The Wearin' of the Green in Afton, Oklahoma

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Afton Station.  We didn't do much to celebrate there, but I did wear an embarrassingly mismatched green outfit.   Betty, Ron, and I held down the fort in the morning, and had absolutely no visitors.  Was everyone at parades?  Hung over?  Betty had to leave at noon, and I joked that as soon as she left the people would undoubtedly start to arrive.  As it turns out, I was right!

Moments after Betty walked out the door to her NEW car, people began to roll in.  Two bikers from Wagoner, OK stopped to scope things out for the upcoming "Passport Oklahoma" motorcycle run, which begins in April and ends at the end of November.  During that time, hundreds of bikers will be traveling across the state with passports naming 20 sites along Route 66.   They must take a photo of themselves in front of each site in order to qualify for prizes.  We are fortunate enough to be one of the official sites, so we feel fairly sure we'll have an increase in motorcycle visitors this summer.  Yippee!  Love it!

At the same time, a carload of four people from Brisbane, Australia came for a visit, and they met the bikers in the parking lot for a little chat before they came in.  

 I have such a fondness for Aussies.  These four charming folks were no exception.  They are traveling Route 66 from west to east, and will go on to New York at the finish of their one month trip.  Not only were they great folks, but they also each bought a sweatshirt!


Other visitors were from Missouri and Owasso, OK.   The grand total was 11.   The Aussies stayed a while, so I was a bit late getting home, but it was entirely worth it.   What  looked like it was going to be a lifeless day turned into a jolly St. Patrick's celebration after all!

Our biker visitors both had teddy bears strapped to the rear seats of their iron.  Not sure if this has any special meaning, but I've often seen bikers with stuffed animals riding behind.  Is there special meaning to this?

Happy Ides

The Ides of March is upon us, whatever that means.   Something about the phases of the moon in ancient Rome.  In our modern society the term means next to nothing, except that it's only two days until St. Patrick's Day.  And it made a nice title for this post.   Sorry.  

It was another busy day at Afton Station, for the most part.  The majority of our 13 guests came all at once, but that was OK.   Our first visitor was Dean "Crazy Legs" Walker, who stopped in on his way to Tulsa to participate in a quick draw competition.  Shortly after he left, the rest of visitors arrived.  

The first couple was from Cape Cod, MA and they were traveling a portion of Route 66, hoping to have time to do more in the future.  They'd been to Arizona Route 66 during past trips and some day hope to do it all.

Do you remember this car?  It was featured in a blog post last year when the owner, a gentleman from Vinita, OK brought it by shortly after he had it made in December.  

It's a replica of a 1937 Auburn Boattail Speedster.  This visit, he brought along his niece and her fiance on a visit just before their wedding.  They're from Mead, CO... and here they are.  

 About the same time, a father and his four young daughters from College Station, TX came in, followed by a couple from Kansas City, MO.   The rest of the afternoon was quiet, and Ron M. and I got some reading done.  Ron provides an endless supply of magazines for us to peruse, so we're never bored.  I also made two dozen magnets (come and get 'em!) and restocked the stickers I make.   The temperatures today were in the 70s and that, along with the increase in Route 66 travelers, makes me feel that I can safely say that summer is here -- just very early.

Karma

 I hadn't planned to go to Afton Station today, at least not until I received an email from Susan, my friend and loyal blog reader, indicating that she wanted to bring a friend visiting from N. Carolina to see the museum.   At first, I couldn't imagine getting everything done at home in time to drive there and meet them, but then I stopped and took a long look at what what's important in my life.  Something told me to go.  So, I did.

And I'm SO glad I  made the decision!  Not long after I arrived, just before 1 p.m., my friend and avid Route 66 traveler, Jane Dippel from St. Louis surprised my by walking through the door.  This morning, she decided to take a quick road trip to El Reno, and Afton Station was one of her stops.  I would have missed her if I'd chosen not to go.  Jane is an all-round great gal, and it's always fun to see her, if even for a fifteen minutes.

Although I hadn't turned on any of the "Open" signs or put out the flags, travelers started to arrive anyway!   A couple of guys on motorcycles, from Claremore and Catoosa, OK roared in and spent some very appreciative time looking at the cars.  A couple from Fargo, ND came next, followed by a family from Grass Valley, CA.   Their little boy, Nash, who is not even 2 years old, was incredibly precocious, and his parents have trained him right.  He was marching around saying "66...66...66", and when asked to pose for a photo, he said "Cheese!"  What a cutie!  His dad let him press a penny and he loved it. 

Susan and her friend LuBeth, who lives in Greenboro NC,  finally arrived at 2 p.m. and we had a great visit.   Susan is giving her childhood friend a great Route 66 tour similar to that which she gave her British friends last summer.  Susan is such a great Route 66 fan.  She brought me some extremely cool coasters which she made from Route 66 fabrics. Thank you, Susan.

All this unplanned activity surely was karma . . .and Susan, who was the catalyst for me opening up today.   I met some great people, and on top of that, I sold a quantity of merchandise approaching the most I've ever sold in one day!  

Abandoned

Even though Afton Station is half  Route 66 visitors' center and half a Packard vintage car museum, I tend to write mostly about the Route 66 aspect of the place, since that's my forte.   I love the Packards (and the few others makes we have), but I admit to not knowing as much about them as I do about my beloved Route 66. 

