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!