Get incredibly excited over children's movies and F1 racing stars? Read on!

I know I'm very late with all this, but I went to see Cars over the weekend. I knew it would be leaving the theaters soon and I planned it as a fun solo activity on Saturday. I was happy when my friend Dan volunteered to come and we got in for absolutely free (something about the theater not being up to code for handicapped people--hey, free admission is free admission).

Here's a recap--
Misty eyed moments: 3
Times I wished I was back on Route 66: well over 12
Excited shouts when Michael Schumacher made an appearance: 1
Animated pointing at the screen and saying "Oh, I've seen that/been there!" to my very patient friend Dan: at least 30

We both loved it. I liked the racing part, the story that didn't try to hard, and the charm of the small town, plus all the Mother Road nostalgia. Dan (who's Canadian and doesn't know a lot of the history of Route 66) is a convert and said that he'd definitely do the trip. Since the theater was relatively empty, I got to exclaim loudly about things, and laugh really hard when Luigi and Guido dressed up in their Ferrari gear and when they turned their noses up at the Piston Cup.

I'm going to get the soundtrack and probably purchase the DVD when it comes out. It can join my vast collection of Pride & Prejudice, Alias seasons 1 and 3, LOTR and the Metallica documentary.

But what a fantastic reminder about the treasure of small towns, the importance of supporting local business and the absolute gems of people that are in your life every day. And hopefully it will get more people interested in the Route--it sure did the trick with one Dan Brown!