On the other hand, I do know quite a lot about the place where Packards were made -- the enormous half-mile-long, 35-acre plant on Grand Avenue in Detroit, Michigan.  And, as I've mentioned previously, I love old manufacturing facilities.  I find them to be romantic icons of America's producing past.   The Grand Avenue Packard plant, in my opinion as well as that of many others, was the No. 1 premiere example of the Golden Age of Auto Manufacturing in America.

The production line was shut down there in 1957.  Sadly, now the Packard plant is the largest abandoned factory in the world.  Key word: abandoned.   In fact, it is as good as gone,  having been dismantled piece-by-piece over the years by vandals, souvenir seekers, and the ravages of time.    I was there about 15 years ago, and I'm still haunted by the memory.  My then-husband David found a broken window and entered, but I was too chicken to do so, and besides I needed to stand guard in case there were any repercussions to his trespassing.  There weren't.  From what he told me, along with the myriad articles I've read about the fate of the old factory, there's not much left inside.  

Until my friend Gordo sent me this online article yesterday, I had only hard copies of literature about the crumbling of the historic factory.  But now I can share this with you.   It's a fantastic article, and has some remarkable, nostalgic photos and very interesting facts.  Please have a look:   http://tinyurl.com/84y8kkl.   

Is Blue Selling Cookies on Route 66?

I had no idea that the Blue Whale of Catoosa was a Girl Scout (or even a girl, for that matter) until we drove past her yesterday on the way home from Afton and noticed that she was wearing a Girl Scout badge sash with an abundance of badges which she must have earned somehow, although I suspect most of them centered around water sports. 

Today, March 12, 2012 is the 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts, and I'm excited about it.  I was a Brownie, a Girl Scout, a Senior Girl Scout, a leader of a troop, a neighborhood Girl Scout chairman, a cookie chairman, and for a few years top cookie seller in the neighborhood.  I was also made a Lifetime Girl Scout several years ago after leading Sarah's troop for a few years.  It's through the Girl Scouts that I learned to camp, hike, ride a horse, swim, and make puppets, among other things.  It's a great organization, and if you add up all of the above, I've been a Girl Scout for 60 years!

I'm so pleased that Blue is a fellow Scout!  

A Larruping Good Day

I'm not sure this day was altogether larruping, but since I just learned the word yesterday, I felt the need to use it.  Apparently, according to the Tulsa World newspaper, it's a word that probably originated in Oklahoma which means great or exceptionally good.  Although it's commonly used to describe food, it can be used to describe anything that one feels is wonderful.  And since I think that just about any day is a good day, then to me this one was larruping!  

In reality, it was a gray, chilly, drizzly day, and the drizzle continued all day.  We need the rain badly, so I'm not complaining, however it didn't do much for the visitor roster at Afton Station. There were a mere 5 visitors, but they were all from out of state.   We started the day with a visit from a happy gentleman from Indianapolis, IN  and ended with nice folks from Independence, MO.  In between, this couple from Bowdon, GA entertained us with their good nature and interest in everything we offer at the Station.  They were so interested, in fact, that they bought a very large number of the goodies we offer for sale.  Can't complain about that!   I can use some good sales after a long, cold winter.  But, sales aside, we truly enjoyed this duo and wished them well as they head west on Route 66. 

 Mid-day, I had a call from a gentleman who is constructing a website that will feature photos of antique cars. He requested some pictures of ours, so Ron M. was nice enough to head back to the showrooms and snap a few.  I'll post three of them here, as they are images of cars that aren't as frequently photographed as some of the others.   Enjoy! 

                   1923 Packard Super Sedan Limo

                  1941 Hupmobile Skylark

                          1936 Packard Eight

Feels Like Route 66 Travel Season to Me!

After a long, visitorless morning, the traveling folks started to arrive at Afton Station around noon.  Prior to that, Ron M., Tattoo Man, Robin, Betty and I just hung out and did our usual chattering.  Robin had the good news that on Wednesday and Friday of this week, while she was here working, we had quite a few visitors, coming from Arkansas, Ohio, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, California, Missouri, and Oklahoma.  Proof enough for me that the traveling season has begun.  Finally!

Today, our first visitors were two fellows from Sao Paulo, Brazil who rented motorcycles in California and are working their way east on Route 66 to Chicago.  They're enjoying the trip, despite needing to get used to snow for a while out west.  It was quite a new experience for them.   They took numerous photos of each other with their bikes in front of the gas pumps.     

The remainder of our 9 visitors came from Gilmer TX, and Grove, Coweta, and Afton, OK.  Sandy, the lady from Afton, initially came in to solicit a pledge for a charitable run that will take place next month, but once I gave her a small contribution, we started to talk about the Afton she remembers from childhood.  She had some good stories about her grandfather who was a dear friend of the famous Jim Thorpe, and how Thorpe would visit him when he passed through Afton.  She also had knowledge of the various outlaws who came to Afton -- Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker, etc.   (Did I ever tell you that apparently Bonnie and Clyde stopped at Afton Station when it was the Eagle Service Station?  Whether this is just a piece of local lore or the truth is uncertain, however I've heard it from four separate people thus far.)  Anyway, Sandy knows lots of interesting things about old Afton, and you know how much I love to hear those stories!

 So, a slow start gave way to another interesting day on Route 66.  But then again, aren't they all?