles, where we found the road blocked to traffic. We exited, and spent the next hour going a few more miles. When we finally got back onto the interstate, Cecil took the point, and set the pace at about 85 MPH (max speed of 90.4). We were at the hotel in about 45 minutes. Sonny's brother, Mikey (remember him from Daytona?), was waiting there for us. He is now the newest Old Guy, after he was presented with tons of Old Guys stuff. We went to Kart Kountry, which has the longest (1-1/2 mile) track in the world. We bribed the track guys, and they gave us free reign. Needless to day, everyone took a good hit or two, as the track guys turned their backs. The it was off to another of the Old Guy favorites...White Castle...where we picked up a Crave Case (30 burgers) and some onion rings, and then returned to the room. Unfortunately, we didn't take the camera this evening, so the pics are limited. We'll try and do better tomorrow. And Kevin, you'll more than likely pay dearly for your comment last night! |
| Cartersville, Georgia |
Even though we SAID we would be leaving Lake City at 7:00 or 7:30 AM, at 6:00 AM, we were walking around the parking lot looking for something to do. So we headed out early, and about a hundred miles later, the Old Guys were having breakfast in Tifton, Georgia. A few hours after that, we were shopping at Summit Racing. Kathy Williams (Georgia Cougar Club) works there, and treated us all to Summit ball caps. And as we left, I was the only one who didn't make a purchase, and who also didn't have his car keys...thanks for finding them, Cecil! Thirty minutes later, we were on the grounds of Atlanta Motor Speedway, hoping they would give the Old Guys a tour. They didn't, so we created our own. We're sure we went places we shouldn't have, but at our age, if we got stopped, we could easily claim ignorance! As we were turning back onto I-75, the Cougar died, backing up traffic forever. It re-started after a couple light changes, but died every time we stopped. More on the fix later. Cecil brought us through the heart of Atlanta at about 80 MPH...some great, white-knuckle driving for all of us! Between us, we have three GPS's, and we still overshot the hotel by about ten miles. We knew we made a wrong turn when the one-lane road dead-ended, the two homes were worn-out trailers, and the three locals had a total of seven teeth, and the stray dogs were barking at us! We found the hotel, checked in, unloaded the cars, had a great dinner (and an even better dessert) at the local favorite, and then ASE Certified Packard Bill and shade tree certified Sonny pulled the front float adjustment, and found it clogged with metal shavings. No idea where they came from, but once they were removed, the car performed (almost) flawlessly. We have reason to celebrate. Today is Packard Bill's anniversary (he's not tellin' how many), so we want to congratulate Mrs. Bill for tolerating him all those years, and for sending him on the trip in spite of the anniversary. So tonight, we raise our glasses (or bottles) to Mr. and Mrs. Bill. Let the party begin! |
| Day One - Lake City |
 We came from four different parts of the State, and met at National Parts Depot. The Old Guys' timing was almost perfect, and we arrived within 15 minutes of each other. A couple hundred dollars later, we were on the way to Lake City.
If you're not from Florida, you probably don't know what a Love Bug is. If you are, you need to know they're out in force!
Traveling at 80 MPH seems to be okay with the FHP...they had THREE great opportunities to give us ALL a ticket, and they passed up each one! But just to be safe, since we're absolutely sure that the Georgia State Police don't have the same attitude, we'll cruise at 75 tomorrow!
Packard Bill refuses to eat junk food (according to Bill, White Castle's AREN'T junk food), so tonight, we had steak.
After dinner, we spent the better part of an hour cleaning the Love Bugs off the cars...except Packard Bill, who only cleaned his windshield, saying the bugs added character to his patina finish.
And we didn't bother taking any pics today...you've seen enough of us washing our cars!
Back at the hotel, we held an Old Guys meeting, and our event plans are complete through next August.
Tomorrow morning we're outa here before the Love Bugs wake up, and we should be visiting Summit Racing in McDonough, Georgia, around lunch time.
And that's about it for today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be more eventful...maybe even a couple photos! |
| Countdown to Springfield |
Next Monday, the Old Guys will be hittin' the road, and makin' our way to Springfield, Illinois for the annual Route 66 Festival. And we're doin' our usual thing...waiting until almost the last minute to take care of all things mechanical! Sonny took the 3.00 Traction-Lok rear out of the wagon parts car, and put in the Cyclone, replacing his 3.25 open axle. Cecil's got his Mustang up on jack stands, and is doing some mandatory preventive maintenance...changing out the oil-soaked power steering hoses, which would otherwise surely fail on the trip. After more than 15 years, I learned that I've been using the wrong thermostat, and this week, have replaced mine with the correct one for a Cleveland engine, and took a moment to adjust the TV cable on the AOD trans. Packard Bill hasn't reported in yet, but you can be sure he's updated something, and it's probably electronics-related! We'll gather in Lake City, Florida next Monday afternoon, and hold one of our irregularly-scheduled Old Guys meetings, where we'll discuss our 2007/2008 travel schedule, make some hotel reservations, swap tall tales, and enjoy a cold one (or two). Tuesday morning, it's off to Cartersville, Georgia, with a lunch stop at Summit Racing's new showroom/warehouse in McDonough, Georgia. This could get expensive! Wednesday morning, we'll leave I-75, and head slightly northwest (only about 100 miles out of the way), so we can take that awesome ride through the Tennessee mountains, and make a stop in Bowling Green, Kentucky for a lunch break at an Old Guys favorite...the Smokey Pig BBQ Restaurant. Side note...the Old Guys have learned that those who claim to be the BEST BBQ are usually not, and those who make no claims at all, usually ARE! Smokey Pig IS, and so is Sim's BBQ in Little Rock. From the Smokey Pig, it's about an hour-and-a-half to Brooks, Kentucky, where we'll spend the night, but not before joining up with the newest Old Guys Probationary Member, recently-retired (more than 40 years at the same factory job) Mikey Hamilton. That evening, we'll race go-karts at the longest (more than 1.5 miles) go-kart race track in the country (somebody is gonna get hurt!), and enjoy plenty of (you can't get 'em in Florida) White Castle burgers! Thursday morning, it's off to Springfield, where we'll join up with Kevin and Boss Hog Strall, and take in all three days of the Festival. In addition to our daily Blog, and the photos we'll be adding to the album, I purchased a camcorder, so look for some video, too. |
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The Route 66 Cruise
Packard Bill Weekend
Cars of Dreams Museum Benefit Car Show
WinterFest 2010
2010 River Ranch Rod Run
NPD's All-Ford Show
Daytona Turkey Run
Daytona Beach Dream Cruise
Show and Concert In The Park
Tifton, Georgia
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